FRC.

K L E I N T I
BOOK S

397 Bedford

i

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

THE

PROTOPLASMIC THEORY OF LIFE.

BY
JOHN DRYSDALE, M.D. EDIN., F.RM.S.

ONE OF THE EDITOES OF FLETCHER'S " PATHOLOGY ;"
AUTHOR OF " PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF KALI BICHBOMICUM,

AND OF " LIFE AND THE EQUIVALENCE OF FORCE ;"
CO-AUTHOR OF "HEALTH AND COMFORT IN HOUSE-BUILDING.'

LONDON :

BAILLIERE, TINDALL, AND COX.
20, KING WILLIAM STREET, CHARING CROSS.

PARIS : BAILLIERE. MADRID : C. BAILLY-BAILLIERE,
1874.

PREFACE

THE subject of this work was the theme of an inau-
gural address to the Microscopical Society of Liverpool,
delivered by me as President for the year 1874. My
attention had been directed to the subject for several
years, and materials accumulated for the treatment of
it far beyond what could be given in the compass of a
lecture. These materials have been, to some extent,
used in the Second Part, and the rest were intended
for the Third Part of " Life, and the Equivalence of
Force," a work in which I have endeavoured to bring
before the notice of biologists the remarkable anticipa-
tion of certain recent views on the nature of life and
other physiological questions, contained in the, partly
posthumous, works of Dr. John Fletcher, of which I
am the sole surviving editor. It has seemed, however,
better to publish what refers to this subject complete
in itself, leaving my hands free for other matters,
especially the stimuli : hence the present book. As
no claim to original discoveries is here put forward,

RA375186

IV PREFACE.

I have preferred giving extracts or full analyses of the
writings of the original observers to whom the build-
ing up of the Protoplasm theory is due, rather than
writing a compendium which would most probably
fail to give so accurate or interesting an account of
them. Also, as this work is addressed to men of
general culture in science rather than to those techni-
cally educated, I have entered on the general physi-
ology of some parts of the subject more fully than
would be required by the latter. But by these means
it is hoped that men of general scientific culture may
have the opportunity at hand of judging of the im-
portant theory attempted, however imperfectly, to be
set forth in this book, viz., that every action properly
called vital, throughout the vegetable and animal
kingdoms, results solely from the changes occurring in
a structureless, semifluid, nitrogenous matter now
called Protoplasm.

LIVERPOOL, October, 1874,

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

The Two Chief Theories of Life stated, 1 ; Fletcher's Funda-
mental Principles, 3 ; Vitality the Property of Matter in a
State sui generis, 5 ; only One Anatomical Element Exists
in this State, 8 ; Stimuli Essential to Vital Action, 11.

CHAPTER II.

Cell Theory before 1860, 13 ; Schleiden and Schwann, 14 ;
Goodsir, 16 ; Leydig, Max Schultze, Hackel, 19 ; Virchow,
20 ; Cell Theory Goes Against the Anima-Theory, 21 ; Cell
Theory Defective, 23.

CHAPTER III.

Protoplasmic Theory before I860. 24 ; Schwann, 25 ; Dujar-
din's Sarcode, 26 ; Schleiden's Cytoblastema, 27 ; Von Mohl's
Protoplasma, 29 ; Naegeli, 31 ; Alexander Braun, 33 ; Cohn,
35 ; Pringsheim, 36 ; Huxley, 37 ; Summary, 38.

CHAPTER IV.

Beale's Protoplasmic Theory in 1860, 40 ; Separation of Living
from Dead Matter, 44 ; Note on the word Protoplasm, 45 ;
Vital Properties of Protoplasm, 47 ; Protoplasmic Move-
ments, 49 ; Chemical State of Protoplasm, 53 ; Physical
State of Protoplasm, 55 ; Relation of Protoplasmic and Cell
Theory, 57 ; Beale on the Nucleus, 59 ; the Carmine Pro-
cess, 61 ; Proofs of Beale's Theory, 66.

VI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

Process of Nutrition solely Vital, 70 ; Secretion also Results
from Death of Bioplasm, 72 ; Specific Kinds of Protoplasm,
75 ; Fletcher's Dilemma, 76 ; Difficulties of the Protoplasmic
Theory, 78 ; By-products are always formed in Secretion, 80 ;
By-products of Bacterial Life, 81 ; Absorption, 82 ; Re-
gressive Metamorphosis, 87 ; Absorption a Metainorphic
Process, 89 ; Bone Absorption, 90 ; Blood Formation, 91 ;
Bioplasts of Capillaries, 94.

CHAPTER VI.

Cell and Protoplasm History since I860, 96 ; Max Schultze, 97 ;
Haekel, 100 ; Briicke, Lockhart Clarke, 102 ; Strieker, Ranke,
Van Beneden, on the Nucleus, 103 ; Cell Theory virtually
given up, though nominally held, 104 ; Theory of One
Sole Living Matter not generally Adopted, 105 ; Bastian
and Cleland's Objections, 106.

CHAPTER VII.

Commentary on Beale's Nerve Theory, 109 ; Kinds of Nerve
Fibres, 111 ; No Nerve Ends, 113 ; Extreme Subdivision of
Nerve Fibrils, 115 ; Nerve Centres, 116 ; Protoplasm the
Only Living Part of Nerves, 119 ; Nerve Action not Mere
Conduction, 121 ; Nerve Force probably of One Kind only,
123; Trophic Nerve Influence denied by Beale, probably
erroneously, 124 ; Nature of the Nerve Current, 126 ; Argu-
ments for and against its being Electricity, 127*

CHAPTER VIII.

Commentary on Beale's Muscle Theory, 130 ; Beale's Anatomy
of the Fibre, 131 ; it does not contain Protoplasm, 132-3 ;
All Muscles contain Nerves which evolve the Force, 134 ;
Schiff and Kiihne on Idio-Muscular and N euro-Muscular
Irritability, 136 ; Kuhne's Nerveless Zones, 136 ; Chemical
Irritants said to prove Idio-muscular Irritability, 138 ; Gal-
vanism said to furnish the Force for Contraction, 140 ;
Various Authors on the Histology of the Fibre, 141 : Analogy
of Muscular with Electro Magnetic Action, 144 ; Muscle

CONTENTS. vii

Force incomparably greater than that of the Nerve Stimulus,
145 ; Sources of Work immediately Albuminous, although
ultimately Non-Nitrogenous, 146 ; Chemical Changes in
Living Muscles, 147 ; Storing of Oxygen, 149 ; Compen-
satory Processes to prevent Waste of Nitrogen, 151 ; Intra-
muscular Nerve Protoplasm the Source of the whole Muscle
Force, 155 ; Proofs of its Sufficient Quantity, 156 ; Tongue
of Chameleon, 158 ; Intermediate Chemical Force-evolver
formed by the Protoplasm, 159 ; Animal Electricity, 161 ;
Negative Variation accompanies Nerve Action and Animal
and Vegetable Contractions, 162 ; Electricity a Stimulus,
164 ; Cannot be Nerve Force, as it is wasted by Bad Con-
duction, 166; Nerve Force ^probably a Specific Current
Force, 167 ; Muscle-work Inductive, 168 ; Stimulus both
Direct and Derived, 169 ; Conclusion in Favour of Beale's
Theory that Muscular Contraction is a Physical Act, 171,

CHAPTER IX.

Nature of Life, 174 ; Fletcher's and Author's Definitions, 175 ;
H. Spencer, Lewes, and De Blainville, 176 ; Both Vital and
Non-vital Elements in all Functions, 177 ; Molecular Com-
plexity probably the Cause of Vitality, 180 ; Metabolic in-
stead of Vito-Chemical, 182 ; Physiological Units same as
Fletcher's Irritable Matter U83 ; Madden's Complexity Se-
ries, 186 ; Compound Nature of the Elements, 187 ; Ele-
mentary, Chemical, and Metabolic States of Matter, 1 88 ;
Physical State of Protoplasm, 191 ; Molecular Organization
of Protoplasm, 195 ; Dynamic State of Matter, 196 ; Chemical
and Metabolic Action not Mutual, 198 ; Stimuli, 199 ; No
Spontaneity in Living Matter, 200.

CHAPTER X.

Connection of Force with Life and Mind. . Force an Affection
of Matter, 205 ; Definitions of Force, 207 ; Challis's Hydro-
Dynamic Theory, 209 ; Force nothing but MV2, 210 ; Dis-
tinction between Property and Force, 212 ; Secondary Pro-
perties imply Presence of Force, 214 ; Force has no
Determining Power, 216 ; Beale's Vital Power, 218 ; No

Vlll CONTENTS.

such thing as Vital Force, 221 ; Revival of the Vital Prin-
ciple as Force, 223 ; Misuse of the word Force, 224 ; Where
Beale and Fletcher differ, 226 ; Consciousness and Force
have no Mechanical Equivalence, 230 ; Consciousness an In-
cidental Phenomenon, 234 ; Thought a Function of Matter,
235 ; Will cannot create Force, 238 ; Physiological Mate-
rialism, 240 ; Spirit Inconceivable to us, 242 ; Bain and
Lewes on Consciousness controverted, 244.

CHAPTER XL

Albumen and the Physical Basis of Life, 247 ; Huxley's Lan-
guage misunderstood, 248 ; but it was ambiguous, 249 ;
Aquosity Argument, 251 ; Hack el's Ambiguity traced to
his Pantheism, 253 ; HackePs Divine Spirit in Matter, 255 ;
Archigony, 256 ; Plasmagony, 257 ; Herbert Spencer's Auto-
gony, 259 ; Butyrate of Dimethylamin from Inorganic Mate-
rials, 258 ; Spontaneous Generation of Bacteria not proved,
263.

CHAPTER XII.

On So-called Materialism, 265 ; HackePs Materialism, 266 ;
Huxley's Evasion of the Question, 267 ; Fletcher's Mate-
rialism as to Life and Mind, 268 ; Fletcher's Distinction of
Mind from the Immortal Soul, 269 ; Natural Theology no
Science, 273 ; it lends no Support to Religion, 277 ; Samuel
Brown on the failure of the Argument from Design, 281 ;
Science to Sight, Religion to Faith, 288.

THE PROTOPLASMIC THEORY OF LIFE.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION, AND FLETCHER'S THEORY OF ONE ONLY
LIVING MATTER.

WERE it possible even to do so in less than a volume,
it would be tedious and' unprofitable to go over the
history of all the theories of life, so I will begin at
the point where it became clearly apparent that all the
varieties of opinion might be summed up under two
heads —

1. Those which require the addition to ordinary
matter of an immaterial or spiritual essence, substance,
or power, general or local, whose presence is the efficient
cause of life ; and

2. Those which attribute the phenomena of life
solely to the mode of combination of the ordinary ma-
terial elements of which the organism is composed
without the addition of any such immaterial essence,
power, or force.

Up to the year 1835, the balance had been inclining
against the hypothesis of a vital principle, at least in
the crude form hitherto predominant, but the minds of

1

2 PROTOPLASMIC THEORY OF LIFE.

physiologists were far from clear, and the ideas of
some central vital influence, which ruled over all local
actions, or even furnished vital influence to them, were
still in the ascendant.

In 1835, Joh. Muller commenced an essay on
" Organism and Life " with the following words of
Kant : " The cause of the particular mode of existence
of each part of a living body resides in the whole,
while in dead masses each part contains the cause
within itself."* The sense in which this was taken is,
that some central power or influence in each individual,
presided over the formation, nutrition, and vital action
of all parts, and correlated them into an harmonious
whole, and, in fact, furnished vital influence or power
to the separate parts. This is just what the vital
principle was assumed to effect in olden times, and, in
fact, to ascribe a power of this nature to any, even
material parts, such as a central nervous system, under
the name of "vital force and power," or "directing
agency," or " directing power," is nothing better than
the old vital principle with a new name.

We see, thus, in the above-mentioned work, the
author, then the highest authority in Germany, and,
.at the same time, an original observer, has, as it were,
his face still directed backwards to the old theory of a
spirit, or, at least, central power of some kind animat-
ing each living individual, and, with the help of the
material organs, performing the functions of life.
Such a work soon belongs to the past.

In the same year appeared another work on physi-

* Strieker, Syd. Soc., vol. xlvii. p. 1.

THEORY OF ONE ONLY LIVING MATTER. 3

ology by an author whose face was directed to the
future, and who, abandoning all the ancient theories
of spiritual essences as the efficient causes of vital
phenomena, referred these latter solely to the inherent
properties of the elementary parts, and thus placed
himself in harmony with the philosophy of the
future.

In this year, 1835, in his masterly work, " Rudi-
ments of Physiology," Dr. Fletcher, of Edinburgh,
systematically reviewed, for the last time, the old
hypothesis of a vital spirit, or essence, or principle, as
the cause of life, and gave it, we may suppose, the
coup de grace, for the question is seldom argued now
in physiological works, and it is the fashion to treat it
as an exploded theory, even by those who have not
clearly apprehended the alternative, and are really
still following it under other names. That alternative
was, however, clearly apprehended by Fletcher, and
with such force that he was impelled by the mere
course of consistent reasoning to frame an hypothesis
of the anatomical nature of the living matter which
anticipates, in a remarkable manner, the discovery of
the protoplasmic theory of life, which is our subject
here. The two chief points laid down by him are —

1. That if vitality do not reside in a separate prin-
ciple, but depends upon the mode of combination of
the elements of the organic parts themselves, there
•can be no central vital influence communicable
to the parts and dominating them, for the vitality of
each must be inherent in itself, and, as a property of
the material compound, cannot be transferred to the
smallest distance ; each part, organ, arid even cell, there-

1—2

4 PROTOPLASMIC THEORY OF LIFE.

fore, possesses a quasi-independent life, and they are
all bound together to form an individual merely by
the ties of a central nervous system and common cir-
culation or some similar means when these are not
present. This is not taught as anything original, and
it was a view more or less distinctly expressed by
the older physiologists, e.g., Fallopius.

2. That the property of vitality does not reside
equally in the various organic structures requiring
such different physical properties, but is restricted
solely to a universally-diffused, pulpy, structureless
matter, similar to that of the ganglionic nerves and to
the gray matter of the cerebro-spinal nervous system.
This is, as far as I am aware, a perfectly original
hypothesis.

No doubt it is easy enough to perceive that the in-
vocation of a spiritual principle which shall cause
common, chemically-combined matter to display the
powers of life, as an explanation, is no more philoso-
phical than to believe in the capacity of such agencies
as witchcraft and magic to do work without adequate
physical power. But when we come to particulars,
and ask the physiologist who asserts that vitality is
merely the property oj.a certain chemical combina-
tion of matter just asKquosrtlv is the property of the
chemical compound we call water, how it comes that
from no known chemical action or process can we ob-
tain results the least like living action, he is at fault.
He can name and define by chemical tests the matter
after death, which a moment before was living, but he
cannot now perform a single vital function with this
very matter presumed to be identical, and if he does

THEORY OF ONE ONLY LIVING MATTER. 5

not fall back upon the notion of some essence or prin-
ciple which escaped at death, leaving the chemical
compound the same, he speaks with extreme vague-
ness of a peculiar variety of force called vital, evolved
from the chemical force of the food by subtle chemical
processes which we cannot as yet imitate in the la-
boratory. It is easy to show that no possible form of
iorce, as defined in physics, could compel chemical com-
pounds, such as albumen, fibrin, and others presumedly
making up the living matter, to act differently from
the manner in which they must act according to their
molecular composition, as albumen, protein, and the
rest.

The difficulty was felt and acknowledged by
Fletcher, and instead of evading it, he met it at once,
and declared that the truly living matter was not in
simply a somewhat different chemical state from that
in which it exists after death — such a statement would
be a mere bald truism — but that the elements are in a
state of combination not to be called chemical at all in
the ordinary sense, but one which is utterly sui generis.
That, in fact, no albumen, fibrin, myosin, protagon, or fats
exist at all in_the_living_ matter, but that the sum of
the elements of all these is united into a compound,
for which we have no chemical name, and of the com-
plex mode in which the atoms are combined we can
form no idea ; and it is only at the moment of death
that those chemical compounds, with which we are
familiar, take their origin. In fact, that death means
simply the resolution of this complex combination
into the simpler compounds, albumen, fibrin, and the
rest, which we find on analysis. Among the expres-

6 PROTOPLASMIC^THEORY OF LIFE.

sions of Fletcher on this point, I may quote the
following :

" It is only at the instant of the cessation of tho
vitality of each organized tissue that these compounds
or reputed proximate principles are formed — at that
instant when the power called chemical affinity succeeds
another power which may be called vital affinity^, and by
which it had been previously superseded, and common
chemical compounds are all that is left of that organized
mass into which the elements had been associated."
Nor is this " power called vital affinity " any essence
or force added to the living matter, for "irritability or
vitality is a property of organized or living matter, as
characteristic of this as inflammability of phosphorus,
or elasticity is of ivory." Again : " The process of secre-
tion, by which the ultimate ingredients of all vege-
table and animal compounds, whatever they may be,
are brought together, is perhaps an infinitely more
subtle and searching power than that of common
chemical affinity." Nevertheless, it is not anything
foreign to the properties of matter, for he adds, "Secre-
tion is a process, although not identical with, still an-
alogous to, common chemical affinity."*

With such sharply defined distinctions between the
chemical and vital state of combination of the atoms

* The clear expressions of Fletcher gave no countenance to any
ambiguity respecting the nature of his living or "irritable matter, !>
such as has lately been experienced respecting protoplasm by the ap-
plication of that word both to living and dead matter. "Chemical
analysis accordingly must be considered as useful in showing us, not
what such matter was composed of while it possessed vitality, but
what it is composed of afterwards " (135). And, he adds in a note,
"The grave-digger, in Hamlet, spoke more ' by the rule' in these
matters — * One that was a woman,' says he, ' but, rest her soiil, she
is dead.' "

THEORY OF ONE ONLY LIVING MATTER. 7

of matter, as might be expected Fletcher gives no
countenance to the idea of any intermediate stage
between them — any stage, as it were, common to both
which would permit the gradation of one into the
other. There, is no such thing as vito-chemical in the
sense of partaking of both states. On the contrary,
the division is sharp, abrupt, and absolute, and be-
tween them is an unfathomable gulf.

Vitality is thus a property inherent in each particle
of the living matter, and as all the parts of a complex
organism differ in function, each part has a specific
kind of vitality peculiar to itself. An individual of
any species is thus a complex congeries of a number of
subordinate quasi-independent living units,, whose life
is complete in themselves. It is impossible even to
touch upon the large question of the development of
the germ into the harmonious arrangement of different
organs and parts in perfect adaptation to their pur-
pose, but it may be stated that in the absence of any
central, overruling, semi-rational, vital principle, Fletcher
holds "that the development of those parts is immedi-
ately effected by certain inherent powers, of a different
nature indeed, but not less definite in their operation
than those which determine the crystalization of a
mineral " (i. 65).

With respect to the second proposition, that this pe-
culiar property of vitality does not reside in the tissues
indiscriminately, but in one anatomical element alone,
it is sufficiently obvious that as the various tissues
differ extremely in their physical properties, and these
latter are almost exactly the same after as before
death, it is hardly to be expected that the living

8 PROTOPLASMIC THEORY OF LIFE.

matter can die into or rearrange itself in a short time
into a number of different forms, which shall possess
exactly the same physical properties in the vital as in
the ordinary state of combination. It is likewise to
be expected that as the vital or metabolic molecular
changes in the living matter must be very rapid and
complicated, the physical state of it cannot be hard or
rigid, and this agrees with what has been long known of
the parts in which life is most active and intense, viz.,
the gra}T matter of the nervous system. Moreover,
we know that there is no example of life existing in
any gaseous or purely liquid fluid. These considera-
tions narrow the probable field of the seat of vitality
very much, and the following question thereupon
is raised by Fletcher : — " Admitting that irritability or
vitality, general and specific, is a property of the
organized solids alone, it becomes a question of the
highest interest whether it be directly inherent in
each of the organized tissues, either of plants or
animals, or whether it merely appears to be possessed
by them all in virtue of -some one which is universally
distributed over the organized being, and inextricably
interwoven with every other " (ii. p. 55). He ex-
amines this question, and by an interesting train of
reasoning, based chiefly on arguments derived from
comparative anatomy and physiology, he comes to
the conclusion that vitality is not inherent in any
liquid, nor in any of the rigid structures, and
that it is only in virtue of a specially living matter,
•universally diffused and intimately interwoven with
its texture, that any tissue or part possesses vitality.
Therefore, he " must deny any direct participation in

THEORY OF ONE ONLY LIVING MATTER. 9

irritability or vitality to those peculiar aggregations of
matter which go to form respectively the cellular,
dermoid, mucous, serous, vascular, fibrous, osseous, car-
tilaginous, or muscular tissues," and also to the white
matter of the nerves. Thus every one of the struc-
tures possessing any degree of rigidity, usually de-
nominated the living tissues, is in reality dead just
as much as cuticle, hair, nails, and all the pure fluids.

