be corrected.

F. A. WAUGH.

University of Vermont,
July 1, 1898.

A MECHANICO-PHYSIOLOGICAL
THEORY OF ORGANIC
EVOLUTION.

SUMMARY.

In this summary I shall in general pursue a course the reverse of that
which my main work follows.[A] I shall proceed from the primitive,
unorganized condition of matter and endeavor to show how organized
micellar substance has arisen in it, and how, from this micellar
substance, organisms with their manifold properties have arisen.
Since such a synthesis of organisms out of known forms of matter and
force is still far removed from a conclusion strictly in accord with
physical law, the process becomes comprehensible and obvious only by
exact knowledge of the discussion that has preceded. Although the
synthetic method reveals more clearly the weaknesses of the theory
than do analytic investigations, yet I considered it helpful to
make this presentation in order to give a clearer idea of the
mechanico-physiological theory, and at the same time to test its
worth.

[A] See Appendix, Translators' Notes.

1. FORMATION OF UNORGANIZED BODIES (CRYSTALS).

When separated and promiscuously moving molecules of any substance in
solution or in a melted condition pass into the solid form by reason of
removal of the causes of separation and motion (warmth or solvent), they
arrange themselves into solid masses impermeable to liquids. These
minute bodies grow by accretion, and when molecular forces are permitted
to act undisturbed, assume the regular outer form and inner structure of
crystals. The number of crystals, their size, changes of form and
growth, all depend on external conditions.

2. FORMATION OF LIVING ORGANIZED (MICELLAR) BODIES.

Certain organic compounds, among them albumen, are neither soluble,
despite their great affinity for water, nor are they fusible, and hence
are produced in the micellar form. These compounds are formed in water,
where the molecules that arise immediately adjoining each other arrange
themselves into incipient crystals, or micellae. Only such of the
molecules as are formed subsequently and come in contact with a micella
contribute to its increase in size, while the others, on account of
their insolubility, produce new micellae. For this reason the micellae
remain so