New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-01
PRIMITIVE FORMS OF LIFE.
san.zm ar1ssAIiAN ADAPTIVE MECHANISM

ana even OF many people VINO thlnA % ~
ealves as ~scientihc.- TO insist upon oenii'.o
and final decision upon every quesuon tii''' 10
once opened Though the evidence De piconi-
,,,sta they are unwilling to walt for more hght'
and still more reluctant to admit that eo'u
MON may possibly prove altogether uha''a'n-
ab,a And so they rush to conclusion OF their
own and regard any suggestion that their YER
a,c, "a premature as an affirmation OF the con-
.rary side Of the proposition In dispute AZ ,ho
outset of this series OF talks-philosophica4 as
courses ON biology. rather than tecnhicaI Cos
sihcation Of animated nature-Professor pioon'
protests against any misinterpretauoh VI n''
it, ., treatment He knowingly leaves many
questions mot proven; but ne hopes N
these instances his utterances will not be looked
40, &C an admission Of anything except sus-
pension OF Judgment. If man were 10 MN
erst a brick and afterward a dog he WouI'
,o,ice a difference in the effects produced III
tho one instance there would be chahee "a
oosition. a rise Of temperature and other uHi'ne
results that could be easily predicted. But III
The other case aside from mechanical chane'
that might be wrought long series Oh 0'"'''
would ensue. depending on the SIZE aeo' III
cestry and condition of the animal Inc oiAe
once would be due TO the fact that 'he uos "
living organism and the brick was not Lile'
,hen is a response to the order OF na'uie ING
egg matches when heat warmth Is appNeo 9e
cause there is life within. pebble would not
do so Professor Brooks is thus leo 10 aoop'
as the text of most OF the lectures mere Coiieo
-. O. single volume the thesis that biology Is
a study Of response. and that STUDY Vi '"'
nature 70 which response is made is quite as
much within the province OF biology DIS TIC
study Of the living organism which RESPONDS
acts
NAV come from without. through the agency OF
80 ~, tho senses This would be true when the
eight Of a cat put bird TO flight. But 1t might
also nroceed from within. when hunger arrives
the tiger to hunt for prey Within certain nm
tts the response comes in blind. unreasonine'
Understanding way. IL a young herinil u az
were to see near him an empty SMELL ne "ou'u
crawl into II instinctively as II aware tha' he
would thus secure protection. But H. lIS'e"u
~ shell he first encountered a piece Oh clay
nine that would not afford any protection at ALL
or the cast-off skin of another crab, ne "ouIu
tuck himself away in one Of these. unoer the
same impulse to inhabit something. mus II
appears that to a certain extent-lo WIFI ca
tent might be disputed-the crab behaVes au-
tomatically. II Is a machine, SET a-eoihs ny
external influences Is all response mechah'oaI'
Some announcement to the belief that 1t Is
may be found. Professor Brooks remarks III
tho tendency TO localize functions in the brain
Perhaps a different stimulus from that actualiy
applied there might produce the same result
The Johns Hopkins lecturer Is careful not 10
commit himself TO this view. Yet he does not
sea why anv one should consider an affirmative
answer to the query alarming. He thinks those
neople stand on treacherous ground who, with
only negative evidence, make positive asser-
,ions on this point or who believe that any
thing in our nature is inconsistent with me-
chanics."
or course the objection is raised to this sug-
gestion that II leaves man the helpless Flc'lH'
Of fate. But Professor Brooks is a firm believer
in yoition as q part OF the cosmic process Inc
greatest Of all my many great debts to Hux-
lev" he remarks is the clear perception that
there is no antagonsm between belief that al
the phenomena Of nature are mechanical and
my confidence in the value Of my reason ii
Huxley is right H. the assertion that mecnan-
zeal principles are nothing more than general
lied experience-as | am convinced he is-ano
Il the widest Of all congratulations from my ex-
perence is that my volition counts now car
confidence in the value Of my reason be loglcaliS
absurd?" When a man uses one particular Sc
of muscles frequently. he discovers that thel
gain in size and power The hand. In the sam
way. becomes more skful. With a change o
diet birds will acquire new color. sea gull
whose stomach is normally soft land digest
only soft tissues). will develop tough, gizzard
like organ II fed on grain. These and othe
familiar facts betray capacity IN living De
ings for modification with an alteration OF cir
cumstances. The mechanism Is adaptive" T
study life properly. then. it is necessary TO kee
IN mind the sequence of external influence
zol1arN hat nCN,t tHif
the living organism. and. thirdly the continuou
adjustment that is taking place between tn
two. Although. as Huxley pointed out protc
plasm is the physical basis Of life. It is not III
itself II should like" says Professor Brook
ito see hung on the walls Of every laborator
Herbert Spencer's definition to the effect ths
life is not protoplasm, but adjustment" Whe
an individual animal finds itself unable to az
Just itself to changed circumstances. it perishe
species may be extingushed by a simila
process although the change might come abol
more slowly An examination OF fossil remain
shows that far more species and genera hav
become extinct than now exist, Darwin wa
thus. and by other considerations. led to III
conviction that nature is continually conduct
ing a weeding-out process. Those animal
which were best able 70 cope with their foe
and with other adverse features Of their env
ronment. would continue to live; and those whc
were weaker. and showed less adaptsbility, sue
cumbed. This phenomenon is called "natur'
selection" Spencer supplemented the phras
with survival OF the ittest"
1t cannot be too we'll understood that Darwi
never undertook TO explain why in the order
nature simple forms OF life were followed h
more complex ones. nor why one kind Of crea
ure became more distinctly differentiated fro
another. Evolution is the term that designate
that double process: but why or how evolutiC
came about this great naturalist did not attem
10 say. His main contention was that. the di
ferentiation Of species once having taken plac
the wedding out was accomplished on the pri
ciple Of adaptation to prevailing condition
Nature selected the individuals and species s.