.The only truly living matter consists of the gray^l
matter of the ganglionie nerves, which he held to be ^
universally diffused, and the gray matter of the brain /
and spinal marrow.

The physical and chemical description of this one
true and only living matter is that of " a pulpy, trans-
lucent, homogeneous matter, yielding, after death,
fibrin." Thus we have the remarkable conclusion

/that all that is properly called structure and gives
form and beauty and fitness for purpose to animals

I and plants is dead, and composed of merely chemically
combined elements, just as we find it after death.
Here then is an ample field for the display of those
mechanical and chemical actions, which are certainly
largely represented in the functions of living beings,
without trenching on the truly vital actions. We may,
without difficulty, now perceive how the bones give
firmness and support ; how the teeth grind the hardest
substances ; how the arteries and veins form a perfect
system of conduits for nutrient fluid ; how the fibrous,
elastic, and connective tissues perform their respective
physical functions; how the muscles form an appa-
ratus, admirably adapted for the physical conditions of
motion in a particular direction, while a purely vital

10 PROTOPLASMIC THEORY OF LIFE.

process may be concerned in the perception of the
stimulus and transformation of the needful force ; how
osmosis, chemical fermentation, interchange of oxygen
and carbonic acid by the haemoglobin, and all the
various processes, strictly chemical and physical of
animals and plants, are performed in harmony with
vital actions, properly so-called. These last, residing
in this "nitrogenous, pulpy, translucent, homogeneous
matter, yielding, after death, fibrin," and which is
everywhere interwoven with the tissues according to
the degree to which they can be called living tissues,
of course, must vary in strict dependence on the
changes in quantity and quality of this marvellous
combination of matter — so utterly unlike ordinary che-
mical compounds, and which alone possesses the faculty
of growth or self-renewal and increase from heteroge-
neous matter. I With every vital action, including for-
mation and absorption of tissue and secretions, assimi-
lation, respiration; generation ; with every evolution
of force ; with every sensation, thought, and act of
volition, some portion of this wonderful substance
must pass from the vital down to the chemical state —
must be consumed, in fact — and a corresponding quan-
tity of new living matter assimilated from the pa-
bulum.

The process of assimilation, lie held, was always truly
vital, and the components of the tissues were never
absorbed and merely deposited unchanged from the
nutrient fluid, but were always, however near in compo-
sition, decomposed, and their elements rearranged in the
process ; and so marvellous is the power of the living

THEORY OF ONE ONLY LIVING MATTER. 11

matter in analysis and in producing new syntheses, that
he thinks reasons are not wanting to lead us to suppose
that it may resolve and transmute the so-called simple
elements themselves.

The intimate dependence of every phase of vital ac-
tion, and of the different properties of the living matter,
throughout the whole range of animals and plants, on
a corresponding change of molecular composition of the
living matter, made up as it is of the same few ulti-
mate elements, cannot as yet be demonstrated experi-
mentally, because finer analyses of the products of
different varieties of living matter, after death, are
still wanting owing to the difficulty of its isolation >
and also, because this, no doubt, mayj consist in the
mere arrangement of the atoms in the extraordinarily
complex molecules of the living matter, as we see in
ordinary chemistry with the various series of isomeric
bodies.

Not only is every vital action traced to molecular
change and to consumption and regeneration of this
structureless, semi-fluid matter, combined in a way
entirely sui generis, but the initiation of these changes
is brought by Fletcher into absolute dependence on <
stimuli, and all spontaneity or autonomy is denied to *
matter in the living just as in the dead state. Thus
every physiological action is reduced to dependence on
adequate causes exactly in the same way as the phe- ?
nomena of the inorganic world. The necessity for
stimuli to all muscular motion, and to the senses, and
to many secretions, is generally recognized, but that
they are equally essential for growth, develop-

12 PRdTOPLASMIC THEORY OF LIFE.

ment, and nutrition, is overlooked by many physiolo-
gists, who still speak of certain actions and functions
as spontaneous, and as thereby manifesting a distinc-
tion between the organic and inorganic kingdoms of
nature.

CHAPTER II.

CELL THEORY BEFORE 1860.

THE progress of physiological knowledge from the
time of Fletcher may be said to be bound up in the
history of the cellular theory, which may be con-
sidered practically to have begun in 1838, when the
microscope was sufficiently perfected to give a solid
basis for the observation of facts. The hypothetical
anticipation of it by various authors in preceding
times, although interesting, need not detain us, and I
may merely refer those desirous of studying it to Pro-
fessor James Tyson's excellent work on the cell doc-
trine. Taking up the subject from 1838, I will
endeavour to select from the bewildering mass of
details and conflicting statements which have accumu-
lated since then those points which have a definite
bearing on the principles of the question. This may
be best done by tracing the cell doctrine in its com-
plete form up to the time when the cell was generally
accepted as the ultimate elementary unit of life;
then, by tracing again from the beginning the doc-
trine which is believed by many to have now sup-
planted it, viz., that the place of the cell is to be
taken by one of its constituents — the protoplasm.

14 CELL THEORY BEFORE 1860.

This may be given up to the period of its full develop-
ment by Dr. Lionel Beale, and after that a review of
the present state of knowledge upon these, in some
respects, rival theories. This method will, I think,
conduce to clearness of understanding the subject,
better than the strictly chronological method in which
both are mingled together.

Schleiden, who was the founder of the cell theory,
though by him restricted to plants, defines the vegetable
cell as " the elementary organ which constitutes the sole
essential form-element of all plants, and without which a
plant cannot exist ; and as consisting, when fully deve-
loped, of a cell wall composed of cellulose, lined with a
semi-fluid, nitrogenous coating." With him, therefore,
the cell consisted of two parts, viz., a vesicle and semi-
fluid contents. In plants the cell forms are distinct, and
easily recognized, and thus, when the conception of a
similar elementary organ was extended to the animal
kingdom by Schwann, in 1838, it is not to be wondered
at that the cellular form was expected to be universal.
Schwann added to Schleiden's two elements a third —
the nucleus — which he deemed also of essential im-
portance, and to be present in all cells, if not always,
at least in some stage of their existence. On his
authority this threefold doctrine of the cell became
universally prevalent for a time. I give here Schwann's
original definition of his theory, as some points in it
have been overlooked or forgotten in the mass of
controversial writing this subject has provoked : —

" The following admits of universal application to the forma-
tion of cells :— There is, in the first instance, a structureless
substance present, which is sometimes quite fluid, at others

SCHLEIDEN, SCHWANN, HENLE. 15

more or less gelatinous. This substance possesses within itself,
in a greater or lesser measure, according to its chemical quali-
ties, and the degree of its vitality, a capacity to occasion the
production of cells. When this takes place, the nucleus usually
appears to be formed first, and then the cell around it. The
formation of cells bears the same relation to organic nature that
crystallization does to inorganic. The cell, when once formed,
continues to grow by its own individual powers, but is, at the
same time, directed by the influence of the entire organism in
such manner as the design of the whole requires. This is the
fundamental phenomenon of all animal and vegetable vegeta-
tion. It is alike equally consistent with those instances in
which young cells are formed within parent cells, as with those
in which the formation goes on outside of them. The genera-
tion of the cells takes place in a fluid, or in a structureless sub-
stance in both cases. We will name this substance in which
the cells are formed, cell- germinating material (zellenkeimstoff),
or cytoblastema. It may be figuratively compared to the
mother-lye from which crystals are deposited " (Syd. Soc., 1847,
p. 39).

We perceive that Schwann added little to the conception of
Schleiden, but he extended it to all organisms, whether animal
or vegetable, and applied it with considerable success to the
details of the formation of animal tissues, in which process the
whole three cell elements were assumed to play a part, and a
distinctively vital one. Schwann was also more decided in ad-
mitting the free origin of cells in a blastema than Schleiden.

However, in proportion as the cell theory was ap-
plied more extensively in the animal kingdom it
became more and more difficult to maintain the three-
fold nature of the cell.

In giving now a general view of the development of
the cell theory I will not attempt to give a complete
history, apportioning to each observer his share of the
merits in the building up of the theory. I will merely
quote in full, or analyze, those memoirs which mark

16 CELL THEORY BEFORE 1860— GOODSIR.

the chief stages in its progress, with a few connecting
observations.

Several important changes were introduced into the ahove
theory hefore it became for a time established, in spite of these
changes, still as a cell theory. In 1841 Henle adopted the cell
theory of Schleiden and Schwann, but pointed out the multi-
plication of cells by division and budding. In the same year
Dr. Martin Barry showed the reproduction of cells by division
of the parent nucleus, and confirmed Schleiden in the im-
portance of the nuclei, as new cell-formers. But the first im-
portant contributions to the cell theory, after Schwann, were
the memoirs of J. Goodsir, in 1842 and 1846 ("Anatomical
Memoirs," vol. ii.), and they still remain probably the most im-
portant till the time of Dr. Beale. The first was on secreting
structures, and as growth and secretion are substantially the
same vital processes the theory of Schwann received elucida-
tion and development from another side, as it were. Since the
time of Malpighi, the secreting glands were known to be com-
posed essentially of tubes with blind extremities, but the
exact seat of the vital process of secretion was not agreed upon.
By Fletcher, and probably the majority of physiologists, it
was supposed to be the walls of the capillary vessels. Schwann
suggested it was in the epithelium of the mucous membrane
of the ducts, and Purkinje hypothetically placed it more
definitely in the nucleated epithelium, but did not verify that
hypothesis by observation. Goodsir brings together a number
and variety of observations on the secreting organs of animals
from the mollusca up to mammals, and finds a common cha-
racter running through them all, viz., that the specific secretion
is found inside the nucleated epithelial cells, between the
nucleus and the wall of the cell. The animals were selected
on account of the striking colour possessed by the secretion,
such as the Loligo sagittata, on account of its ink-bag ; the
Phallusia mdgaris, for the dark-brown fluid of its hepatic
organ ; the Janthina fragilis, for the purple fluid secreted by
the inner surface of its mantle, and which is the source of the
Tyrian dye, &c. In many cells the secretion is so transparent
and colourless, that ocular proof of its formation within the

GOODSIR. 17

cell is impossible, and no chemical test could be applied. In
the first publication of this memoir, in the " Transactions of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh," he follows mainly Schwann,
thinking that the nucleus is the reproductive organ of the cell,
and has nothing to do with the formation of the secretion. He
adds — " I believe that the cell wall itself is the structure by
the organic action of which each cell becomes distended with
its peculiar secretion at the expense of the ordinary nutritive
medium which surrounds it" (p. 417). But in the republica-
tion of the article, in 1845, he says — " The ultimate secreting
structure is the primitive cell endowed with a peculiar organic
agency, according to the secretion it is destined to produce. I
shall henceforward name it the primary secreting cell. It con-
sists, like other primitive cells, of three parts — the nucleus, the
cell wall, and the cavity. . . . The secretion within a primitive
cell is always situated between the nucleus and the cell wall,
and would appear to be a product of the nucleus n (p. 417).

He then states at p. 426 : — " Since the publication of
my paper on the secreting structures, in the ' Transactions
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,' in 1842, I have satis-
fied myself that I was in error in attributing to the cell
wall the important function of separating and prepar-
ing the secretion contained in the cell cavity. The nucleus
is the part which effects this. The secretion contained
in the cavity of the cell appears to be the product of the solu-
tion of successive developments of the nucleus, which in some
instances contains in its component vesicles the peculiar secre-
tion, as in the bile cells of certain mollusca, and in others be-
comes developed into the secretion itself, as in seminal cells.
In every instance the nucleus is directed towards the source of
nutritive matter, the cell wall is opposed to the cavity into
which the secretion is cast. This accords with that most im-
portant observation of Dr. Martin Barry, on the function of
the nucleus in cellular development."

Having, as above, described the nucleus as the generative, or
reproductive organ of the cell, he now shows that repro-
duction and secretion are in reality varieties of the same pro-
cess. " There are, in fact," he says, " three orders of secretions

2

18 CELL THEORY BEFORE 1860— GOODSIR.

— 1. A true secretion — i.e., matter formed in the primary se-
creting cell cavities ; 2. A mixture of fluid formed in these cell
cavities, with the developed or undeveloped nuclei of the cells
t hemselves ; and, 3. It maybe a number of secondary cells passing
out entire." These he supports by observations on the testicles
of the Squalus cornubicus, which show a continual production
of cells within cells, which become developed into complete
spermatozoa and are thrown off, the glandular parenchyma
being in a constant state of change, contemporaneous with and
proportioned to the rapidity of the secretion ; therefore " there
are not, as has hitherto been supposed, two vital processes
going on at the same time in the gland, growth and secretion,
but only one, viz., growth — the only difference between this
kind of growth and that which occurs in other organs being,
that a portion of the product is from the anatomical condition
of the part thrown out of the system" (p. 422).

In 1845 he adds the following : —

" I have also had an opportunity of verifying, and to an ex-
tent which I did not at the time fully anticipate, the remark-
able vital properties of the third order of secretion, referred to
in the memoir to which I have just alluded. The distinctive
character of secretions of the third order is, that when thrown
into the cavity of the gland, they consist of entire cells, instead
of being the result of the partial or entire dissolution of the
secreting cells. It is the most remarkable peculiarity of this
order of secretions that after the secreting cells have been
separated from the gland, and cast into the duct or cavity, and
therefore no longer a component part of the organism, they re-
tain so much individuality of life, as to proceed in their deve-
lopment to a greater or less extent in their course along the
canal or duct, before they arrive at their full extent of elimina-
tion. The most remarkable instance of this peculiarity of
secretions of this order is that discovered by my brother, and
recorded by him in a succeeding chapter. He has observed
that the seminal secretion of the decapodous crustaceans un-
dergoes successive developments in its progress down the duct
of the testis, but that it only becomes developed into sperma-
tozoa after coition, and in the spermatheca of the female. He

NUCLEUS BEFORE 1860. 19

has also ascertained that, apparently for the nourishment of
the component cells of a secretion of this kind, a quantity of
albuminous matter floats among them, by absorbing which they
derive materials for development after separation from the
walls of the gland. This albuminous matter he compares to
the substance which, according to Dr. Martin Barry's researches,
results from the solution of certain cells of a brood, and affords
nourishment to their survivors. It is one of other instances in
which cells do not derive their nourishment from the blood, but
from parts in their neighbourhood, which have undergone solu-
tion ; and it involves a principle which serves to explain many
processes in health and disease, some of which have been re-
ferred to in other parts of this work."

From these it appears obvious that much of what was only
plainly understood long afterwards is anticipated, particularly
that the vital action resides in one constituent of the cell,
chiefly if not entirely, here called the nucleus, and also the in-
dependent life of detached and migratory particles of living
matter.

The paper on " Centres of Nutrition," 1845, does not bear so
much on our subject, except in the unqualified assertion that
cells never arise except from pre-existing cells, which was after-
wards adopted by Remak and Virchow. It contains, probably,
all that is true in the theory of cell territories which Virchow
puts forth without sufficient acknowledgment of Goodsir's
priority, and does not contain the addendum of Virchow, viz.,
the juice canals which Beale has shown to have no existence.

The comparative unimportance of the cell wall was also shown
by Naegeli in 1845, and by Alexander Braun in 1851, who both,
in fact, maintained that it was non-essential. The credit is
usually, however, given to Leydig, of having, in 1857, first de-
cidedly declared that the cell membrane was non-essential, and
that the cell consisted of " a soft substance enclosing a nucleus."
This was confirmed in 1861 by Max Schultze, who observed
that very many of the most important kinds of cells were
destitute of membrane, and he defined the cell as " a little mass
of protoplasm, inside of which lies a nucleus. The nucleus, as
•well as the protoplasm, are products by partition of similar

2—2

20 CELL THEORY BEFORE 1860 — VIRCHOW.

components of another cell." The cell wall being given up, the
threefold nature of the cell as the elementary vital unit disap-
pears, and physiologists go back to Schleiden's idea of its dual
nature ; but the two elements are now nucleus and cell con-
tents, and as long as the cell theory is maintained, the import-
ance of the nucleus becomes essential. "A plasma-lump
without a nucleus is no longer a cell," says Hackel (" Gen.
Morph.," i. 273). Upon the consistence, and structure, and
physiological nature of the nucleus, the most conflicting and
manifold statements and opinions are given by botanists and
zoologists. It would be tedious and superfluous to go into
these in detail, so I will merely note here the position it occu-
pied in the cell theory up to 1860. It is said to be always
round, or a more or less prolonged oval, whatever be the shape
of the cell, and to be of the same chemical composition as the
protoplasm in which it lies embedded, or hardly distinguish-
able from it. It frequently contains within it a smaller similar
body, the nucleolus, and sometimes within that may be detected
a still smaller one, the nucleolinus. The essentiality of this
body, and its supposed functions in the cell theory, were thus
summed up by Virchow, in 1858 : —

" The nucleus plays an extremely important part within the
cell .... less connected^ with the function and specific office
of the cell, than with its maintenance and multiplication as a
living part. The specific (in a narrower sense, animal) function
is most distinctly manifested in muscles, nerves, and gland cells ;
the peculiar actions_of which — contraction, sensation, and secre-
tion— appear to be connected in no direct manner with the
nuclei. But that whilst fulfilling all its functions the element
remains an element, that it is not annihilated nor destroyed by
its continual activity — this seems essentially to depend upon
the action of the nucleus " (" CeUular Path.," p. 10). Doubts,
however, were thrown before this on the universality of the
nucleus, and in 1854, Max Schultze had described a non-nucle-
ated Amoeba found in the Adriatic — the Amoeba porrecta. The
phenomena spoken of by Virchow will afterwards be seen to
be capable of quite different explanation, nevertheless, the cell
theory in the altered form (contents and nucleus) above noted

INCOMPLETENESS OF THE CELL THEORY. 21

was accepted for many years in medicine ; the cell being in the
words of Virchow " the ultimate morphological unit in which
there is any manifestation of life." The development of cells
form a free blastema was again favoured by Todd and Bowman
in 1856, but since the adoption of Goodsir's proposition by
Virchow, it has been finally abandoned, and the aphorism of
that author omnis cellula e celluld has been substantially ac-
cepted by all. It must be borne in mind that while the non-
essentiality of the cell wall to the completeness of the cell was
generally accepted, nevertheless, as yet, no one had distinctly
denied to it in all cases the participation in truly vital functions
when present, and it is especially to the cell membrane that
Schwann attributes the power he first named metabolic, and
which it is here proposed to accept as synonymous with vital.

By the cell theory, we have thus arrived at a system
by which " every animal presents itself as a sum of
vital unities, any one of which manifests all the cha-
racteristics of life " (Virchow, p. 13). Likewise the
specific characters of the life of each part is inherent
in these unities themselves, and is not assigned to them
by any central life or power of a spiritual or other
nature. Nor can anything of the nature of life be
communicated from one of these unities to another
except by way of growth and subdivision. By the
general acceptance of this theory the first of the prin-
ciples contended for by Fletcher is thus seen to be
established, and the hypothesis of a single central
vital principle, or anima, or spirit which gives the
unity and vital character to individuals in the animal
kingdom is shown to be superfluous and inconsistent
with the facts. As observed by Schwann, " the
wbole organism subsists only by means of the re-
ciprocal action of the single elementary parts " — the

22 CELL THEORY BEFORE 1860.

expression reciprocal action, being taken in its widest
sense as implying the preparation of material by one
elementary part, which another requires for its own
nutrition. Thus the majority of the individual cells
may be unable to subsist when separated from the
whole organism, because it is only while together
they can obtain the nutriment and other conditions
requisite for continued life. Therefore, " the cause of
nutrition and growth resides, not in the organism
as a whole., but in the separate elementary parts —
the cells. The failure of growth in the case of any
particular cell, when separated from an organized body,
is as slight an objection to this theory, as it is an
objection against the independent vitality of a bee,
that it cannot continue long in existence after being
separated from its swarm. The manifestation of the
power which resides in the cell depends upon con-
ditions to which it is subject only when in connection
with the whole (organism) " (Syd. Soc., 1847, p. 192).

