Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/417

 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY 403

irst cause and the final cause ought to be alike comprehended within the scientific domain ? Science investigates and recognizes >nly the conditions of realization among phenomena. These conditions are remote or near, direct or indirect, according as they directly accompany or precede, with or without inter- mediation, the appearance of the phenomenon. Among the conditions of the structure and life of organisms some are internal and others external. The adaptation of the first to the second, and the modifications which are brought about in the structure and life, are conditioned by these two factors. It is this continued correspondence which constitutes structure and life.

The egg of a hen may be changed into an omelet as well as into a chicken according to the environment in which it is placed. Adaptation involves the environment as well as the aptitude.

G. DE GREEF.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.

\To be continued^