Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
internal environment, which has been forgotten, but deserves to be
reconsidered.
For Bernard, life is not an intrinsic characteristic of living mat-
ter but a phenomenon which only exists in its relationship to the
environment. “
In the same way, life results from contact of the
organism with its environment; we can no more understand it
through the organism alone than through the environment alone
”
(ISEM p. 75).
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In this relationship the organism is bound to adapt
to its external environment. Indeed, “
It is not by warfare against
cosmic conditions that the organism develops and maintains itself,
but on the contrary, by an adaptation, an accord with these
” (LPL,
p. 48). It is in the context of this adaptation that the internal envi-
ronment plays a fundamental physiological role. It serves as an
interface for transmitting the influences of the environment on the
organs, for “
Only by passing into the inner, can the influence of the
outer environment reach us…
” (ISEM, p. 76). Bernard sees three
distinct modes of adaptation indicating increasing degrees of auton-
omy of the organism and through which the internal environment
becomes progressively more constant. 'Latent life' corresponds to
a complete lack of autonomy. Some living organisms are totally
dependent on external conditions, and if they are not appropriate
these organisms enter a state of latency which they leave only when
the external conditions become favourable again (LPL pp. 48-77).
This is the case of organisms which sporulate or form seeds that no
longer exhibit the least biological activity. 'Oscillating life' corre-
sponds to that of living organisms whose mode of existence can
vary greatly depending on environmental conditions, without ever
reaching the state of latency (LPL pp. 77-83). This is the case of
cold-blooded animals that hibernate, in whom life slows down in
winter and becomes active again in the spring. The third form of
adaptation is 'constant life' (LPL pp. 83-91), and corresponds to liv-
ing organisms that have a constant internal environment and are thus
autonomous in their relationship to the environment. However, it is
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This is reaffirmed several times, particularly in the “Lectures on the
Phenomena of Life”
.
See the second lecture devoted to the internal environment.