Nevertheless when we see that in the cell theory
proper, the smallest living unit is a compound possess-
ing structure, viz., the wall and contents which are
differently constituted both physically and chemically,
we can no longer conceive that its vitality can be the
property of the matter of which it is composed. For
a property must be present in full measure and in-
separable from the smallest indivisible molecule of
which any mass is composed. For instance, no one
would think of attributing aquosity or the distinguish-
ing properties of water to it only in the form of single
liquid drops or single crystals of ice, far less to a drop
surrounded by a coating of something else, but always

INCOMPLETENESS OF THE CELL THEORY. 23

to the smallest indivisible molecule of hydric oxide
in whatever physical state. Therefore we are again
thrown back upon the notion of a concrete life added
to a certain compound organized structure, a notion
not more conceivable or more tenable for simple cells
than for the whole individual. Hence if vitality is to
be a property of matter at all, it must be of a physically
homogeneous substance, every molecule of which must
possess that attribute. Moreover, in all modifications
of the cell theory, even those which allow for the
occasional absence of the cell wall, that part when
present is believed to take an active part in the strictly
vital process of transformation into tissue. Now the
cell wall is in ail cases solid and possessing a certain
rigidity, and in different cells it passes by insensible
shades through an infinite variety of degrees of hard-
ness, and of states, many of which are known to be
incompatible with life. Likewise it is continuous
with, and shades off into, the intercellular substances
which offer an infinite variety of composition, many
of them being non-nitrogenous — a composition which
we know is incompatible with life; further, the cell
wall, or what corresponds to it functionally, passes
in other cases by insensible degrees into an infinite
variety of true fluid secretions which are soluble and
diffusible — which no living thing is.

For these reasons, and that given at p. 7, we are
driven to the conclusion that the attribute of vitality
cannot reside in anything of the nature of a cell wall,
and therefore of a cell taken as a whole.

CHAPTER III.

THE PROTOPLASMIC THEORY BEFORE 1860.

EVEN before the supremacy of the cell was shaken,
biologists began to notice that the cell theory most in
vogue through Yirchow's compendium was not the
theory of Schwann in its complete form, and the
opinion was expressed by Max Schultze* that "in.
many points we must go back to the purer form of
the doctrine."^ Now what is the pure form ? At
p. 165 of Schwann's work we read " that in the fun-
damental phenomena attending the exertion of pro-
ductive power in organic nature a structureless sub-
stance is present in the first instance, either around or
in the interior of cells already existing ; and cells are
formed in it in accordance with certain laws, which
cells become developed in various ways into the ele-
mentary parts of organisms."

In respect to this cytoblastema, or amorphous

* "Protoplasma der Rhizopoden," p. 63.

f Perhaps we should go further back to C. F. Wolff, who traced
back the point of departure of all development, both animal and
vegetable, to a "clear, viscous, solidescible nutritive fluid possessed
of no organization."

SCHWANN'S CYTOBLASTEMA. 25

substance, in which new cells are to be formed, he
states that it may exist within ready-formed cells,
and outside of them, before they are formed ; that it
is the matrix and also the nourishment of cells ; that
it draws its own nourishment from the blood, but that
it differs chemically in different parts from that blood,
although how that difference is produced he does not
explain, for it is afterwards referred to the metabolic
power of the future cell wall and nucleus. Moreover,
the cytoblastema is said to possess vitality in various
degrees, but that may also be totally destitute of it,
as, for example, a boiled infusion of malt is said to be
the cytoblastema of yeast cells. Now, if we subtract
from these opinions what relates to the implied origin
of living cells from dead chemical matters, which part
has been eliminated by nearly all men of science, we
find that the primary formative matter is a structure-
less substance, possessing vitality, and proceeding
from pre-existing living matter. And it will not be
difficult to explain the confusion of the above statements
by the simple supposition that portions of it (even if
too minute to escape detection with the then existing
microscope) were present or not in the different cir-
cumstances : and we may thus reconcile the observa-
tions of this great pioneer with the discoveries of
future investigators. Let us see how far this is borne
out by the subsequent history of this structureless
living matter.

The first notice of what appears to be identical with the
structureless living matter of Schwann, and the irritable or
living matter of Fletcher, is found in a memoir by Dujar-
din, in vol. iii. of the " Annales des Sciences Naturelles," in

Jf

26 PROTOPLASMIC THEJ9^ BEFORTET'IS^O' — DUJARDIN.

1835. When speaking of the Rhizopoda, which he thus names
for the first time, he says, " On ne pent voir la de veritable
tentacules, c'est une substance animale primaire qui s'etend et
pousse en quelque sorte, comme des racines." And he speaks
of the simplicity of the tissue, calling it a " sorte de mucus
doue du mouvement spontane" et de la contractilite " (p. 314).
His next mention of the subject is in vols. iv. and v. of the
same work. In this paper which treats of certain Rhizopoda,
chiefly the Gromia oviforinis, and Miliola and Amcebea, he shows
the absence of any investing membrane. He first uses the term
sarcode in describing the movements of the Proteus tenax,
stating that, before its death, " il se montre entoure de cette
matiere diaphane glutineuse que j'appelerai sarcode, et qui
exsude a travers le sac membraneux " (p. 354).

In another lively individual he notices and figures two glo-
bular exudations of sarcode, which changed their place during
the movements of the animal, and his subsequent descriptions
and plates give those movements and bulgings which all who
have observed Amoebae and similar organisms, are familiar with.
He attributes the movements to an inherent force in the mass
of the sarcode, but that it is rather a force of extension than
contraction which enables the Ehizopoda to push out these
prolongations (359).

He then enters on a treatise in detail (364) upon the sarcode.
" I propose to name thus, what others have called a living jelly,
viz., that glutinous substance, diaphanous, insoluble in water,
contracting into globular masses, sticking to the dissection
needles, and thus capable of being drawn out into thread like
mucus, and, finally, which is found in all the inferior animals
interposed between the other structural elements " (367). He
then describes its contractile movements, and thus accounts for
the formation of vacuoles, which had been erroneously taken
for stomachs by Ehrenberg. The rest of the memoir is devoted
to the description of various flagellate infusoria, and to demon-
strating the absence of those organs which had been given to
them by Ehrenberg.

The next in chronological order, viz., 1838, were the views of
Schleiden, which are peculiarly interesting as prefiguring the

SCHLEIDEN. 27

conclusions ultimately come to by Dr. Beale. Schleiden was
struck by the observation by Robert Brown, in 1833, of the
frequent presence of an opaque spot in the cells of the epi-
dermis of the orchideae, which he named the nucleus, but did
not follow out the matter further. Schleiden, on the other
hand, finding it constantly present in the cells of young em-
bryoes, and in the newly-formed albumen, perceived its signifi-
cance in the development of the cell, and, finally concluding
that it was an universal elementary organ of vegetables, and
that by which all cells were formed, named it the cytoblast, or
cell bud. The colour of this is yellowish, or white, or at times
so transparent that in some plants, e.g., the helvelloids, it is
scarcely perceptible from that cause. He observed, also, what
had escaped the notice of Eobert Brown, that some contain one
or more circular bodies which correspond to what have been
since called the nucleoli, and that these were formed earlier
than the nuclei, or cytoblast, and can develop into them, and
hence into cells.

In his first description of the formation of cytoblasts he is.
not very clear. He states that in the gummy matter from
which the tissues of plants are formed a number of granules
make their appearance ; and in this mass organization takes
place, and a gelatinous matter is formed which is ultimately
converted into cellular membrane and fibres. In the above
gummy mass, after the granules, cytoblasts make their appear-
ance, and when full-sized they form cells, as described thus at
p. 238 : " A delicate transparent vesicle rises upon the surface.
This is the young cell, which at first represents a very flat seg-
ment of a sphere, the plane side of which is formed by the
cytoblast." The vesicle gradually expands and increases be-
yond the margin of the cytoblast, and quickly becomes so large
that the latter at last merely appears as a small body enclosed
in one of the side walls between the laminae. " In this situa-
tion it passes through the entire vital process of the cell which
it has formed" if it be not dissolved and absorbed as a useless
member. As a general rule, this last happens ; but there are
exceptions in which it remains, such as the orckidece and
cactece, which continue through life in a lower stage of develop-

28 PROTOPLASMIC THEORY BEFORE 1860 — SCHLEIDEN.

ment, and in some other plants, and also in pollen granules.
In all this is prefigured the more modern doctrine which makes
the nucleus, here alluded to, the truly vital part : but that is
not distinctly recognized by Schleiden, although, in the remark
which immediately follows, he comes very near to the general
principle : " Lastly, many hairs, particularly such as exhibit
motions of the sap within their cells, retain the cytoblasts. It
is at the same time remarkable, and a proof of the close re-
lationship which the cytoblast bears to the whole vital activity
of the cell, that the little currents, which frequently cover the
entire wall like a network, always proceed from and return to
it, and that when in statu integro it is never situated without
the currents " (p. 240).

From the foregoing account of the origin of cytoblasts in the
gummy fluid, Schleiden is generally stated to be an advocate
for exogenous free cell-formation, and Tyson (p. 33) says, " that
it involves a spontaneous generation of the cell." On an atten-
tive study of the original memoir on Phytogenesis, this seems
to me not borne out, although Schleiden is not so clear as
might be wished. For. farther on, he repeats an account of
the process, stating that it takes place in the gummy matter
within the embryonal cell first, and then in the cells descended
from that. The origin of the granules remains doubtful, as from
their extreme minuteness, and often transparency, they cannot at
first be detected ; and frequently a cell will be found to be
absorbed, and two new ones appear in its place, without our
being able to detect the stages of the process : and as we know
that the smallest nucleolus is capable of becoming a cytoblast,
" then indeed we are forced to confess that the imagination
obtains ample latitude for the explanation, in every case of the
generation of infusorial vegetable structures, even without the
aid of a deus ex machind (the generatio spontanea)" He traces
the growth of the whole plant to a repetition of what takes
place in the growth of the embryo, which consists in the forma-
tion of cells within cells. " After the first cells, generally few
in number, are formed, they rapidly expand to such an extent
that they fill the pollen tube, which soon ceases to be per-
ceptible as the original enveloping membrane ; but at the same

MOHL, AND THE FIRST USE OF THE WORD PROTOPLASM. 29

time, several cytoblasts originate in the interior of each of these
cells, and generate new cells, on the rapid expansion of which
the parent cells also cease to be visible, and become absorbed.
The same process is repeated indefinitely " (p. 253). From all
this it is not difficult to see that, without full appreciation of
the fact, — his mind being occupied with the idea of cell-form —
his observations of nature are in harmony with the doctrine
that all these granules, nucleoli, and cytoblasts are masses of
living matter directly descended from pre-existing living mat-
ter, furnished by the germ, and which not only form but sustain
all the vital processes in the formed cells.

The next contribution to the subject is one of particular in-
terest as here for the first time we meet with the word proto-
plasm. It consists of a memoir by Hugo von Mohl, first pub-
lished in 1844, but we may give an analysis of his views taken
from his later work on the " Vegetable Cell," 1853, p. 36.

;< If a tissue composed of young cells be left some time in
alcohol, or treated with nitric or muriatic acid, a very thin
finely granular membrane becomes detached from the inside of
the wall of the cells in the form of a closed vesicle which be-
comes more or less contracted and consequently removes all the
contents of the cell, which are enclosed in this vesicle, from the
wall of the cell. Reasons hereafter to be discussed have led me
to call this inner cell the primordial utricle. Iodine colours
it yellow, and it is therefore probably always nitrogenous.
Cellulose cannot be found in it, and the compound of which it
is composed is as yet unknown. The primordial utricle disap-
pears again with the thickening of the walls, of the vessels, the
cells of the wood, of the pith, of the inner part of the petioli,
and of thick leaves. ... In the centre of the young cell, with
rare exceptions, lies the so-called nucleus of Robert Brown.
.... The remainder of the cell is more or less densely filled
with an opaque viscid fluid of a white colour having granules
intermingled in it, which fluid I call protoplasm. This fluid is
coloured yellow by iodine, coagulated by alcohol and acids, and
contains albumen in abundance, whence young organs are
always very rich in nitrogen. . . . During the growth of the
cell, irregularly scattered cavities are formed in the protoplasm ;

SO PKOTOPLASMIC THEORY BEFORE 1860 — MOHL.

these are originally isolated, and very frequently present
a most deceptive resemblance to delicate-walled cells ;
subsequently, however, they become blended together in
many directions ; the protoplasm is then accumulated at
one side in the vicinity of the nucleus ; on the other side it
coats the inside of the primordial utricle, and these two col-
lections are connected together by thread-like processes,
which are sometimes simple and sometimes branched, so
that the nucleus appears as if suspended in a spider's web in
the centre of the cell. An internal movement of the protoplasm
now begins to be visible — originally no definite arrangement
can be perceived in it ; but the more the protoplasm changes
from the uniform mass which it originally formed into the con-
dition of threads, the more distinctly it can be seen that each
of these threads represents a thinner or thicker stream, which
in one thread flows from the nucleus to the periphery, turns
round there and flows back again in another thread. The
thickness, the position, and the number of these threads are
subject to constant change, which shows beyond a doubt that
the currents move freely through the watery cell sap— and are

not enclosed in membranous canals The nucleus retains

its central position in many cases even when the cell is fully
developed ; e.g,, in Zygnema, but it usually becomes gradually
withdrawn towards one side of the wall of the cell where it
becomes attached by its viscid investment to the primordial
utricle, but always forms the centre of the currents of sap.
The circulation of the protoplasm is very slow. I determined
it in the hairs of the filaments of Tradescentia on an average
of l-500th of a line per second." He gives the details of the
mode of circulation of the sap in the cells which are familiar
to all. After noticing that the nucleus and the protoplasm
gradually diminish with the age of the cell and the circulation
stops, he gives exceptions in which it is retained by the full-
grown cell, e.g., the stinging hairs of the nettle, the hairs of
curcubitaceous plants and of the filaments of Tradescentia, &c.
In those, active vital functions persist and we see the proto-
plasm remains in its integrity. Speaking of the apparently
^ell-like appearance of the vacuoles in the protoplasm he indi-

VON MOHL — NAEGELI. 31

cates its physical state as follows : " Yet if we reflect that the
protoplasm is a viscid fluid which, as its delicate currents show
most distinctly, does not mix with the watery cell sap this ap-
pearance becomes comprehensible enough; the protoplasm
bears the same relation to the cell-sap as a frothing fluid does
to the air contained in its bubbles. The unceasing flow and
continued transformation of the mass of the protoplasm fur-
nish most distinct proof that we have to do with a fluid and
not with an organized structure."

The next important contribution to the subject was made by
Naegeli* in 1844 and 1846. Although he admits the possi-
bility of spontaneous generation of the first cells of plants and
animals apparently for the sake of theoretical completeness,
yet he lays down the law that all ordinary cell formation takes
place exclusively from pre-existing cells. This applies both
to the vegetable and to the reproductive] cell formation (134).
He denies Schleiden's theory that mucilage-granules unite to
form nucleoli, and these to form nuclei, and says that the em-
bryo-sac when cell formation is commencing contains no gran-
ules (105). In all cases of cell multiplication it is the contents
which divide, grow, and cover themselves with membrane ; in
vegetative cell formation only two cells are formed by the di-
vision of the parent cell ; in the reproductive there may be
from one to an indefinite number (137). The individualization
of the contents for the purpose of cell formation takes place
under four forms which he describes. But they all include
two stages : " first the isolation or individualization of a por-
tion of the contents of the parent cell ; the second consistsin
the origin of a membrane around individualized portions of
the contents " (123). In all these cases it is the mucilaginous
cell contents corresponding to the protoplasm of Mohl which is
the active agent, and " whether the mucilage be free or lie in
contact with a membrane it makes no difference in its func-
tion " (125). " The cell membrane is an investment lying upon
the surface of the contents, secreted by the contents them-
selves " (128). It is never a deposit from the fluid as Schleiden

* "On the Nuclei, Formation, and Growth of Vegetable Cells."
Bay Society, 1849, p. 95.

32 PROTOPLASMIC THEORY BEFORE 1860 — NAEGELI.

and Schwann say, and does not originate by any chemical
action of one kind of substance upon another, but is an organic
process — in fact a secretion (128). Likewise " the membrane
bears no immediate share in the production of the new cell, it
is merely the contents of the parent cell that here come into
consideration" (138). The young cell first appears as a layer of
mucilage surrounding a nucleus. Then a membrane becomes
visible on the surface of the mucilage. Then as the cell ex-
pands there is a hollow in the interior, and the mucilage remains
on the wall as a thin layer. This layer is what Mohl has named
the primordial utricle. It is thicker at the place where the
nucleus lies, and the latter is often imbedded in it : and it was
this circumstance no doubt which made Schleiden think that it
lay between the two layers of the cell wall, which cannot be, as
Naegeli has seen the nucleus become detached (111). This
" mucilaginous layer (primordial utricle) is always present in
cells as long as they retain their vitality," and "it secretes
organic unazotized molecules which form the new thickening
layers " [of the ceil wall] (124). " These facts prove that organic
unazotized molecules are secreted on the surface of living vege-
table mucilage, and these enclose the mucilage in the form of a
membranous liyer" (124). It is here explained in a note that
this "mucilage" corresponds to the " protoplasma " of Mohl.
With respect to the nucleus his views are very complicated and
not very satisfactory even to himself, but its chief function is
the " individualization of the cell contents." In the process of
cell multiplication " a nucleus is formed, and this nucleus indi-
vidualizes a portion of the contents by attraction," and there-
fore the formation of the new cell takes place as above de-
scribed. However, in many organisms, e.g., chlorococcus, Hoema-
tococcus, the germ cells of fungi and lichens, &c., the nucleus
may be wanting in the whole process of cell-multiplication
(132).

He contests Meyer's view that cells might originate in the
homogeneous mixture produced by dissolved matters ; and also
that of Mirbel, who said the same of the cambium of the root
of the date palm. He also says Endlicher and Meyer are wrong
in saying that cells originated in inter-cellular substance. He

ALEXANDER BRAUN. 33

proves this by showing that in Algae and fungi (nostoc, pal-
mella, &c.) the gelatinous intercellular mass was produced by
the cells— not vice versd (135).

We have thus, in 1846, an anticipation of some very impor-
tant principles whose application to animal physiology was only
recognized long afterwards.

We turn next to the memoir of Alexander Braun, entitled
" On the Phenomena of Rejuvenescence in Nature," 1850, trans-
lated by the Ray Society, 1850.

Alex. Braun follows Schleiden in holding the cell to be " the
simplest sphere of formation in the course of the life and
growth of the plant, from which all development starts, which
in infinitely varied repetition and modification accompanies the
entire development, and to the independent representation of
which the conclusion of the development once more returns "
(121). He thus describes the cell.

" Examining the individual cell more closely, we must, in the
first place, observe that the term cell does not correspond
exactly to that to which we especially apply it, for we under-
stand as cells, not merely the membranous vesicles or utricles
which form the tissue, but also their contents ; we apply the
name cell, not alone to the little chamber formed by a com-
pletely closed-in wall, within which the vegetable life conceals
itself, but also to its living inhabitant, the more or less fluid
and inwardly mobile body, which is bounded within the cham-
ber by its more delicate coat (the primordial utricle). The cell
is thus a little organism, which forms its covering outside, as
the muscles, the snail, or the crab does its shell. The contents
enclosed by these envelopes form the essential and original
part of the cell ; in fact, must be regarded as a cell, before the
covering is acquired. From the contents issues all the physio-
logical activity of the cell, while the membrane is a product
deposited outside, a secreted structure, which only passively
shares the life, forming the medium of intercourse between the
interior and the external world, at once separating and com-
bining the neighbouring cells, affording protection and solidity
to the individual cell in connection with the entire tissue.
Hence the development of the cell coat, as a product of cellular

3

34 PKOTOPLASMIC THEORY BEFORE 1860 — A. BRAUN.

activity always stands in inverse proportion to the physiologi-
cal activity of the cell. In youth, thin, soft, and extensible,
the cell coat allows abundant nutrition and advancing growth ;
subsequently thickened and therewith hardened by the deposit
of lamellas, it compresses the contents within continually nar-
rower boundaries, more and more excludes intercourse with the
external world, and puts a term to growth. Thus the life of
the plant builds its tomb in the very cell — dies away at last in
its own work" (p. 155).

