Thus the reciprocity of the various organs, maintained throughout the divisions of physiological labour, is not merely a mechanical stability; it is also a mutual equilibration in functions incessantly at work on chemical levels, and on those levels of still higher complexity which seem to rise as far beyond chemistry as chemistry beyond physics.
Dissolution, and finally reaches the statement of the Law of Evolution as" an integration of matter and concomitant dissipation of motion, during which the matter passes from a an indefinite incoherent homogeneity to a definite coherent heterogeneity, and during which the retained motion undergoes a parallel transformation."This process of evolution is due to" the instability of the homogeneous,"the" multiplication of effects "and their" segregation,"continuing until it ceases in complete" equilibration."Sooner or later, however, the reverse process of Dissolution, with its absorption of motion and disintegration of matter, which indeed has always been going on to some extent, must prevail, and these oscillations of the cosmic process will continue without end.
Spencer appeals alternately to the" instability of the homogeneous "and the impossibility of complete equilibration to keep up the cosmic see-saw, but he can do so only by confining himself to a part of the universe.
Recent observations, however, make it very doubtful whether aquatic Crustacea can hear at all, in the proper sense of the term, and it has been shown that one function, at least, of the so-called otocysts is connected with the equilibration of the body.
According to Piaget, cognitive development involves an ongoing attempt to achieve a balance between assimilation and accommodation that he termed equilibration.
