Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 84.djvu/541

Rh the germ cells, viz., (1) Constructive and destructive metabolism, (2) Reproduction, as shown in the division of cells and cell constituents, (3) Irritability, or the capacity of receiving and responding to stimuli. All these general functions of living things are manifested by germ cells, but as development advances each of these functions becomes more specialized, more complicated and more perfect. A cell which at an early stage was protective, locomotor and sensory in function may give rise to daughter cells in which these functions are distributed to different cells, cells which at an early stage were sensitive to many kinds of stimuli give rise to daughter cells which are especially sensitive to one particular kind of stimulus, such as vibration, light, or chemicals.

Functions develop from a generalized to a specialized condition by the process of "physiological division of labor" which accompanies morphological division of substance. But just as in the development of structures, new parts, which were not present in the germ, appear by a process of "creative synthesis," so new functions appear in the course of development, which are not merely sorted out of the general functions present at the beginning, but which are created by the interaction and synthesis of parts and functions previously present.

Much less attention has been paid to the development of functions than to the development of structures, and consequently it is not possible to describe the former with the same degree of detail as the latter. But in spite of the lack of detailed knowledge regarding the development of particular functions the general fact of such development is well established. To what extent structures may modify functions or functions structures, in the course of development, is a problem which has been much discussed, and upon the answer to which the fate of certain important theories, for example Lamarckism, depends; but this problem can be solved only by thorough-going experimental and analytical work. In the meantime it seems safe to conclude that living structures and functions are inseparable and that anything which modifies one of these must of necessity modify the other also; they are merely different aspects of organization, and are dealt with separately by the morphologists and physiologists only as a matter of convenience. At the same time there can be no doubt that minute changes of function can frequently be detected where no corresponding change of structure can be seen, but this shows only that physiological tests may be more delicate than morphological ones. In certain lines of modern biological work, such as bacteriology, cytology, genetics, many functional distinctions are recognizable between organisms which are morphologically indistinguishable. But this does not signify that functional changes precede structural ones, but only that the latter are more difficult to see than the former. For every change of function it is probable that an "unlimited microscopist" could discover a corresponding change of structure.