That the origin of the cell precedes its enclosure by a cell
membrane is best shown by the cases in which it originates
free, that is, without contact with the mother-cell, or where it
becomes free by being expelled immediately after its produc-
tion, e.g., in the swarm cells, or active gonidia of the Algae.
These possess no cell membrane separable from the contents as
long as the motion lasts, and must be regarded as bounded
merely by the primordial utricle which is intimately connected
with the contents (156). Many other proofs of the position
are given, that the cell membrane is formed by secretion on the
surface as stated by Naegeli, but he is not decided whether the
primordial utricle of Mohl exists as a separate envelope, or is a
mere lining of protoplasm as stated by Naegeli, and he agrees
with the latter in the absence of a nucleus in many unicellular
Algse. In the formation of the starch granules of the hydro-
dictyon, he considers that the process is by deposition of layers
on the surface as was held by Fritsche and Schleiden ; and that
the starch is like the cell membrane, secreted by the proto-
plasm. " The idea of origin of cells outside, between or on the
surface of existing cells, formerly advocated by Mirbel has
proved untenable " (227). " It is a mistake to apply the word
cell sometimes to the cell with a membrane, sometimes to the
cell without a membrane, and sometimes to the membrane
without the cell. Since the contents of the cell constitute the
essential part of it, since it forms, before the secretion of the
(cellulose) membrane, a separate entity possessing its own
proper membranous boundary (the primordial utricle), we must
call this internal body the cell proper, unless we restrict the
term cell to the enclosing wall or chamber, and give the internal

COHN — PRINGSHEIM. 35

body another name. If the. name is restricted to the internal
body, we cannot, in the great majority of cases, say that new
cells are formed in the old, but merely that they are formed out
of the old " (228). He agrees with Mohl, Naegeli, Unger, and
Hofineister, that the division of the cells into two is chiefly, if
not universally, the process of development of the tissues of
plants (233). He then gives a detailed description of the mani-
fold ways in which this may take place, and then enters on the
conjugation of cells, which leads away from our subject.

In 1850 also, F. Conn makes some important contributions
to the general subject in his paper.* Here he recognizes the
protoplasm as the contractile element, and as what gives to the
zoospore (Schwarmzelle) the faculty of altering its figure with-
out any corresponding change in volume. The protoplasm, is
.said also to possess all the properties both visible in life and to
chemical reagents attributed by Dujardin to the Sarcode of the
infusoria and rhizopods. Therefore, he not only concludes
that the protoplasm of botanists is, if not identical, at least in
the highest degree analogous to the contractile substance and
sarcode of animals, but that this substance — the protoplasm —
" must be regarded as the prime seat of almost all vital activity,
but especially of all the motile phenomena in the interior " [of
the cell] (p. 534). With Cohn, the protoplasm corresponds
pretty nearly with the primordial utricle and primordial sac,
and primordial cell, which is simply the primordial sac assum-
ing the figure of a cell without any rigid cell membrane (335);
when a separation of cell contents takes place he calls the more
dense layer of peripheric protoplasm the primordial utricle as
Naegeli does (337). But he cannot determine with certainty the
presence of any nucleus in this species, and he observes that
the protoplasm or primordial sac can sub-divide into a number
of segments " without demonstrable influence of a Nucleus "
(543). He looks upon the flagella as prolongations of the pro-
toplasm, and therefore protoplasm themselves.

Pringsheim (Untersuchuugen iiber d. Bau u. d. Bildung d.
Pflanzenzelle, 1854) maintains that everything that lay within
the cell membrane of a living cell might have a complex dis-
* On the Protococcus Pluvialis. Ray Society, 1853, p. 517.

3—2

36 PROTOPLASMIC THEORY BEFORE 1860.

position but consisted essentially of protoplasm and cell fluid.
He admits, in the cortical layer of the protoplasm, a distinct
arrangement into layers often occurs, but these cannot be differ-
entiated as a membrane — primordial utricle — and subjacent
protoplasm. He states that he has coloured blue the outer-
most layer of protoplasm in confervce, so most probably, he
thinks, the primordial utricle is really the most recently formed
layer of the permanent cell-wall. In fact, from what appears
in the foregoing and what is now generally held, the primordial
utricle seems to be merely the outer layer of this protoplasm
and not a distinct part. Still Henfrey thinks it better to re-
tain the name to express the formative stratum of living proto-
plasm. "In animal cells," according to Pringsheim, "partly
from their small size and partly from their greater wealth of
protoplasm, it is rarely possible to make a sharp demarcation
between a cortical layer of protoplasm and a cell-fluid ; never-
theless there exists a difference in the constitution of the
former, such that a cutaneous layer destitute of, or scantily
furnished with, granules encloses the remaining more granular
material. The white blood cell may serve as an. example. This
however is very different from a proper membrane " (Qu. Mic. J.,
p. 252.— 1863).

With respect to the nucleus, we have seen that according to
Naegeli, it is wanting in several fungi and lichens, and to Alex.
Braun in the Hydrodictyon, Vaucheria, Caulerpa, &c. Also in
various forms of amoebae.

In 1853, Professor Huxley wrote a review * of the then exist-
ing literature of the cell theory, which is not only valuable his-
torically, but important as an original contribution to it. The
following are the most important points.

That the primordial utricle is the essential part of the endo-
plast [i.e., all that is contained within the cell wall], while the
protoplasm and nucleus are simply its subordinate, and, it
might almost be said, accidental modifications.

That the process in cell-division, and the histological struc-
ture of plants and animals is essentially identical, and thus, for
example, the chondrin wall of cartilage is the homologue of the
* Med. Cliir. Keview.

HUXLEY. 37

cellulose wall of the plant, both representing the periplastic
element ; while the nuclei of the former represents the primor-
dial utricle, contents, and nucleus of the latter. With this all
who have considered the foregoing evidence will no doubt
agree ; but then he adds : " In the plant the primordial utricles
divide, separate, and the cellulose substance grows in between
the two. In young cartilage the same thing occurs : the cor-
puscles divide, separate, and the chondrin substance eventually
forms a wall of separation between the two. There is neither
endogenous development nor new formation in either case.
The endoplasts grow and divide, the periplast grows so as to
surround the endoplasts completely, and, except so far as its
tendency is to fill up the space left by their separation, there is
no evidence that its growth is in any way affected by them,
still less that it is, as is often assumed, deposited by them . . .
Finally, for the notion of the anatomical independence of the
cells, we must substitute that of the unity and continuity of
the periplastic substance in each case."

Professor Huxley directs his attention primarily to the de-
velopment side of the question, putting in the foreground the
gradually increasing differentiation of the amorphous germ,
owing to its distinctively vital properties. So far, again, all will
now agree, but he goes on to say that the differentiation into
endoplast and periplast (i.e., a nucleated cell) is the first step,
and by the growth and differentiation of both these, tissues are
formed. " There is no evidence whatever that the molecular
forces of living matter (vis essentialis of Wolff, or the
vital forces of the moderns) are by this act of differentiation
localized in the endoplast to the exclusion of the periplast, or
vice versd. ... So far from being the centre of activity of the
actions, it would appear much rather to be the less important
histological element. The periplast, on the other hand, which
has hitherto passed under the name of cell wall, contents (?),
and intercellular substance, is the subject of all the most im-
portant metamorphic processes, whether morphological or
chemical, in the animal and in the plant. By its differentiation
every variety of tissue is produced ; and this differentiation is
the result, not of any metabolic action of the endoplast, which

38 PROTOPLASMIC THEORY BEFORE 1860.

has frequently disappeared before the metamorphosis begins,
but of intimate molecular changes in its substance."

In this section we perceive that, side by side with the de-
velopment and modification of the cellular theory, has been
growing up the recognition of the fact that in the sarcode of
animals, and the protoplasm of plants, we see the simplest
and probably ultimate form of living matter. Those who are
guided by the light of Fletcher's hypothesis are no doubt pre-
pared to see in this the realization of his one and only irritable
or living matter. But that any such impression was general, or,
indeed, had a place at all among physiologists, even in 1853.
the above testimony of Huxley is sufficiently significant in the
negative.

In the foregoing resume I have purposely confined
myself to works written before I860, and given chiefly
an analysis of a few of the chief memoirs on the sub-
ject, with little comment, in order that the meaning
may emerge unbiassed by observations made in the
light of subsequent knowledge, which is seldom the
case with compendious treatises. From this it appears
that the threefold form of the cell was soon given up,
and that, although the dual form of the nucleated cell,
without cell wall, nominally holds its place still, life
has been shown to exist in the simple form of a
structureless, viscid, semifluid matter common to both
animals and plants. The bearing of this on the local-
ization of the living matter in the complete indi-
viduals of the higher orders appears as yet not to have
been thought of, and almost the whole reference of
these facts has been made to development alone. And,
in fact, Schwann's and Schleiden's chief aim was to
demonstrate the existence of a " common principle of
development for all the elementary parts of the organ-

THE PROTOPLASMIC THEORY BEFORE 1860. 39

ism." This has been most fully admitted by Huxley
in the foregoing extracts, and he plainly states that
the truly vital functions of growth and differentiation
reside in all parts of the typical cell and their deriva-
tions. And this is indeed still held by the majority,
although Huxley's mode of statement in the above
review will hardly be accepted now, and his own
opinions have undergone considerable change.

CHAPTER IV.
BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

AMIDST the bewildering variety and confusion of the
different opinions up to this time, we are struck with
the appositeness of a remark by Leydig on the func-
tion of the instrument which has revealed so much.
" We microscopists," says he, " it appears to me, find
ourselves, alas, in the position of one who has been
for a long time studying ' life ' as he would a meadow
or a wood from a distance, and fancies that if he could
only get nearer, so as to see under his eye the indi-
vidual plants which made up the verdant surface, he
would at once attain to a better understanding of the
process of growth of the plant and the fading of the
leaf. Truly, he would learn many new things of in-
terest, but the main point would remain as much a
riddle as before : the same questions would remain to
be answered, but they would apply now to the indi-
vidual plant instead of the verdant landscape as a
whole."

During the preceding quarter of a century we have
been brought nearer, and seen much that is interest-

BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY. 41

ing; and although, even if we could localize life in one
substance alone,* that would not explain its ultimate
nature, yet it would be a great step in science. That,
however, had not, as yet, been done by practical
histologists, and the foregoing observations, which
seem to us so plainly to point to one conclusion, still
remained isolated, or, at most, applied to development.
It seemed as if, at this stage, some master-mind was
waited for, who should unravel the complexity, and
reconcile the seeming contradictions of the previous
results of histological research, and show practically
how the whole circle of vital actions could be con-
tained in the changes of a single structureless ana-
tomical element, thus realizing the hypothesis of
Fletcher.

Such appeared in 1860, we are glad to say, in the
person of our countryman, Dr. Lionel Beale, of London.
He had for years devoted himself with unwearied zeal
to microscopical research on the animal tissues, using
the highest magnifying powers as soon as available,
and had attained to an almost unrivalled skill in, and
had discovered various new methods of, the prepar-
ing objects which enabled him to analyze the struc-
tures of the textures to a point hitherto not reached
by anatomists. As the result of these original re-
searches, and no doubt taking into account the general
progress of biological science in this direction as given
above, he in 1859 drew attention to the significance of

* "The Protoplasm or Sarcode theory, i.e., . . . that this albu-
minous material is the original active substratum of all vital pheno-
mena, may perhaps be considered one of the greatest achievements
of modern biology, and one of the richest in results." — Hackel, Qu.
Mic. J., 1869, p. 223.

42 PROTOPLASMIC THEORY OF LIFE.

the living, moving matter which constitutes the body
of the amoeba, the white blood corpuscle, the pus cor-
puscle, and so-called naked nuclei, which were to be
detected in animal and vegetable tissues ; and described
how this matter could be distinguished from the proper
tissue.

Then in 1860 he wrote those "Lectures on the
Structure of the Simple Tissues of the Human Body,"
which were delivered before the Royal College of
Physicians in 1861 ; and which, I believe, are destined
to mark an epoch in the progress of Physiological
Science. Since then Dr. Beale has gone on completing
and expanding his system and filling up the details,
and has carried it out into pathology to an extent of
completeness and consistency marvellous for the short
time as yet given, and as being the work of one man : a
fact which in itself shows he has seized on one great
and central principle, which enables him to bring into
practical harmony a vast number of scattered observa-
tions both of his own and of others.

Nevertheless, his doctrine is substantially the same
now as in 1860, and all questions of priority must be
judged of from documents existing then, and not from
the opinions of men now ; for, as we shall see, a great
many of the current teachings on the subject are sub-
stantially those first distinctly enunciated by Beale,
although attributed to other sources. It is also true
that many of the separate facts, and even theories, on
subordinate points have been anticipated by others;
but he brought them into harmony, and showed their
real meaning ; and if the grand theory of the one true
living matter was, as we have seen, hypothetically

43

advanced by Fletcher,* yet the merit of the discovery
of the actual anatomical representative of it belongs
to Beale in accordance with the usual and right award
of the title of discoverer to him alone who demonstrates
truths by proof and fact. The rising generation of
medical men will also recognize in Dr. Beale the title
of discoverer because he has first and consistently
pressed the doctrine forward with the perseverance of
firm conviction in text-books and medical works. The
cardinal point in the theory of Dr. Beale is not the
destruction of the completeness of the cell of Schwann
as the elementary unit, for that was already accom-
plished by others. Nor that some constituent of the
cell — nucleus or protoplasm, or some matter analogous
— is embryologically the precursor of all tissues and
parts, for that is almost a truism considering what is
obvious in the origin of each individual in the ovum.
But that, from the earliest visible speck of genii, up to
the last moment of life, in every living thing, plant,
animal, and protist, the attribute of life is restricted to
one anatomical element alone, and this homogeneous,
and structureless; while all tne rest of the infinite
variety of structure and. composition, solid and fluid,
which make up living beings, is merely passive and
lifeless formed material. This distinction into only
two radically different kinds of matter, viz., the living
or germinal matter and the formed material, gives the
clue whereby he clears up the confusion into which
the cell doctrine had fallen, and gives the point of de-
parture for the theory of innate independent life of

* Dr, Beale has informed me that he had not seen Fletcher's
" Rudiments of Physiology" before 1869.

44 BEALE'S ANATOMICAL SEPARATION

each part, which the cell theory had aimed at but failed
to make good. The one true and only living matter,
called by Beale germinal matter, or bioplasm, is de-
scribed as " always transparent and colourless, and, as
far as can be ascertained by examination with the
highest powers, perfectly structureless ; and it exhibits
those same characters at every period of its existence :
* * * it would not be possible to distinguish the
growing, moving matter which was to evolve the oak
from that which was the germ of a vertebrate animal.
Nor can any difference be discerned between the ger-
minal matter of the lowest, simplest epithelial scale of
man's organism, and that from which the nerve-cells
of his brain are to be evolved."

The living matter of Beale corresponds to the fol-
lowing histological elements of other authors: The
viscid nitrogenous substance within the primordial
utricle, called by Von Mohl, Protoplasm; the pri-
mordial utricle itself, in Naegeli's sense of that term,
viz., the layer of protoplasm next the cell wall : the
transparent, semi-fluid matter occupying the spaces
and intervals between the threads and walls of those
spaces formed by the so-called vacuolation of proto-
plasmic masses : the greater part of the sarcode of the
monera, rhizopoda, and other low organisms; the
white blood corpuscles, pus corpuscles, and other naked
wandering masses of living matter ; the so-called
nucleus of the secreting cells, and of the tissues of the
higher animals, and many plant cells ; the nuclei of the
cells of the gray matter of the brain, spinal marrow,
and ganglions, and the nuclei of nerve fibres.

The term of true living or germinal matter can

OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD MATTER. 45

never be given to the following parts, although to
some of them the word protoplasm has been errone-
ously applied, viz., the cell- wall of plants or animals,
however delicate or gelatinous; the threads or fila-
ments and walls of the vacuoles within protoplasmic
masses or cells ; the wall of the primordial utricle ; the
true fibrous, connective, elastic, bony, or other tissues
generally included among the living parts of animals ;
even the proper contractile fibre of the muscles, the
radiating fibres of the caudate nerve-cells, and the
outer coat of those cells, besides the nerve-fibres in
general ; the hard parts of epithelial cells, and all liquid
secretions; the cilia; the tissue of cuticle, hair, nails,
horn, and all analogous parts in plants ; the granules
in sarcode; all colouring matter; and, lastly, all pabu-
lum, including the fluid part of blood, lymph and
chyle, and corresponding matters in plants.

In short, the name of bioplasm, given by Beale, or
protoplasm* (in a restricted sense, as it will probably

* Since the unity of the ideal living matter has been recognized, and
its characters sharply defined, the question of its name assumes im-
portance. The matter originally termed germinal matter by Beale,
corresponds more or less closely with the plasma of Hackel, the proto-
plasma of Mohl, the sarcode of Dujardin, the cytoplasma of Kolliker,
the cell-stuff, or formative matter, of various authors; but the word
protoplasm as denned by Kuhne is the most generally used to express
the idea of living matter as nearly as is yet adopted by others in the
sense of Beale. But as on various occasions that word has been used
in a loose way, and applied to objects which have no title to vitality,
Dr. Beale objects to it. And since, for several reasons, the original
term, germinal matter, is inconvenient, he proposes a new name instead
of attempting to restrict the word protoplasm to one accurately-de-
fined meaning. He says, " The name I propose to give to the living
or self-increasing matter of living beings, and to restrict to this, is
bioplasm. Now that the word biology has come into common use, it
seems desirable to employ the same root in designating the matter
which it is the main purpose of biology to investigate. Bioplasm in-
yolves no theory as regards the nature of the origin of the matter ; it

46 NOTE ON THE WORD PROTOPLASM.

be ultimately accepted by biologists), as indicating the
ideal living matter, cannot be given to any substance

simply distinguishes it as living. A living white blood-corpuscle is a
mass of bioplasm, or it might be termed bioplast. A very minute
particle is a bioplast, and we may speak of living matter as bioplasmic
substance" (Qu. Mic. J., July, 1870.) If this name had been given at
first, and at the same time the id°-a as rigidly defined, probably it
would have been universally adopted, but whether it ultimately will
be now since other words are current already, no one can tell. With
respect to the propriety of the word bioplasm to express what is meant,
an excellent classical scholar — Mr. Scott, of Birmingham — to whom I
submitted the question, says, " There is nothing in the word itself to
indicate that the thing formed is also itself living ;" hence it would apply
equally to the formed material. Hackel (" G-enerelle Morphologic,"
i., 1866, p. 276) says TO jr\a<r/ia signifies properly the thing formed,
and the forming material would be better designated plasson, from,
TO TrXaavov. Accordingly, more recently, he calls the substance of the
cvtodes "plasson," while the substance of the nucleated cells is named
protoplasma (Die Kalkschwamme, 1872). This would simply amount
to inventing another new name for the ideal living or germinal matter,
and restricting the word protoplasm to a particular variety of living
matter. The name given bj Hackel to what corresponds with Beale's
bioplast, is plastid, which is a very convenient word if bioplast should
not be ultimately adopted. As observed by Dr. Sharpey, the word
protoplast having been already taken up for such a widely different
signification, it is not available in physiology. " On the whole, as
remarked in my fanner work, it is most probable that the term pro-
toplasm will still be retained in this country to express the idea of
Beale's germinal matter and bioplasm, as it is so accepted by Dr.
Sharpey, whose calm and solid judgment reveals to us, as it were, the
verdict of posterity." Dr. Beale himself seems to acquiesce in this,
or he says in his last edition of " Protoplasm," 1874: " It is, I think,
possible that after some years have passed, protoplasm may be restricted
to living matter only. The term will then become synonymous with
bioplasm, or living matter, in which case the latter words may be
given up" (188). I will, therefore, continue to use as synonymous
with the ideal living matter the words "irritable matter/' ' "living
matter," "diffused ganglionic nervous matter," "germinal matter,"
"bioplasm," "protoplasm;" and for adjectives, protoplasmic, bio-
plasmic, or living ; and for an individual mass, protoplasmic mass,
bioplast, and plastid. However, as every visible mass, or plastid,
contains, in addition to the ideal living matter, some pabulum and
some formed material, besides water, I would suggest that the gelatin-
ous matter forming the bulk of many of the lowest and so-called uni-
cellular organisms should still, as originally, be called sarcode, while
the word protoplasm should be strictly reserved for the true ideal
living matter.

VITAL PROPERTIES OF PROTOPLASM. 47

displaying rigidity in any degree, from the softest
gelatinous membrane up to the hardest teeth-enamel ;
nor to anything exhibiting a trace of .structure to the
finest microscope ; nor to any liquid ; nor to any sub-
stance capable of true solution.

Thus "nothing that lives is alive in every part,"
but as long as any individual part or tissue is properly
called living it is only so in virtue of particles of the
above-described protoplasm freely distributed among,
or interwoven with the textures so closely that there
is scarcely any part l-500th of an inch in size but
contains its portion of protoplasm. Thus we see
realized the hypothesis of Fletcher, that all living action
is performed solely by virtue of portions of irritable or
living matter interwoven with the otherwise dead
textures. According to Beale, " of the matter which
constitutes the bodies of man and animals in the fully-
formed condition, probably more than four-fifths are
in the formed and non-living state. All this was,
however, living at an earlier period of existence."
This is on an average, for some tissues contain much
less living matter; the bones, for example, only l-20th,
and some textures, when old, not more than l-100th.

Vital Properties of Protoplasm. — The chief vital
properties of the living matter, or bioplasm, are thus
described by Beale : " It alone is concerned in develop-
ment, and the production of those materials which
ultimately take the form of tissue, secretion, or de-
posit, as the case may be : and of producing matter
like itself out of matters differing materially in com-
position, properties, and powers. Upon it all growth,
multiplication, conversion, and, in short, life, depend.

48 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

By its agency every kind of living thing is made, and
without it, as far as is known, no living thing ever has
been made, or can be made at this time, or ever will
be made."

" The difference between germinal, or living matter,
or bioplasm, and the pabulum which nourishes it, on
the one hand, and the formed material on the other,
is, I believe, absolute. The pabulum does not shade
by imperceptible gradations into the living matter,
and this latter into the formed material ; but the
passage from one state into the other is sudden and
abrupt, although there may be much living matter
mixed with the little lifeless matter, or vice versa.
The ultimate particles of matter pass from the lifeless
into the living state, and from the latter into the dead
state suddenly. Matter cannot be said to half-live
or half-die. It is either dead or living, animate or
inanimate; and formed matter has ceased to live"
(ProtopL, 3rd edit., p. 185.)

It is unnecessary to multiply quotations on this
subject, as further illustration of what is deemed
specifically vital action will come in incidentally as
we proceed. Indeed, the majority of vital properties
are not capable of being singled out for separate de-
monstration— the whole of physiology being, in fact,
nothing but these properties in action — but there is
one which is palpable to the senses, which may be
noticed, viz., that which gives the power of apparently
spontaneous movement. These protoplasmic or bio-
plasrnic movements have attracted the attention of all
observers ; but particular stress is laid on them by Dr.
Beale as an important element in vital functions,

PROTOPLASMIC MOVEMENTS. 49

and also as an evidence of the essentially distinct na-
ture of vital power.

The movements of protoplasm masses when not con-
fined by a rigid cell wall, as seen in the white blood
corpuscle, mucus, or pus-corpuscle, the amoeba, &c., are
graphically described and frequently dwelt on by Dr.
Beale ; but, as these are so well known now, I will not
repeat them, but only notice those movements in-
stanced by him as serving a purpose, and showing a
power, not explicable, as he thinks, by the properties
of matter and force. In nutrition, he observes, " This
formless living matter moves forwards, burrowing, as
it were, into the nutrient pabulum, some of which it
takes up as it moves on. It is not pushed from be-
hind, but it moves forwards of its own accord. In a
similar manner, the advancing fungus bores its way
into the material upon which it feeds, and the root
filament insinuates itself into the interstices between
the particles of the soil where it finds the pabulum
for its nutriment." " The tree grows upwards, against
gravity, by virtue of the same living power of bio-
plasm. In every bud portions of this living matter
tend to move away from the spot where they were pro-
duced, and stretch upwards or onwards in advance.
No tissue of any living animal could be formed unless
the portions of bioplasm moved away from one an-
other." The movements in the cells of the leaves of
Vallisneria, Chara, or Anacharis, and in the hairs of
Tradescantia, are of the same nature as those of the
mucous corpuscle and the amoeba.* The movements in

* In 1855, linger (" Anat. and Phys. der Pflanzen ") says, " The
proximate cause of the movements of the sap in the cells " (of plants)

4

50 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

pus-corpuscles, and other morbid products, are of the
same nature. It is also by similar movements that de-
tached protoplasm masses which form the germs of
contagious diseases " climb, as it were, through still,
moist air, just as the amoeba and certain other living
particles are capable of climbing in any direction
through water which is in a state of perfect rest.
Minute particles, possessing their inherent powers of
active movement, can insinuate themselves into the
slight chinks in fully formed tissues, in every part of
the body, and may easily make their way along the
crevices between the protective epithelial cells into the
tissues beneath, and thus through the thin walls of
the smallest vessels into the blood."

This power of movement, Dr. Beale thinks, is also in-
strumental in producing the peculiar form of certain
tissues in the higher animals, e.g., in " the formation
of the elastic cartilage of the epiglottis, it seems
probable that each mass of bioplasm revolves while it
forms delicate fibres, which accumulate, and at length
appear to be arranged concentrically round the space
in which it lies," as the caterpillar spins its cocoon.

" is to be sought neither in diosmosis, nor in the action of the nuclear
vesicle, nor in any mechanical contrivance such as cilia, but it lies
rather in the constitution of the self-moving protoplasm, which, as an
especially nitrogenous body of the nature of that simple contractile
animal substance called sarcode, produces the rhythmically advancing
contraction and expansion." " If we compare the sarcode substance
of the lowest animals, such as the Rhizopods, with the protoplasm as it
usually presents itself in plants, the correspondence of both in form,
contraction, and activity is, in fact, very surprising." This is subse-
quently confirmed by the observations of Max Schultze on the Fora-
minifera and the Actinophrys Eichornii. He concludes that the visible
movement of the granules has its seat in the substance of the con-
tractile protoplasma itself, and not in fluid contained in, and set in
motion by, the contraction of the protoplasm as supposed by Briicke
and Heidenhain ("Protopl. der Rhiz," 1853 p. 66). This is now
universally admitted.

PROTOPLASMIC MOVEMENTS. 51

The formation of the spiral fibres of the ganglion cells
of the sympathetic nerves of the frog is explained in
the same manner.

The apparent spontaneity, and the power of portions
of this transparent almost fluid substance, with so-
little cohesion, and no structure and mechanism, mov-
ing in advance of other portions, against gravity, he
thinks it impossible to account for without the addi-
tion of a power beyond that of matter and force.

But, in opposition to most physiologists, he denies
that these movements can be the cause of muscular
contraction, for the following reasons : — muscular con-
traction is a mere alternation of movement, limited in
direction as well as regards the degree of change. In
this act the particles move in a direct line, and it is.
not possible for any particle to get before another par-
ticle. On the other hand, the protoplasm may move-
in any direction, and its movements are so varied that
the same mass probably never twice in its life assumes,
the same form ; also, one portion can move in advance
of another portion, and an entire mass may move on-
wards for a distance equal to its own diameter. Other
reasons will be given in chapter viii., showing that the-
muscular fibre does not contain protoplasm.

Ciliary motion he holds to depend on protoplasmic
action, but only secondarily, owing to currents pro*
duced thereby.

The protoplasmic movement, • independently of nerve in
fluence, is generally admitted, and also the locomotive powers*
of individual plastids, and so-called wandering cells, which
may creep through holes and change their shape (Reckling-
hausen, Engelmann), and pass through the walls of the vessels.

4—2

52 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

{Waller, Beale, Cohnheim), and take up foreign bodies, and
account for various phenomena. All this is distinctly recog-
nized ; but the majority are also inclined to attribute muscular
contraction to the protoplasmic movements, and distinctly
assert that protoplasm is contained in the muscular fibre. Her-
mann* says, " We may therefore lay down the proposition that
movements (in the sense of mechanical work), in all cases, only
manifest themselves where protoplasm occurs " (207).

All protoplasm, besides the various partial movements above
described, is capable of contracting into a ball under electricity
and various stimuli, and it is taken for granted that in mus-
cular contraction something similar is the efficient cause of the
movement, especially as the same stimuli cause contraction of
the protoplasm and the muscles. On carefully reviewing all
these statements, I find them very weak as arguments that
muscular contraction depends on protoplasmic movements, and
it rather appears as if the question had never yet been fairly
raised than that it had been settled. On the other hand, on
the question of spontaneity, other authors are unanimous in
stating simply that the stimuli are unknown, and on this point,
I think, Dr. Beale has made out no case ; nor, in his assertion
of some hyper-physical cause for the movements, is he more
fortunate, for he admits the impossibility of even living matter
creating force ; while, according to his own showing, there is
always a sufficient change of matter going on to account for
evolution of the necessary force. Nor have we any proof that
the slight viscidity of the protoplasm does not show sufficient
cohesive force to account for the movements of bioplasts, which
never surpass that sufficient to sustain their own weight,t and a
drop of water has enough for that. This slight cohesive force,
however, is a most cogent argument against the protoplasmic
theory of muscle- work.

* " Grundriss der Physiologic."

t In opposition to this, it is urged by Dr. Beale that a growing mush-
room -will raise a stone hundreds of times its own weight ; and that a
growiug root will split a tree, &c. ; but in all these instances molecular
forces are in play, which depend on the chemical changes involved in
deposition of structure and in physical forces exerted by that structure
afterwards. A wedge of dead wood inserted in a rock dry, will split it
-when moistened by the mere force of capillary attraction.

CHEMICAL STATE OF PROTOPLASM. 53

On the Chemical State of Protoplasm. — On this point,
the similarity, or, indeed, identity, of the views of
Beale with those of Fletcher (see p. 6), is surprising.
A few quotations will show this : —

" Of the chemical composition, and of the actual state, speak-
ing in a physical sense, of the living matter, we as yet know
nothing. Nor have we even been able to hit upon any method
of investigation which offers a fair chance of enabling us to
ascertain the knowledge we so much desire to gain. If we
attempt to analyze living matter it becomes changed. We exa-
mine not the actual living, growing matter itself, but the sub-
stances which result from its death. The facts of the case do
not permit us to conclude that the materials we discover
actually existed during life. On the contrary, the evidence is
conclusive that the substances we test, and examine, and
handle, did not exist in the condition or state known to us
until the matter of which they consisted had ceased to live "
(" Protoplasm^" third edition, p. 32). Again, " It seems probable
that during this temporary living state the elements do not exist
in a state of ordinary chemical combination at all. These ordi-
nary attractions, or affinities, seem to be suspended for the
time." And again, " To assert that living matter is ' protein,' or
' albumen,' is to assert that which never has been, and never
can be, proved, and all arguments based upon such assertions
must be discarded."

The essential complexity of the state of aggregation of the
living matter is here recognized.

" There can be no doubt that the smallest particle of living
matter is complex. It is impossible to conceive the existence
of a living particle, consisting of a simple substance only, as
iron, oxygen, nitrogen, etc. ; for living involves changes in which
different elements take part. It appears to me that the term
living atom cannot with propriety be employed, because living
matter is of complex composition, while the idea of an atom
seems to involve simplicity of constitution, if not indivisibility"
("Protoplasm," third edition, p. 281).

<54 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

It is also recognized, and frequently insisted upon,
that all the chemical elements which are contained in
<iny tissue must have previously passed through the
living state; hence the protoplasm of the different
parts must contain them all, at least for a time. The
analysis of all the tissues and products of vital action,
animal and vegetable, gives us the sum of all the
chemical elements which must enter into the composi-
tion of protoplasm as a whole. But the particular
form of compound provided by each kind of proto-
plasm in the slow action of nutrition^nd secretion is
not indicated at all in the composition of the living
matter changed rapidly into ordinary chemical com-
pounds, and very little difference can be detected as
yet by chemical analysis between the products formed
by the sudden death of the different kinds of living
matter. These products are thus described by Dr.
Beale : —

" When the life of a mass of bioplasm of any kind is sud-
denly cut short, lifeless substances, having very similar pro-
perties, result. These substances belong to four different
classes of bodies. One separates spontaneously soon after
death ; another is a transparent fluid, which is coagulated by
heat and nitric acid ; the third consists of fatty matter ; and
the fourth comprises certain saline substances. When a mass
of bioplasm dies, it is resolved into : — 1. fibrin ; 2. albumen ; 3.
fatty matter ; and, 4. salts. These things do not exist in the
matter when it is bioplasm, but, as the latter dies it splits up
into these four classes of compounds" ("Bioplasm," p. 11).

The cardinal points here shown are that no binary
or ternary compounds alone can form living matter,
but all protoplasm must contain the four so-called
organic elements, with sulphur, phosphorus, and some

PHYSICAL STATE OF PROTOPLASM. 55

other chemical elements, which may vary, and that
the most notable phenomenon which attracts attention
at death is the formation of a spontaneously coagu-
lable substance. The coagulation of the fibrin of the
blood, and the stiffening of the muscles, from formation
in those of the same or of an allied substance, have
long been objects of common observation. Kiihne
holds the coagulable substance of the muscles to be
somewhat different from fibrin, and names it myosin,
but he maintains that the coagulable matter of the
universally diffused protoplasm depends on myosin, and
that it is on this as well as the stiffening of the muscles
that the rigor mortis depends.

That the final stage of the formation of fibrin is a
mere chemical combination is now established; but
the precursors of it are produced by the death of
living matter, although, probably, not both at the same
time. Dr. Beale does not pronounce a definite opinion
<on the nature of the coagulable matter of protoplasm.

An acid reaction is shown by the sudden death of
.all kinds of protoplasm. The totally different condi-
tions under which a compound, capable of being also
.made in the laboratory, is made by the living matter,
is one of the strongest arguments for the radically
•different chemical state of the living matter from that
in which it subsists in the inorganic condition. This
would require a volume to illustrate fully, so it may
be merely alluded to as an argument.

On the Physical State of the Protoplasm. — " The
living matter is in all cases perfectly clear and trans-
parent. It never exhibits structure ; is invariably
•colourless." The supposed granules are merely fatty

56 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

matters developed at death, or foreign bodies if seen
in living amoebae, or such living corpuscles. From its
transparency and total absence of structure, it has
been mistaken for mere passive fluid, occupying a
space or vacuole. It is a semi-fluid, slightly viscid
substance, like gum or syrup, but not susceptible of"
true solution. " The elementary particles of germinal
matter are invariably spherical, although the masses
compounded of them very much in form. There
is reason to believe that the spherical particles are
themselves composed of spherical particles, and so on
to a minuteness far beyond that which it is possible to
realize." If we could see into such a mass, says
Dr. Beale ("Prot.," p. 277), "in each little spherule the
matter would be in active movement, and new minute
spherules would be springing into being at its central
part. Those spherules already formed would be making
their way outwards, so as to give place to new ones,
which continually arise in the centre of every one of
the animated particles." Each spherical particle is
free to move in fluid, and the spaces which, weonust
conclude, exist between the spherical particles of living
matter are probably occupied by fluid." This fluid
contains, in solution, pabulum, or matter about to
become living — substances which exert a chemical
action/ but do not form a constituent part of the living
mass— and " substances resulting from the changes
ensuing in particles which have arrived at the end
of their period of existence, and the compounds formed

* This probably includes those soluble matters suitable for maintain-
ing the fluid in a proper osmotic condition, and also which may act as
stimuli, which last Dr, Beale seldom alludes to.

BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC AND THE CELL THEORY. 57

by the action of oxidation of these " (p. 281). From the
above physical characters, common to all protoplasm,
it appears to be precisely the same in all living
structures. " The germinal matter of an embryo
resembles that of the tissues of the adult, and the
germinal matter from the most inveterate morbid
growth could not be distinguished from that of a
healthy tissue ;" nor can that of the lowest fungus
and of the brain of man be distinguished, by micro-
scopic or other physical examination.

The Relation between Beale's Protoplasmic Theory
and the Cell Theory. — From what has been said, it is
plain that the idea of the cell, either in its triple or
double form, as the ultimate morphological or physio-
logical unit, is simply abolished altogether, already in
the year 1860. Nevertheless, as the cell, in some form
or other, is an anatomical fact, it is necessary to say a
few words in elucidation of the correspondence be-
tween the current nomenclature of parts already
known and that of Dr. Beale. The latter would still
retain the word cell as a convenient term to indicate
the anatomical unit, or elementary part, with the
proviso that there must always exist the two radi-
cally distinct portions — viz., the bioplasm and the
formed material, however complicated and varied the
last may be. In some so-called cells there is nothing
but bioplasts and intercellular substance, which latter
corresponds to the cell wall. In other cells there is no
solid cell wall, but only the bioplasm, and the formed
material is represented by the secretion — e.g., the
liver cells. In others — e. g., the so-called secreting
cells — there is, besides the bioplasm, the secretion and

58 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

a cell wall, within which the latter accumulates. This
applies to the flask-like cells, the fat cells, and the
starch cells, £c., and also to the more complicated
ciliated cells. There is no difficulty of seeing how
this applies to continuous tissues, and all matters
enumerated as dead at p. 45 ; and there is no neces-
sity of straining the theory to make it fit, as was the
case with the old cell theory, where nothing like the
transformation of a typical cell could be seen in most
cases. But the question of the nucleus is more diffi-
cult ; and here the definite conception of Beale brings
order and clearness out of the confusion and obscurity
which prevailed. In the first place a number of objects
are simply falsely called nuclei, and are nothing but
oil-globules, &c., resulting from post-mortem changes
in germinal matter ; or are granular and other foreign
bodies. Next, in many independent organisms of low
order, such as algaa, monads, and infusoria, the so-
called nucleus is really an organ, though its use is not
yet determined."' Again, the term nucleus is really

* That the nucleus is not an essential element, but a special organ,
performing, when present or visible, some more or less manifest part in
the process of reproduction, becomes more and more apparent as the
lower forms of life are more efficiently studied. It is now well known
that in Taramccia the reproduction is partly by fission and partly
sexual. The sexual mode, when carefully studied with sufficient power,
leaves no doubt as to the fact that both the nucleus and the nucleolus
are special organs — the nucleus being the ovary, and the nucleolus the
testis ; for it is only after the mingling of the elements contained
respectively in these that any sexual multiplication takes place. Van
Beneden has studied the development of Gregarinse from pseudo-filaria,
which are at first simple threads of protoplasm. After a short period
of quiescence a nucleolus forms — but by what means this is distin-
guished from the nucleus is not stated ; but it takes its rise in elements
previously contained in the protoplasm. Then the nucleus is formed ;
but its function is said to be unknown. But the Rev. W. H. Dai-
linger, who has given careful study to the Gregarinse from the earth-

BEALE ON THE NUCLEUS. 59

the bioplast, or representative of the only living
matter, or cy to blast, of the part. This is the case
with the continuous tissues, the epithelial cells of both
kinds, the fat and starch cells, the capillary walls, the
bone cells ; in new growths, and in young and quickly-
growing parts, &c. There remains, then, only the
so-called nuclei and nucleoli, which exist within the
protoplasm, to which the term ought properly to be
applied. Dr. Beale dissents from the theory that these
bodies are the parts first formed, and which cause the
rest to be deposited round them ; and also that they
are the sole agents concerned in reproduction. On the
contrary the protoplasm is formed first, and these
appear in it afterwards. Often subdivision of the
protoplasm takes place, and nuclei appear in a portion
after it has been detached. They have the same
composition as the protoplasm, and are merely new
centres of more intense vital activity. " Bioplasm in
a comparatively quiescent state is not unfrequently

worm, informs rue that the cyst from which the pseudo-naviculae
emerge remains finely granular, and never breaks up into pseudo-
naviculae until the nucleus has opened, and its contents are distributed
throughout the sac. The same observer has shown that in the amoeba
the nuclei differ sexually, which has been recently confirmed by Grreef j
and that the transfusion of their contents is needful for multiplication
by this method (" Proc. Lit. and Phil. Soc., Liverpool," 1871 — 2, pp.
297, 8). In the vorticella, besides the methods of increase by fission
and gemmation, there is also a true sexual mode of multiplication, in
which the vorticella encysts, the cilia and pedicle disappearing, and the
nucleus, which with very high magnification is shown to have an
enclosed nucleolus, rupturing soon leads to the breaking up of the
forms into a number of sub -spheroidal germs, which are set free by the
breaking up of the cyst ; and after some little time of locomotive life,
these develop into fresh vorticellae.

Many other examples might be given, but these will suffice to show
that in independent organisms, the nucleus and nucleolus may be,
in fact, organs whose use is known, or as yet unknown, and not essential
components of living matter in the abstract.

60 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

destitute of nuclei, but these bodies sometimes make
their appearance if the mass be more freely supplied
with nutrient matter." "The nucleus is a new centre
of growth, and within it new centres may arise. The
nucleus has the power of resisting the action of con-
ditions which would destroy the remainder of the
germinal matter; so that the nucleus may retain its
vitality under certain circumstances which would
certainly cause the destruction of the elementary part,
and this nucleus may at a future time grow, and
produce an infinite number of elementary parts."*
" The nuclei and nucleoli, although they are bioplasm,
do not undergo conversion into formed material. Under
certain conditions the nucleus may increase and ex-
hibit all the phenomena of ordinary bioplasm ; new
nuclei may be developed within it, new nucleoli
within them ; so that ordinary bioplasm may become
formed material, while its ' nucleus' grows larger,
and becomes ordinary bioplasm" ("Biopl.," p. 55). " The
formation of new centres within centres goes on for
many series, each acquiring new powers, till at last one
is evolved which forms the tissue or organ. These
are all direct descendants of each other, and each
retains, by inheritance, some of the powers possessed
by those which preceded it." Thus the nature and
functions of the nuclei are explained, and, to a certain
extent, in harmony with previous views of a certain
pre-eminence in this body (see p. 20).

Such are the cardinal properties of the one anato-
mical substance which forms the basis of life. We

* Beale : "Med. Chir. Review," vol. xxx. p. 210.

THE CARMINE PROCESS. 61

may now consider the chief facts and observations on
which this theory is founded. The carmine-staining
process may be first noticed, as it has, in addition to
its own importance, the historical interest of having
led the mind of Dr. Beale to his great discovery.

The discovery of the carmine-staining, which has borne such
important fruits, appears to be due to Lord S. G. Osborne, and it
was made known by him in a memoir read before the Micro-
scopical Society, in June, 1856, and published in the fifth
volume of the " Journal of Microscopical Science." In this he
says, " It was the desire to trace out this feature of cell growth
[formation of spongiole cells from protoplasm], which led me to
seek the means of giving colour to the formative matter. To
my delight, I now found that, whilst the mass would take up
or involve the pigment, the actual cell walls and epidermic
plasm would not" (p. 112). He states that the "formative
matter," under which term he includes " granular and mole-
cular matter," embodied in a thick, transparent fluid, may be
coloured, and that it is this which effects the various combina-
tions of cell contents ; but he is not sure that the staining is
uniform in this, or proceeds from some very minute, highly-
coloured granules. He observes also that the nuclei were more
highly coloured, and says, " Under every feature of cell growth,
the nuclei and the aggregations of formative matter which
tend to nucleolar growth, will always be found to present a
much deeper colour than the formative matter in the same cell
with them "(p. 114). His plate exhibits the staining of the
protoplasm and nucleus of the cells of the spongioles of the
wheat-root, and is very like what we are now familiar with. In
one place, also, there is exhibited the closely set stained masses
of the newly-formed portion ; while higher up in the same
rootlet the cells are oblong, and nearly colourless, with a single
deeply-coloured nucleus. The mode of staining was by letting
the wheat-plant grow in spring water coloured with carmine.
We see, thus, that this author makes a considerable step in
advance in the protoplasmic theory, but he did not reach

62 BEALE'S PEOTOPLASMIC THEORY.

it ; for he speaks of the " plasm " of the cell wall secreting
formative matter, and he does not attempt to found a general
theory of living and dead matters on these observations.

I have repeated the above experiments by growing wheat in
water to which carmine, dissolved in a weak solution of liquor
ammonise, was added in various proportions ; and also grown
in earth, and watered with the above solutions. The general
results were quite confirmatory of those discovered and figured
by Lord S. G. Osborne ; but, in many instances, the general
tinting, especially of the spongioles, was too uniform and
intense. The colouring matter had been deposited irregularly,
and on both the formed material and the amorphous proto-
plasm. But in some of the youngest cells, at the apex, which
I have now mounted in glycerine, the distinction can be very
well seen. The cell wall is seen as a transparent glassy mem-
brane, while the contents are stained irregularly in different
degrees of intensity, just like the yeast cells figured by
Dr. Beale. In the older cells an intensely stained spherical
nucleus is seen, as figured by Lord S. G. Osborne. On the whole,
the distinction into living matter and formed material is not
so palpable as to force itself on the attention ; and, indeed, we
cannot expect that it should be as perfect as in the staining of
recently dead organisms, for the currents and frequent chemical
changes following vital action must disturb the regular deposi-
tion of the alkaline colouring matter.

The next step is thus narrated in Dr. Beale's own
words : —

" Not very long after the appearance of Lord S. G. Osborne's
paper in the ' Quarterly Journal of Micros. Science/ on the
wheat plant, 1856, I began staining animal tissues, as Gerlach
and others had done before me. At this time I was injecting
tissues with glycerine, and preserving them in the same fluid.
Naturally, the carmine tinting was tried with glycerine. Tissues
so prepared were very favourable for dissection ; and, as many
were prepared in the same manner, they were examined in
series. The distinction between germinal matter and formed

THE CARMINE PROCESS. 63

material became at once evident, arid all the difficulties and
confusion respecting cell wall, contents, intercellular substance,
the division of tissues into cellular and non-cellular, were
removed. Then followed the comparison of the several tissues
at different ages, and no other conclusion than that which I
formed was left for the mind to accept. My pupils received
these views at once, and no one who saw series of specimens
could refuse to give up the old ideas " (MS. letter).

The rationale of this process is as follows. We have
seen that, with Beale, as with Fletcher, the protoplasm
or living matter is in a state of combination totally
distinct from that which it assumes at the moment of
death. When that is rapid, as we have seen, there
result formless masses of the proximate principles in
which only the characters common to the proximate
organic products of all living matter are discernible,
while the minute differences of it in the living state
are not recognizable by chemistry at present. One
character common to all kinds is " an acid reaction."

Dr. Beale says (" Microscope," 4th edit., p. 107), " The
living matter possesses an acid reaction, or, to speak
more correctly, an acid reaction is always developed
immediately after its death." But as in life all bio-
plasts contain some products of vital action, which
goes on incessantly, we may expect that in parts in
which rapid activity goes on the living matter may be
described as acid. Accordingly, it is stated by Ranke
(p. 11, "Physiologie," 1872) :

" In the animal cell also the chief activity of cell chemistry
seems to originate in the nucleus. We see the vital activities
of the organs run their course with the formation of organic
acids, e.g., lactic acid, the production of which is copious in
proportion to the heightened activity t)f the organs. Hence we

64 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

see the neutral or slightly alkaline reaction of the muscular or
nerve tissues give place, under strongly exerted activity, to an
acid one. These chemical transformations of the cell contents
originate, as it appears, for the most part, in the nuclei, which,
in the living cell, exhibit constantly an acid reaction " (Beale,
Kolliker, J. Eanke), " in contradistinction to their alkaline en-
vironment. This acid reaction is made known by the property
of the nucleus to colour itself red quickly and permanently in
neutral carminate of ammonia solution by fixation of the car-
minic acid."*

If, therefore, the operation of staining is performed
sufficiently soon after death, we have a most valuable
test of the parts of the organism that were living at
the moment of somatic death. If, however, a certain
time is allowed to elapse, decomposition sets in, and
this distinction is lost. " Certain other precautions in
practice are necessary, and the density and composition
of the colouring fluid must be slightly varied in special
cases. But it is necessary that I should state distinctly
that if the process be properly conducted, every kind
of living or germinal matter, or bioplasm, receives
and fixes the colour, while no kind of formed material
known is stained under the same circumstances"
(" Bioplasm," p. 44?). The importance of such a method
in proof of the protoplasmic theory is so obvious that
opponents have not failed to question these statements,
and the possibility of tinting all sorts of substances

* Dr. Beale also says : " The carmine does not actually stain living
matter ; and the acid, I conclude, is set free at the moment of death.
Soon after death, when decomposition begins, ammonia is formed, and
the acid neutralized, and then my staining will not occur ; but any-
thing may be stained, in another sense, by proper soaking. If bio-
plasm be carefully preserved soon after death, it may be stained, though
not so nicely, at any distant period if kept in a medium which will not
neutralize or quickly dissolve out the acid of the bioplasm " (MS.
letter).

THE CAKMINE PROCESS. 65

with this same carmine solution has been said to de-
prive the test of all value. To this Dr. Beale replies
that mere steeping of tissues and other formed matters
in the solution till they are soaked through with the
colouring matter, will certainly tint all kinds of formed
matters ; but the staining he means is essentially dif-
ferent from that mere tinting, and by observing proper
precautions it can easily be secured.

Dr. Ransome, in his paper on the " Ovum of Osseous Fishes "
(" Phil. Trans.," 1867), reports unfavourably of the process as a
means of distinction of the living and dead, for he says the
yelk sac and some other kinds of " formed material " took the
colour more quickly than the protoplasm.

And again, in his paper on the " Ovarian Ovum of the Gas-
terosteus Leiurus" ("Quart. Mic. J.," 1867, p. 1), he repeats his
objection, and states that the ammonia in Beale's carmine fluid
" rapidly dissolves the germinal vesicle and its contents," and
that " the granular formative yelk takes the dye with greater
difficulty than the yelk sac does, except in very young ova, and
the inner sac — a true germinal matter — does not take any
stain ; so that I cannot accept the staining of certain parts of
a structure as satisfactory evidence of the distribution of ger-
minal matter in the tissue." In reply to this, Dr. Beale states,
at p. 85 of same volume, that the ammonia does not dissolve
the germinal vesicle or its contents, although it may precipitate
some particles from the contents, and somewhat alter its ap-
pearance ; and that in the staining Dr. Ransome has probably
failed from not observing certain precautions and modifications
necessary in practice for different objects. In proof of this, he
gives the plate of the ova of the stickleback perfectly stained
according to Ms method. This plate is also to be seen at
p. 306 of " The Microscope," 4th edition. I would also add,
that in the above memoir in the " Phil. Trans.," Dr. Ransome,
after saying that the yelk sac took the carmine freely, goes on
thus : " The dyeing is independent of any acid reaction of the
substance dyed, as macerated yelk sacs which had been alkaline

5

66 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

from decomposition took the dye freely." This is quite con-
trary to Beale's directions, and the said dyeing must have been
mere tinting, or else was the proper staining of a layer of
bacteria.

Although the carmine test plays such an important
part, yet it must not be imagined that the protoplasmic
theory rests upon it entirely, any more than the New-
tonian theory rests upon the falling of the mythical
apple. Among the other arguments in support of it
may be enumerated the following :

The constant presence of bioplasm in all living parts
of the same animal, and its absence in the dead, such
as cuticle, hair, horn, &c.

The same externally-similar, structureless proto-
plasm occurs in all living things, plant, animal, or
protist.

Coloured secretions, and particles of starch and
other products, are seen to be formed in protoplasm.

" Bioplasm always exists before the formed material
is produced, and the latter is never found without the
former having been present " (" Biopl.," 123).

Even in the vitreous humor, apparently a completely
non-living part, numerous bioplasts exist in embryonic
life, and a few are found in the adult.

The proportion of bioplasm in any tissue decreases
with age. In the young, growing parts it greatly pre-
dominates ; then the proportion is gradually reversed
as growth ceases and age advances.

The continuity of the bioplasm with the formed
material in process of development.

In the formation of cartilage each bioplast divides
so as to produce clusters of four or more, and these

PKOOFS OF BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY". 67

again divide to produce secondary clusters. The proof
that the matrix is produced by these bioplasts is given
by the fact that the quantity of matrix formed is
greater between the primary than between the secon-
dary clusters. If the matrix grew independently this
would not be the case.

" The activity of change of an organ or texture may
be judged of by the number of bioplasts present in it "
("Biopl.," 295.)

No process properly vital or characteristic of living
beings occurs without the bioplasm taking part in it.

The peculiar form of the fibres of the elastic cartilage
of the epiglottis can hardly be accounted for except on
the supposition that each mass of protoplasm revolves
while it forms delicate fibres. A similar process must
be supposed in the formation of the spiral fibres of the
sympathetic ganglion cells (" Biopl.," 94).

As a summary, Dr. Beale states that his theory
would need to be greatly modified, if not entirely
abandoned, " if it could be shown that the intercellular
substance of cartilage is deposited from the blood in-
dependently of the cells ; or that ' intercellular sub-
stance/ or ' cell walls/ are ever formed independently
of germinal matter ; or that the matter of which the
* cell wall ' consists is deposited layer upon layer, in-
stead of layer within layer ; or that the germinal mat-
ter is not, at any period of development, in bodily
continuity with the formed material; or that the ger-
minal matter is capable of exerting an influence upon
matter situated at a distance from it, or that pabulum
does not become germinal matter, but it is merely
changed or converted into new matter by some meta-

5—2

68 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

bolic action exerted by the germinal matter, without
coming into actual contact with, it or becoming a part
of it ; or that cell wall or intercellullar substance pos-
sesses the power of selecting certain substances from
the nutritive fluid and converting these into matter
like itself; nay, if it can grow in and form septa, as is
described by almost all observers to take place in
cartilage" (« Qu. Mic. J.," 1863, p. 97)

Such is the basis of Beale's protoplasmic theory,
which now takes the place of the cell theory. It fol-
lows Fletcher and the non-animist school of vitalists,
and also the cell theory of Schleiden and Schwann, in
abandoning the idea of the dependence of life upon a
central overruling spirit or principle animating each
individual; and imputing it as a peculiar power or
property to quasi-independent vital units possessing
specific inherent differences in each organ and part.

The speciality of Dr. Beale's theory may be summed
up in a new addition to those aphorisms which from
time to time have marked successive epochs in the
progress of biology. We have first the dictum of
Harvey, Omne vivum ex ovo. Then, when this was
found not to comprehend all the modes of origin of living
beings, it was changed by Milne-Edwards into Omne
vivum e vivo. Again, Virchow alters that into Omnis
cellula e celluld. Now, Beale adds the new and
startling aphorism, never before even hypothetically
imagined except by Fletcher, Nihil vivum nisi proto-
plasma !

CHAPTER V.

BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY (continued).

THE problem is now to account for all the vital phe-
nomena of a complicated individual of the higher
orders by the sole action of this structureless, clear,
semi-fluid matter. Of course, it would be quite out of
place to go into the details of the formation, nutrition,
and function of the individual organs and tissues, but it
may be interesting to give an outline of the general pro-
cess of formation of tissues, and of nutrition, secretion,
and absorption, and of the process of blood formation.
In the production of formed material from the living
matter, as represented in its simplest form as cell
walls, or the capsules of fungus spores, the formed
material first appears as a thin film on the surface of
the bioplast. Then it is increased in quantity, not by
deposition from soluble matters on the outside of that
film, but always by formation on what is still the sur-
face of the bioplast, although now covered, and, there-
fore, all increase takes place inside of the cell wall.
" The growth of an elemental unit takes place always
from within." At the same time, the outer surface

70 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

may become old, hardened, and cracked. If the cell
is destined to be cast off and perish, the bioplasm in
the inside is gradually consumed by its conversion
into formed material, and is not renewed from pa-
bulum. The epidermic and some other cells of the
higher animals are in this case. But when the func-
tion of the bioplast is to be continued, its substance is
renewed from the nutrient fluid which passes through
the cell wall, or other formed material correspond! ng
to it. On this plan, the nutrition of cells of epithelium
and other bioplasts of man is conducted (197). On
this principle substantially, in fact, all growth and
nutrition are conducted. When increase or multiplica-
tion of cells, or any other formed material, takes place,
it is always the bioplasm alone which grows, divides,
and sub-divides, and becomes surrounded by formed
material produced by it. The formed material is
always passive, and takes no part in this process, and
never of itself grows in, or moves in, and forms par-
titions. The process of subdivision of the protoplasm
is easy to be seen. It is shown, among others, in pi.
vi. of Beale's " Protoplasm," third edition. When no
new growth is going on, no further subdivisions take
place, and the consumption of protoplasm and assimila-
tion of pabulum remain balanced. But gradually, as
age advances, the consumption of protoplasm exceeds
the renewal, and in proportion the formed material
exceeds the biopla&m in quantity, so that, at least in
some tissues, the latter amounts only to l-100th part.

With respect to the intimate nature of the process
of nutrition, it may be said to be co-extensive with
life itself, and the whole " investigation of it may be

NUTRITION A VITAL ACT. 71

narrowed to the study of the changes taking place in
the transparent living matter itself, and the production
of the material on its surface" (" Biopl.," p. 6). So far from
the food of an animal being " a portion of the environ-
ing matter that contains some compound atoms, like
some of the compound atoms constituting its tissues,"
as Herbert Spencer says, and which are selected and
deposited, Beale, like Fletcher (seep. 10), lays stress on
the fact that the pabulum in general contains none of
the proximate principles of the tissue ; and, even when,
some such are contained in it, ready formed, every
part of the pabulum is decomposed, and its elements
re-arranged, and it is converted into living matter.
"Every particle of matter that is to become tissue
must first pass through the living state, and its pro-
perties, character, and composition will be determined
partly by the internal forces or powers of the living
matter acting upon the elements of which it is com-
posed, and partly by the external conditions present at
the time when these pass from the living to the
formed state" (" Biopl.," p. 72). This does not apply only
to crude food, but also to the most highly elaborated
blood, which, as pabulum, is always merely dead
formed material, and never can nourish in virtue of
the living particles it contains.

During nutrition, and all vital action, the living matter
is supposed to be in the physical state described at p.
55. The tendency of the particles to move from a centre,
iis there described, necessarily creates a tendency in the
fluid around to move towards the centre. Thus the nu-
trient pabulum is as it were incessantly attracted towards
the centre of each bioplast, and the newly-formed bio-

72 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

plasm and formed material repelled towards the circum-
ference. Every mass, however small, of living matter con-
tains some material in each of these three different states,
and some amount of this change is incessantly going
on as long as life lasts, although the rate of change
may vary excessively in the active, resting, and dor-
mant stages in which the protoplasm may exist. Thus
the act of change of bioplasm into the formed ma-
terial, is the act of death of the living matter, and Dr.
Beale constantly uses the graphic expression that the
protoplasm of this or that kind dies into this or that
tissue or secretion.* " Every form in nature, leaves,
flowers, trees, shells — every tissue, hair, skin, bone,
nerve, muscle — results from the death of bioplasm "
("BiopVp. 10).

But not only every material product, but every
action properly called vital depends on the same
agency. " Every action in every animal, from the first
instant of its existence to the last, marks the death of
bioplasm, and is a consequence of it. Every work
performed by man, every thought expressed by him, is
a consequence of bioplasm passing from the state of
life — ceasing, in fact, to be bioplasm, and becoming
non-living matter with totally different properties"
(ibid.). " The germinal matter does not secrete the
formed material, but becomes resolved into it, and no

* Road by the light of Scale's theory, Fletcher's chapter on death
assumes a peculiar significance. Fletcher represents death as a vital
process, the last of the living actions, whereby the elements are re-
arranged into the chemical state ; for those elements being hitherto in
a totally different state, the usual chemical affinities cannot take effect
on them till they are released from vital affinity by vital agency. He
says of the living tissues, " their vitality cannot desert them otherwisa
than by a vital process" (" Life and Equivalence of Force," p. 178).

SECRETION A VITAL ACT. 73

metabolic, or catalytic, or any action at a distance, can
account for the process." The proofs of this are con-
tained in general proofs of the protoplasmic theory at
p. 66. And besides these, Dr. Beale shows that fluids
will pass through a comparatively thick layer of
formed material, and reach the germinal matter in the
course of a few seconds ; so there is always the oppor-
tunity given for contact with the nutriment, and con-
version of some constituents of it into the living matter.
As an example of secretion by a cell, he gives the
liver cell, or elemental unit. " This consists of a
spherical mass of germinal matter, often containing
new centres of growth (nuclei), surrounded by a con-
siderable extent of formed material, giving to the
whole an irregularly oval or somewhat angular appear-
ance. This formed material is undergoing change
upon its outer surface, and, although resulting from
one kind of germinal matter, becomes gradually re-
solved into amyloid, fatty matter, the resinous salts of
the bile, and colouring matters" ("Oxford Lectures,"
p. 639). "How is it possible that these various sub-
stances, not pre-existing in the blood, can be all formed
and separated from it at the same moment by the
agency of one and the same cell wall or nucleus acting
upon it at a distance ? It is surely more probable
that the constituents are absorbed from the blood, and
converted first into germinal matter, which then splits
up into these different classes of substances " (Todd
and Bowman, p. 109).

" The formation of tLe fatty matter occurs in this way: — In
the very substance of the bioplasm, hut always outside and
away from the new centre or nucleus, a little oil globule makes

74 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

its appearance. It results from changes in the living matter
itself. A portion of this bioplasm dies, and, among the
substances resulting from its death are fatty matter, which
being insoluble remains, and soluble substances which are
carried away in the blood ; starch globules and other secondary
deposits, formed in the interior of elementary parts, are
produced in the same manner by the death of the bio-
plasm. The fatty matter does not come from the blood
as fat, and deposit itself in the cell, nor is it formed by
the collection and aggregation of excessively minute granules,
which traverse the vascular walls suspended in serum, nor is it
precipitated from the nutrient fluid after the manner of cry-
stals ; but it invariably results from the transformation of
living matter, and different kinds of living matter, as is well
known, will produce different kinds of fat. The properties and
composition of fat in different animals differ, because the
powers of the bioplasm or living matter of each animal are so
different" (Todd and Bowman, p. 301.)

In a similar manner, substantially, are performed all
the formative and secreting functions of life, and, as
above said, all the strictly vital processes. In the pro-
duction of tissues and secretions, or formed material of
any kind, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, whether
coloured or colourless, or hard or soft, soluble or in-
soluble, their formation depends on the relation which
the elements of the living matter were made to
assume towards each other during the living state.
The very same elements which lived in the living mat-
ter always enter into the composition of the formed
material. The relation of the elements to each other
during the living state in the different kinds of proto-
plasm is so definite that from the same kind of living
matter, under similar conditions, the same formed sub-
stances result (" Microscope," p. 313).

SPECIFIC KINDS OF PROTOPLASM. 75

Although in physical aspect all kinds of protoplasm
are indistinguishable, yet inherent, specific vital pro-
perties of different kinds, in the same individual, are
fully recognized, and repeatedly dilated on, by Dr.
Beale. These differences are displayed in the reaction
with external agencies and pabulum; and although
these may exert a certain influence on the formative
process, "it is quite certain that no conceivable altera-
tion in external conditions will cause the bioplasm,
which was to produce muscle, to give rise to nerve,
cartilage, or elastic tissue " (" Biopl.," 127). As respects
the modifying influence of external agencies, " a tem-
perature at which one kind of protoplasm will live and
grow actively will be fatal to many other kinds. So,
too, as regards pabulum, substances which are appro-
priated by one form of bioplasm will act as a poison to
another. . . . The formed material resulting varies to
some extent if the conditions under which its produc-
tion takes place be modified . . . but under no circum-
stances whatever do external conditions determine the
production of a texture higher than that which the
germinal matter was destined to produce originally."

This is the same as Fletcher's doctrine of specific
irritability residing in each separate tissue and part in
virtue of its specific kind of irritable matter, and,
when taken in conjunction with the doctrine of spe-
cific stimuli, it has a most important bearing on tho
whole of physiology, pathology, and therapeutics.

In Dr. Beale's theory thus, with the exception of a
few" chemical changes that may take place in the
formed material after its production, there is no such
thing as the passage of materials from the blood, and

76 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

their aggregation into tissue or secretion, by the mere
chemical action, or by any catalytic or metabolic action
of the living parts in the neighbourhood, far less by
any spontaneous power in the liquid blood itself; but,
in all cases, every particle must first enter into and
become part of the living, semi-solid matter itself.

Such is the marvellously simple and beautiful
theory of Beale, and the central point on which his
whole new system of physiology turns, and which will,
no doubt, make his name imperishable. It gives to our
hand a plain solution of the difficulties which weighed
upon the materialist* theory of life. For, action at a
distance is only conceivable by means of force trans-
mitted by some suitable medium, while no possible
variety of what can be properly called force could
exert the formative powers characteristic of life. This
subject will be discussed in a subsequent chapter,
but, in the meantime., we may notice here that it has
relieved Fletcher from the dilemma in which he was
placed. The dilemma is thus stated in " Life, and the
Equivalence of Force," p. 103 : —

He speaks constantly of the vital functions of the several
tissues, while, at the same time, life is, with him, merely a
series of actions, depending on the properties of the substance
in which they take place, and, therefore, which cannot be com-
municated or conveyed in any degree. "With him, as regards
the higher animals, the parenchyma or capillary tissue was " the
seat of all the molecular actions of the body," thus including
secretion and nutrition, not only of all other tissues, but of the
ganglionic nervous matter itself. " But the ganglionic nervous
tissue, assuming this as the immediate seat of the property in

* I mean in its physiological sense only, as \vill be explained after-
wards.

FLETCHER'S DILEMMA. 77

s

question, is, of course, continually renewed and consumed,
like all the other tissues of the body, by molecular processes,
the seat of which is the parenchyma, which thus effects incessant
changes in this tissue, not only as interwoven with the sub-
stance of every other organ, but also as entering into the com-
position of the minute vessels of which itself consists." How
can the parenchyma, or the capillary walls, take any vital part
in the formation of the substance, whose presence alone con-
stitutes their vitality, and yet which property cannot be trans-
ferred to the smallest distance? Speaking in the present
language of the force-doctrine, the vital power is not the off-
spring of a force, and, therefore, cannot be conveyed or trans-
ferred through other kinds of matter, or the interstellar ether,
so as to operate at a distance, but it is the result of an affinity
proper to one particular aggregation of matter alone, and can,
therefore, only act upon particles within that ; nor can any
catalytic action take place between portions of matter in the
vital and chemical states of combination respectively.

It is obvious how the discovery of the actual living
matter and the theory of Beale remove the dilemma
of Fletcher, and render intelligible and comparatively
simple the view which defines life as the molecular
actions or changes taking place in a substance ana-
tomically one and chemically compounded in a manner
wholly sui generis. But, although strongly prepos-
sessed in favour of Beale's theory, having waited for it
all these years, I cannot but allow that it is opposed
"by certain difficulties not yet explained satisfactorily.
For instance, it is stated that every tissue or secretion,
solid, liquid, or gaseous, consists of elements which
were immediately before in the living state and formed
part of that protoplasm which dies into the said secre-
tion. Now, the protoplasm is always a most complex
compound of from five to seven elemental constituents,

78 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

and among them, invariably, nitrogen. Likewise, the
passage from the living to the dead state is abrupt,
and with no intermediate stage. How then can a
portion of protoplasm be said to die into a binary or
ternary compound, which arrange its elements as you
please never could, by any possibility, have been in
the living state ? Starch, sugar, and other carbo-
hydrates, and the hydrocarbons, and even carbonate of
lime, silica, carbonic acid, and water, are said to result
from the death of protoplasm. With respect to some
of these, Dr. Beale considers that the taking up of
oxygen at the moment of passing from the vital to the
chemical state, and subsequent changes of the matters
originally formed by the protoplasm — which in certain
cases, e.g., the secretion of the epithelial cells of the
kidney, no doubt take place — may account for the
reduction of formed material to simpler compounds.
But this cannot account for the production of the
great bulk of the ternary or binary compounds, the
starch and fat, for example, which appear in the middle
of the protoplasm of the cells. Dr. Beale hardly
meets the difficulty in the following words, and it
seems as if he were unwilling to attempt merely
speculative explanations, trusting to the evidence in
favour of the protoplasmic theory as a whole, and
leaving it to time to furnish the explanation of the
how of the process.

" We know that the nutrient matter makes its way
to the very centre of the living particles, and that it
there becomes changed. Certain of its elements are
re-arranged, and the material particles immediately
acquire powers they never possessed before. Then

DIFFICULTIES OF THE THEORY. 79

begins a series of orderly changes, very wonderful.
During the time that the matter lives, its elements are
probably arranged and re-arranged many times, the
proportion of some being reduced, and that of others
increased, so as to prepare for the formation of mole-
cules of great complexity as regards arrangement,
though composed of very few elements " (" Prot.," 3rd
edit., p. 280).

Professor Wyville Thompson, who considers Beale's
view as open to insuperable objections, thinks it more
probable that —

" Protoplasm, the substance of which is endowed with peculiar
vital properties, has always the same composition, and that it
acts simply by catalysis, inducing, under certain known laws,
decomposition and recombination in compounds which are sub-
jected to its influence, without itself undergoing any change,
absorbing the nascent products of combination and decomposi-
tion, and recombining them and reserving them with reference
to the development or maintenance of the organ to which it
gives its life" ("Nature," May, 1871).

To this I object that such actions imply infinitely
more than catalysis, which, in fact, is a purely chemi-
cal operation requiring a definite intermediate com-
pound to be formed by double decomposition, and this
resolved again, as is the case in inorganic chemical
catalytic processes, such as the manufacture of sul-
phuric acid and of chlorine. And if a similar process,
not as yet chemically explained, takes place with the
nitrogenous diastase in the conversion of starch into
sugar, still we have no reason to suppose the attitude
of the molecules to each other less definite. But dias-
tase possesses no power of self-renewal or growth, or

80 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

any other of the properties enumerated in the above
sentence, therefore catalysis explains nothing of the
very points most requiring explanation, and which
must be presumed to depend on a complexity of mole-
cular constitution far surpassing anything known in
chemistry — in fact the state swi generis of Fletcher
— and which is quite incompatible with the simple
attitude of double decomposition essential for cata-
lysis.

I may suggest that the difficulty would be clearly
expressed by the statement that for every molecule of
simpler formed-material a portion of protoplasm must
die and split up, sufficient to have maintained that in
the living state. If a particle of starch is deposited
so much protoplasm must die as contained its elements
in the living state ; not that the starch alone died out
and left the remaining elements of its protoplasm still
living. Hence it must follow that a much larger
quantity of protoplasm must die than the correspond-
ing quantity of the specific formed-material, and of
necessity a number of by-products must always be
formed in every act of nutrition and secretion, and, in
fact, in every vital act. And these must have a com-
pensating or complementary character.

Dr. Beale seems to suggest this in the following
words : " When germinal matter becomes resolved into
formed material, other compounds are produced besides
the special ones which characterize that particular
kind of germinal matter " (Todd and Bowman, 104).
And again speaking of the vegetable cell ; " in all these
cases the formation of the peculiar and characteristic
substance which accumulates, is accompanied by the

BY-PKODUCTS OF PROTOPLASMIC ACTION. 81

formation of soluble and gaseous matters which escape"
(Ibid. 108).

It will be the business of organic chemistry to test
this, and thus confirm or disprove Beale's theory. At
present things are hardly far enough advanced for a
complete discussion of the question, but reasons are
not wanting for believing that such by-products are
always formed, and then reabsorbed and decomposed
and converted again into living matter, and from that
to pabulum, either on the spot or through the compli-
cated process of blood formation possessed by the
higher animals, till finally nothing but highly oxidated
and effete matters are excreted by the emunctories.
In muscular work, for example, most probably a por-
tion of nitrogenous protoplasm, corresponding to -the
force evolved, dies and splits up in every muscular act
— for the notion that force is evolved by the direct
combustion of starch and fat is, no doubt, a gross
chemical figment — yet there is no increased elimina-
tion of urea, for of the long list of products known and
unknown in addition to lactic and carbonic acids, the
bulk of them, and probably nearly all the nitrogenous
ones, are re-converted into blood, and the amount of
urea secreted depends upon the character of the diet
and not on the amount of muscular work, as will be
more fully shown in chap. viii. In the low organisms,
whose business is destruction rather than economy,
these by-products are more plainly seen. For example,
in the alcoholic fermentation of sugar, which is a vital
process performed by the protoplasm of the yeast cells,
besides alcohol and carbonic acid, into which cf emically
sugar might be entirely resolved, certain by-products

82 BEALE's PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

are always formed partly from the constituents of the
sugar ; viz., succinc and lactic acids, glycerine, propylic,
amylic, butylic, and caproylic alcohols, and probably
other substances still unknown (Watts' Diet.). Now,
if the process is catalytic, why is the whole sugar not
resolved into carbonic acid and alcohol ? In the true
catalytic formation of chlorine from hydrochloric acid by
oxygen and copper salts, the whole chlorine is evolved.
Besides all this there must always be furnished some
albuminous matter, in addition to the sugar, as pabu-
lum, and there is also produced cellulose and new pro-
toplasm. Instead, therefore, of a more or less complex,
merely chemical, change the yeast fermentation should
be represented thus. A portion of yeast protoplasm
converts into additional living matter like itself, some
sugar with a trace of albuminous matter and salts. At
the same time the surface layer dies and is converted
into cellulose which remains as the cell wall, and the
above products which are dissolved or volatilized away.
Likewise in the growth of bacteria we observe the
same formation of by-products, whatever be the nature
of the albuminous matters by whose destruction these
creatures live. But what is more remarkable, Cohn
found, and his observations have been confirmed by
those of Mr. Dallinger and myself, that a specific odour
of putrefaction is given out when they (bacteria and
infusoria up to the rank of paramecia) are nourished
without any albumen, i.e., in a solution of tartrate of
ammonia with mineral salts. This shows that in growth,
the bacteria must form protoplasm out of the ammoni-
acal and other salts, and portions of it are then decom-
posed in vital acts.

ABSORPTION. 83

Ultimately these products, when not dissipated as
volatile, form nutriment for different generations and
kinds of putrefactive infusoria, till finally nothing
but a clear liquid is left, with a powdery sediment
composed of unconsumable matters and bacterial and
other germs. Thus in the course of successive genera-
tions is effected the reduction to simple compounds
which is performed simultaneously by the myriads
of plastids of different kinds which go to make up in-
dividuals of the higher orders.

Absorption. — In the absorption or retrograde
metamorphosis of the tissues, we have, at first
sight, a difficulty in the protoplasmic theory.
But on closer inspection it proves more capable
of explaining the phenomena than any other hypo-
thesis. For if all the tissues are merely dead
formed material and therefore passive, now are they
to undergo that renewal which implies removal of old
worn-out parts us well us deposition of new ? It is
true that by solution, oxidation, exosmosis, and other
chemical and physical processes, a certain amount
of effete matters is got rid of, as is allowed by Dr.
Beale also, yet that does not nearly account for the
bulk of the change in solid tissue which is supposed to
be continually going on. In most works on physi-
ology, it is tacitly assumed that although now the pro-
toplasm may be the chief agent, embryologically speak-
ing, for the production of the tissues, yet when once
formed they possess vitality, and are renewed, particle
for particle, by strictly vital processes as they are worn
out, although no distinct meaning is ever given to the
expression wear and tear as applied to living parts.

6—2

84* BEALE'S PKOTOPLASMIG THEORY.

On the protoplasmic theory such a process is impos-
sible. The immediate means is simply a kind of re-
versal of the essential function of the protoplasm, viz.,,
consumption and renewal of itself from pabulum. In
the case of one of the simplest forms of life, viz., the
spore of mildew, the formed material may accumulate
in the form of a thick membrane while the protoplasm
wastes to a mere speck which retains its vitality- in a
dormant state until

"External conditions become again favourable, when the
trace of living germinal matter soon increases, spreads through
the thickened membrane, much of which it even consumes as
pabulum, and the rapid growth already referred to is resumed.
This rapid increase of germinal matter under favourable con-
ditions is a fact of the greatest interest and importance in
reference to certain changes occurring in disease of the higher
tissues of plants, animals, and man. For we shall find that
just as the germinal matter of the fungus may grow and live
and produce new germinal matter at the expense of the formed
material already formed, so the germinal matter of a cell of the
highest organism may increase and consume its formed ma-
terial. In this way we shall see that firm and scarcely
changing tissue may become the seat of active change and
ultimately be removed. Thus is the fatty matter of adipose
tissue removed, and the hard compact tissue of bone scooped
out to make room for new osseous texture. In this way the
abscess and ulcer commence, and the ' softening ' of cartilage
and other hard textures is brought about. The pathological
process known as 'inflammation7 is due to the increase of
germinal matter. In certain forms of cancer the process is
seen in its most active, and to us most painful, form ; for as the
growth proceeds, not only is the formed material of adjacent
textures rapidly consumed, but no sooner has the soft cancer
texture been produced than it in its turn is consumed by new
cancer-tissue, and this by more, until an enormous mass of soft,

ABSORPTION. 85

evanescent, spongy texture results, which destroys the poor
patient by its enormous exactions upon his terribly exhausted
system » (" Oxford Lectures," p. 579).

Again, speaking of cartilage, Dr. Beale says : " The
germinal matter may even appropriate the formed
material itself as we found appeared in the case of the
formed material of mildew, epithelium,, and other kinds
of this substance " (" Oxford Lectures ").

Again, in speaking of the absorption of fat he says :

" As fatty matter is formed from bioplasm, so its removal
is effected only through the instrumentality of this living
matter. It cannot be removed until it has been again taken
up and reconverted into bioplasm. Moreover the same bio-
plasm is instrumental in both operations. In the one case
taking certain constituents from the blood, increasing at their
expense and then undergoing conversion into fatty and other
matters. In the other, growing at the expense of the fatty
matter already produced, and becoming resolved into substances
which find their way back again into the blood, and which are
at length appropriated in part by other forms of bioplasm of
the body. .... In the winter, when the fat of the fat bodies
of the frog are being absorbed, the bioplasm of each vesicle can
be seen spreading around the fatty matter, which gradually
diminishes in amount in consequence of its conversion into
bioplasm. On the distal side of the vesicle, phenomena of
another kind are proceeding. The bioplasm is there undergoing
change and becoming resolved into substances which are imme-
diately taken up by the bioplasm of the blood and the blood-
vessels " (" Biopl." p. 138).

Dr. Beale sums up the action of the protoplasm thus : " Such
is the marvellous power of this living material that there are
probably few things in nature that are proof against its de-
stroying power. The hardest material, even flint itself, yields
to the slow but sure disintegrating action of bioplasm. The
most insoluble materials as well as the most soluble are appro-
priated "(p. 160).

8G BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

In these examples we see liow absorption is just as
much a part of the function of protoplasm as deposi-
tion, and in fact it is in reality a mode of growth
which is the distinguishing attribute of living matter.
But these examples hardly do justice to the theory as
a whole, for they apply either to disease or to the
lower forms of individuality in which all the essential
functions of life are concentrated in simple plastids.
To see how removal of tissue forms part of an orderly
purposive process just as much as deposition, we must
go back to the laws of development. In all living
matter the faculties of nutrition, function, and develop-
ment are inextricably interwoven, and however one
or other may be predominant at any period of life,
still the others are never altogether absent. Schwann
divided the faculties of the cell into plastic and meta-.
bolic; the latter meaning those processes whereby chemi-
cal transformations are produced, and therefore princi-
pally concerned in secretion, which is the chief part of
nil functions, and the former including the formative
and also germinal faculties. Thus the plastic, the me-
tabolic, and the germinal may comprise the faculties of
living matter. Beale looks upon the germinal as the
fundamental one, and as lasting more or less through
life and including the rest, he gives that name to the
living matter. He points out that the same mass of
protoplasm in the cells of secreting organs gives origin
to two very different products, viz., the cell wall and
the secretion, two things whose composition and pro-
perties are totally different, thus representing the
plastic and metabolic faculties. The ultimate power
of forming the tissues is only reached by a long series.

REGRESSIVE METAMORPHOSIS. 87

of descendence of one bioplast from another, and the
germinal, or developmental faculty, not only survives
in the adults of the higher individuals in ordinary
nutrition, but " in fully-formed organs there exists a
certain proportion of embryonic germinal matter which
may undergo development at a future period of life,
and if the greater part of this becomes fully-formed
tissue, still there remains embryonic matter for de-
velopment at a still later period, and so on" ("Croonian
Lecture," p. 263). He instances the white corpuscles as
examples of undifferentiated protoplasm which are
descended from an early embryonic period and have
more capacity for differentiation. To these he ascribes
the power of forming cuticle and white fibrous tissue
in the healing of wounds.

Beale's theory, in fact, harmonizes with, and realizes, in a
more precise form, the theory of epigenesis of Caspar Wolff,
who, we are reminded by Huxley and Hackel, is the true
founder of the modern theories of development. Like Wolff,
Beale traces the evolution of the whole complex organism of
plants and animals to the growth, sub-division, and differentia-
tion of a little mass of clear, viscous, structureless matter. The
developmental history of living organisms is usually spoken of
as synonymous with embryology, although that word properly
applies only to the organism within the envelopes of the ovum.
According to Hackel, the more correct term would be " onto-
genesis."* Each individual of the higher orders, in the process
of ontogenesis, passes through the lower stages which represent
the permanent form of beings of lower orders of individuality.
The process of their evolution or development, as a whole,
consists therefore of building up, metamorphosis, and re-
gression or decay. By many the word evolution is restricted

* "Gen. Morph.," vol. i. p. 53.

88 BE ALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

to the growth and differentiation up to maturity, while the
regressive metamorphosis is spoken of as something different,
and opposed to evolution. But Hackel will not allow this,
and regards the whole three as parts of one connected whole ;
for the regressive metamorphosis of some parts is so intimately
connected with the progressive development of others, that no
line can be drawn between them.* Now, absorption is an
essential part of the process of metamorphosis, and although in
the higher orders of organisms most of these metamorphoses
and absorptions of temporary parts and organs take x>lace in
the embryo, still, even in the adult, the tendency survives in
the same degree as the germinal faculty, as is revealed of both
in the phenomena of the healing of wounds, and of disease.
The persistence of the germinal faculty is also shown by the
phenomena of morbid new growths, and also by that of de-
generation of the healthy bioplasts which forms such a large
element in the causation of inflammation, fever, and the con-
tagious diseases. In all these the developmental faculty is
degraded to a lower level, while the metabolic and, at times,
the plastic faculties are often enormously increased, and there
is a corresponding consumption of albuminous pabulum, and
excretion of urea and carbonic acid. In the highest kind of
protoplasm of all — viz., the brain-bioplasts, the germinal
faculty must persist throughout the whole life, if, as is most
probable, we are to ascribe memory to it.

Beale, indeed, hardly does justice to his own
theory of absorption being the function of the proto-
plasm alone in the scanty observations directly
addressed to the question ; but it comes out more
clearly incidentally in his theory of the connective,
bony, and other tissues.

Instead of the important and numerous uses rather
fancifully attributed by Virchow and others to the
connective tissue, Beale tbinks it of subordinate im-

* "Gen. Morph.," vol. ii. p. 18.

ABSORPTION A METAMORPHIC PROCESS. S'J

portance, and substantially refers it to imperfectly-
absorbed remains of embryonic and previously-formed
tissues. " Every adult organ may be said to contain
skeletons of organs which TV ere active at an earlier
period of life " (" Biopl.," 105). The function of ab-
sorption thus belongs to the metamorphic part of the
developmental process, and the proof of this is given
by the fact that the connective tissue is almost com-
pletely absent in insects, in which, as is well known,
the metamorphic process is most complete. Here the
organs and textures of the larva are entirely removed
by the masses of germinal matter which are destined
to form the imago. These masses "absorb, remove,
and, in fact, live at the expense of the tissue which is
to disappear; and whether this change occurs physio-
logically or [in other organisms] pathologically, the
process is essentially of the same nature " (" Croonian
Lecture," p. 265). In a similar way, temporary mus-
cular fibres are first produced and absorbed ; temporary
kidneys and other temporary organs of embryonic
life illustrate the same process. In disease this ab-
sorptive faculty maybe exalted and the reparative one
destroyed. " In those changes which lead to the forma-
tion of pus, the removal of every texture is as perfect
as during the pupa state of an insect, but the bioplasm
constituting the pus corpuscles has no power to give
rise to that which will take part in the development of
new tissues " (" Biopl.," p. 106). I may conclude this
subject with the absorption of bone, which illustrates,
in a striking way, the function of the protoplasm in
this process.

90 ABSORPTION OF BONE.

In the removal of the temporary bones in the foetus the
bioplasts in the central part increase and erode the spicula of
temporary bone. The surface is eroded and scooped out into
little pits by the bioplasts which consume the bony matter,
and at last a cavity is formed which is occupied by multitudes
of bioplasts, the descendants of those of the temporary carti-
lage. It was discovered by Tomes and De Morgan that, even
in the adult, the Haversian systems of the bones were in a
continual state of change from absorption of old and deposition
of new bone. The process is thus described by Dr. Beale : —
Around the vessel occupying the Haversian canal, in the slight
interval between the vessel and the surface of the bone, are
seen a number of little bioplasts. These " little particles of
bioplasm grow and multiply in the space in which they lie.
The walls of this space (lacuna) are eaten away, and the lacuna
becomes enlarged. As the hard material disappears, instead of
a lacuna occupied by a single bioplast, we find a greatly-
enlarged space, a gigantic lacuna, containing several bioplasts.
One of these I figured as early as 1861. » The bioplasts of the
adjacent lacuna increase in the same manner, and, by degrees,
lamina after lamina of the osseous tissue of the Haversian
rod disappears, and, in place of hard bone, we find soft, pulpy
growing bioplasm occupying what is now [in the dead, dry
bone] the ' Haversian space.' . . . The process of disinte-
gration gives place to a very different operation. Of the bioplasts
in contact with the bone, some, no doubt, die and disappear,
others are, however, concerned in the production of soft formed
material, which gradually becomes infiltrated with calcareous
matter, as already described, and a layer or lamina of new bone
results " (" Biopl.," p. 157). In this manner, without the de-
velopment of any acid or chemically solvent fluid, this soft and
pulpy bioplasm erodes and removes the hardest bony matter,
such as the fangs of the temporary teeth. Those particles of
protoplasm concerned in the absorption of bone can be shown
by the carmine process.*

* In support of this view of absorption being a vital process, per-
formed by the plastids or bioplasm masses, we may notice the forma-
tion of the so-called giant cells in the absorption of bone. When the

PROCESS OF BLOOD-FORMATION. 91

On the Blood Formation. — Besides growth and
absorption, the third general element of vital action in
individuals of the higher orders is the preparation of
the special pabulum, on the immediate conversion of
which into living matter all continuance of life de-
pends. On this subject I will only touch upon the
points in which Beale's protoplasmic theory differs
from the views previously held by physiologists. The
elaboration of the blood to a state fit for pabulum to
the higher tissues is performed by a series of proto-
plasmic masses of special, but lower, endowments than
those of the higher tissues. While passing through
these the crude nutriment is entirely decomposed, and

bone is exposed to irritation or pressure, as in the case of aneurism, or
physiologically in the jaw during the formation of the tooth-sac, large,
many-nucleated cells make their appearance. Wherever these are in
contact with the bone a portion is eaten away, and what were before
known as the lacunae of Howship are formed. By this process of
lacuna-formation the bone is gradually cleared away before the ad-
vancing tooth-sac, or other irritating cause which is producing its-
absorption. What is specially of interest to us in showing that, even
in the living body, the true bone substance is actually dead, is the fact
noted by Kolliker that the ivory pegs driven into the bones in the living
subject in Dieffenbach's operation for pseudo-arthrosis were found to be
covered with the typical lacunse of Howship filled with the many-
nucleated giant cells. And, besides, in many places human bone-
substance was deposited on the eroded surface of the animal ivory.
This corresponds to what is observed in the growth of the tooth-sac ;
for after the irruption of the tooth, the giant cells disappear, and the
osteoplasts, or formative bone protoplasm masses, again clothe the
surface of bone, whose formation, instead of absorption, again proceeds.
This leads us to the origin of these cells, and we find that Kolliker con-
siders they belong to the same category as the osteoplasts or formative
cells of bone, and proceed directly from them ; that there is a trans-
formation of the one into the other by division ; and that they may be
seen in transition stages. Dr. Morison has also seen intermediate
forms : " and also osteoclasts (giant cells) lying in close apposition on
the one hand to the border of absorbing bone, and on the other to a
twig of capillary vessel." See " Bone Absorption by means of Giant
Cells," by Dr. A. Morison, "Edinburgh Med. Journal," Sept. 1873.

i)2 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY.

recombined into other compounds, differing often
widely from it. Thus, after the food is mixed with
and dissolved by the special digestive juices, it is
taken up by the bioplasts of the villi of the intestinal
mucous membrane. This taking up is not a mere
physical absorption, nor a chemical process the like of
anything known in the laboratory, but is strictly, like
all other vital actions, a growth and death of portions
of these bioplasts — the part that grows and lives con-
stituting the white corpuscles which pass into the lac-
teals and finally into the blood-vessels, while the part
thafc dies constitutes the serum, or true pabulum,
which is still further elaborated by the bioplasts of
the blood-vessels and those floating in the blood itself.
" The food is not simply dissolved and caused to pass
into the blood, as would be inferred from the descrip-
tion usually given, but millions of masses of bioplasm
live and grow, pass through certain stages, and die
yielding up the products of their death to be taken up
by other bioplasm — particles situated in the walls of
the vessels and in the blood itself" ("Biopl.," 25).
The true nutrient part of the blood is thus always
merely dead pabulum ; but the blood, as a whole, con-
tains floating particles of living matter besides those
iixed in the walls of the vessels, and generally called
nuclei. Thus are reconciled the opposite opinions re-
specting the life of the blood which have been the
subject of so much contention. The blood as a whole
does not touch the living matter of the tissues in
health, but it is only the dead fluid nutritive part
which transudes through the capillary walls. If from
disease the living particles pass through the capillary

• BLOOD-FORMATION. 93

•walls, the effects are always evil, and often fatal. In
ordinary nutrition and secretion, the living matter im-
bedded in each tissue or organ, selects certain con-
stituents, and the fluid deprived of these is again
taken back into the circulation. The important part
played by the bioplasts of the capillaries in these pro-
cesses is thus stated by Dr. Beale :

" I believe that the bioplasts of the capillary vessels play a
far more important part in the changes of the body than has
hitherto been supposed. They are as intimately concerned in
the process of secretion and excretion as they are in the selec-
tion, preparation, and distribution of nutrient constituents. The
bioplasts of the capillaries, of the lungs are the agents by which
certain animal matters are separated from the blood and trans-
ferred to the air in the pulmonary air cells, and it is probable
they are also concerned in facilitating the changes which take
place between the gaseous constituents of the air and blood.
In connection with the capillaries of all secreting organs the
bioplasts are numerous, and they select and remove certain
substances from the blood and transfer them in an altered form
to the secreting cells of the gland. They are in great number
upon the vessels of the villi of the small intestines, in some
cases being so very close together as to leave little membranous
structure between them. These bioplasts of the intestinal
capillaries receive the nutrient substances after they have been
already once modified by the bioplasm of the epithelial cells of
the villi, and transmit them in an altered form to the interior
of the capillary, where many of their constituents are at once
taken up by the bioplasts (white blood corpuscles and minute
particles of bioplasm) in the blood itself."

These remarks entirely harmonize with the views of
many of the older physiologists on the importance of
the parenchymatous or capillary tissue — which to them
was the ultimate anatomical element — and more espe-
cially with those of Fletcher, who placed all the vital

•94 BIOPLASTS OF THE CAPILLARIES

powers of the capillaries in the portions of structure-
less, pulpy, living matter interwoven with them. The
number and size of these nuclei or bioplasts of the
•capillaries, are shown to correspond with the important
functions assigned to them by Dr. Beale ("Biopl.,"
287). In particular, the absorption and restoration to
the blood of the nutrient fluid, altered during nutrition
and the products of breaking up of the tissues, was
assigned by Fletcher to the capillary veins in virtue
of the living matter in their walls. This is almost
literally repeated by Dr. Beale, who describes and
figures these minute veins as destitute of muscular
fibres and studded with immense numbers of bioplasts,
whose appearance and functions are thus stated :

" The observer will be astonished at the great number of
oval bioplasts in the walls of the small veins, as well as in the
capillaries near the veins. These bioplasts have not, I think,
been figured or accurately described, nor has attention been
drawn to the very important offices they probably fulfil in con-
nection with physiological changes that are constantly going
on as long as life lasts. It must be obvious that bioplasts dis-
tributed in such number as are those in the walls of the small
veins, perfown other functions besides taking part in the for-
mation of the tissue of the vein. As I have already endea-
voured to show, the activity of change in an organ or texture
may be judged of by the number of bioplasts present in it. In
veins the bioplasts are many times as numerous as would be
required to produce the very small amount of tissue entering
into the formation of their coats. The blood in these small
veins undergoes important changes, just as it does in the
capillaries, and the agents concerned are the bioplasts. In
short, physiologically, the small veins may be considered as
part of the capillary system, and concerned in nutrition arid in
the removal of products of disintegration resulting from changes
in the tissue."

AND VEINS. 95

Such is the general bearing of the protoplasmic
theory on the formation and renewal of the blood,
and it would be out of place to go further into that
large subject here.

CHAPTER VI.

CELL AND PROTOPLASM HISTORY SINCE 1860.

WE have seen that in 1850 Cohn came very close to
the protoplasm theory ; Remak also gave the name of
protoplasm to animal cell contents, and although no
one generalized the theory completely before Beale, in
1860, still several were working in that direction, and
by most of the German authors the credit of so doing
is generally given to Max Schultze, in 1861. How far
the claims of this otherwise highly-distinguished
naturalist are to be put into competition with those of
Beale, is best shown by his memoir, " Das Protoplasma
der Rhizopoden, &c. Leipzig, 1863." As this may
not be accessible to many, I give here an analysis of
the parts bearing on this subject : —

In Reichert and Du Bois-Reymond's "Archiv.," 1861, Max
Schultze expressed the opinion that the dispute respecting the
nature of the muscular and connective tissue corpuscles would
easily be settled if people would give up some part of the prevail-
ing views on the essential constituents of the cell, more especially
in respect to the relation of the cell membrane and inter-
cellular substance to the cell contents. At the same time, he
said that the portion of the cell contents corresponding to the

MAX SCHULTZE. 97

protoplasm of Von Mohl ought to be credited with a much
higher importance, not only for the cell life, but also for the
formation of tissues in the animal organism, than it had
hitherto been. He rested these opinions on his own observa-
tions, and chiefly on the formation of the contractile substance
of the muscular fibres of frogs and salamanders from the pro-
toplasm of the embryonal muscle cell. Then, touching on
Beale, he says — "No one who has the development of the
general doctrine of tissue formation at heart will deny that the
first requisite of progress in this direction is an accurate know-
ledge of the individual constituents of the cells, and their part
in the development of the tissues. The need of such progress
is even felt also in those quarters in which the cell theory has
not yet been understood, and among such is to be reckoned the
work of Beale" [on the " Simple Tissues," 1861], "which will
not meet with the attention it otherwise deserves, because it
stands outside the cell theory. Beale's * Germinal Matter' is, it
is true, essentially that which we call protoplasm, including
also, certainly, the nucleus ; and the ' formed matter/ that
which is formed and gives form to the tissues is brought into
an essentially correct dependence on the protoplasm. But of
cells as elementary parts, or elementary organisms, of nuclei
which are distinct from, and yet so necessary to the protoplasm,
there is no word. For him the great and inalienable [unveraus-
serliche] discovery of the cell is of only historical interest"
(p. 3). He then proceeds to state that he gives the protoplasm
the same importance in animals as, since Mohl, the botanists
have long assigned to it in vegetables. But the membrane is
not thereby to be thought of no account, for it is necessary to
the formation of rigid structures, for which purpose the proto-
plasm is unfitted, from its physical consistence. Although he
speaks of the protoplasm as "properly speaking, the living
substance of the cell," he does not clearly state that the mem-
brane and the tissues are not living, and gives no clear notion
of the relation of the cell membrane to tissues. He is still
taken up with the demonstration that animal cells, or proto-
plasm corpuscles, can exist without a cell membrane, instancing
the cells of the Hydra, the Amoeba, the Myxomycetaa, <fcc.

7

98 PROTOPLASM HISTORY SINCE 1860.

This need not detain us, being now superfluous. He agrees
with Pringsheim that the supposed primordial utricle, as a
separate membrane, has no existence in the vegetable cell, and
that the outer layer is merely protoplasm, as we saw Naegeli
stated long before. He gives his own observations showing
there is a similar outer layer of protoplasm in the animal cell
which cannot be called a membrane, even when no distinct
separation between the protoplasm layer and intracellular fluid
takes place, as in fact it does more seldom than in the plant
cell. In short, he considers established the fundamental
analogy of the plant and animal cell as regards the protoplasm.
He considers that the cell may be denned as consisting of a
little mass of protoplasm and a nucleus, and that these consti-
tute a single whole, and that the nucleus plays an important
part, although he confesses what that may be is not as yet
sufficiently known. He shows, also, that the movements of the
pseudopodia and the granules are produced by active con-
tractile movements of the protoplasm, as had been hypotheti-
cally supposed by Unger. In 1860 he had already used these
words : — " I finally proposed to banish entirely the word Sar-
code, which was repugnant as standing to a certain extent in
opposition to the cell theory, and to substitute for it the word
protoplasm, in which is expressed the triumph of the cell theory
over these lowest organisms also," — i.e., the Rhizopoda, which
naturalists had found difficult to bring under the cell theory
(with good reason, as we think still). In the essay of 1861 he
says — " The opinion may be defended that the formation of a
chemically different membrane on the surface of the protoplasm
is a sign of commencing retrograde metamorphosis, and that
the cell membrane belongs so little to the conception of a cell,
that it may even be looked on as a sign of approaching de-
crepitude, or at least of a stage in which the cell has already
suffered a considerable loss of its original vital activity." This
was violently attacked by his German critics, and now (1863),
after reading Beale, he does not re-affirm it with increased
decision, but, on the contrary, draws back and apologizes' for it
as an opinion which one might defend as a whim (aus Laune).
M. Schultze concludes his book in the following words — " I

SCHULTZE — REICHERT — HACKEL. 99

must once more expressly point out that Keichert's fears that
the bases (Grundvesten) of the cell theory are shaken by my
view of the cell are completely groundless. Nobody can be
more deeply penetrated with the conviction than I that the
doctrine of the cell, as the fundamental element of all animal
tissues, is for all time inalienably assured. Far from wishing
to put anything new in the place of the cell theory, I seek
rather by my view of the body of the Khizopod to bring its
substance — the so-called Sarcode, hitherto standing outside the
cell theory— under this theory. And, as regards my position
towards Schwann's doctrine, I think that in many points we
shall have to return to the purer form of the same. My obser-
vations force me ever more to the conviction that ' the corre-
spondence in the structure and growth of animals and plants,'
as Schwann entitles the scope of his celebrated researches, is
much greater than people are nowadays inclined to believe "
(p. 63). I cannot but think that the protoplasmic theory of
Beale is a more simple and natural fulfilment of Schwann's
object than Max Schultze's attempt to uphold the cell theory
in words, while explaining it away to nothing in fact. And it
is difficult to see what hinders him from following Beale en-
tirely. But that he does not do so, and that he rejects the dis-
tinct declaration that all structure is dead, while the structure-
less protoplasm alone is alive, is plain from the above quota-
tions. After this there can be no question of priority, for no
one, then, was so near Beale as this author.

Keichert still after this continued to uphold the
typical cell, and contested the fact of the internal
movements of the sarcode of the Rhizopods ; but his
arguments are not deserving of any attention now,
although Hackel, in his memoir on the Monera, 1869,
took the trouble to refute them. Hackel claims for
himself the merit of having done much to establish
the protoplasm theory, in his " Monographie der

7—2

100 PBOTOPLASM THEORY SINCE 1860 — HACKEL.

Radiolarien," in 1862, and other works, and summed
up in his " Generelle Morphologie," 1866.

" The decisive and irrefragable proof that certain cells are
destitute of all traces of a membrane, and consist solely of a
little lump of semi-fluid mucilaginous cell-stuff (protoplasma),
surrounding a nucleus, was first given by me ; in that I ob-
served the penetration of solid particles into the substance of the
protoplasm, and their accumulation round the nucleus. This was
confirmed by the simple experiment of causing the amoeba-
like blood cells of invertebrates (Mollusca and Crustacea) to take
up pigment particles into their interior, by means of their
amoeba-like movements and changes of form" (vol. i., p. 271).
Having thus, like others, abandoned the cell wall, he still
clings to the nucleus, to which he attributes important powers.
But, in answer to Briicke, who insisted that many elementary
organisms existed which were destitute of nucleus, he is com-
pelled to admit the fact. And, in addition to the nucleated
cell, he admits another kind of elementary organism, which he
calls a cytod, or cell-like body, and which, in fact, is nothing
but a little mass of protoplasm. In 1866 he divides the plas-
tids, or morphological units of the first order, into cells— i.e.,
protoplasm with nucleus, and cytods, the same without
nucleus ; while both of these may exist with or without a cell
membrane. A mere lump of protoplasm is thus a naked cytody
or Gymnocytod, under which head are classed the Protogenes,
the Protomceba, many monads, vibrios, &c. Under the head
of Lepocytods, or protoplasm masses with a membrane, but no
nucleus, are classed many Protista, such as certain Rhizopods,
many Alyce, the spores of Aphides, daphnidce, &c. To the
Gymnocyta, or naked cells — i.e., protoplasm and nucleus — be-
long many oya, the partition-products of the same, many nerve
cells, connective tissue cells, the escaped swarm spores of many
Algae, &c. To the Lepocyta, or the original cell with nucleus,
protoplasm and cell wall, belong most plant cells and many
animal cells. It is evident that, however valuable these precise
divisions may be as questions of natural history, the essentiality
of anything of even a twofold structure in the living unit is

NUCLEUS AFTER 1860. 101

given up, and the existence of living masses, without any
nucleus, is admitted by Hackel, as it was by Naegeli, A. Braun,
Cohn, Briicke, and many others, before and since. He holds
the plasma to be the " active material substratum of life, and
which thus in a certain sense may be designated the * life-stuff,'
or, in a stricter sense, the ' living matter'" (p. 275). As to the
nucleus, he expresses himself very doubtfully, and wishes to
associate it with the formative power of the protoplasm ; then he
-says, in commenting on Beale's theory — " Certainly the nucleus,
as regards its origin, is to be looked upon as a differentiation-
product of the protoplasm, but in the sense that now the
plasma and nucleus stand beside each other as co-ordinated
parts, as to a certain extent different organs of equal rank, and
which perform different functions" (p. 287). Then he follows
much the same theory as Virchow, and assigns to the nucleus
the power of propagation and of inheritance of hereditary
character, while to the plasma belong the nutrition and adapta-
tion to outward circumstances. While " in the cytods, in which
the nucleus and plasma are not yet differentiated, we have to
regard the whole plasma as the common organ of both func-
tions" (p. 288). This, of course, gives up the idea of three, or
even two distinct parts, as essential to the vital unit, which is
the characteristic of the cell theory. The question is thus re-
duced to the use of the nucleus as an organ in certain physio-
logical individuals of low order. (See p. 58.)

On this much-vexed question of the nucleus we
have seen that Ley dig, in 1857, while he rejected the
cell wall, still held that the most important part of the
cell was the nucleus, which, as it were, animated the
protoplasm surrounding it. Briicke, on the other
hand, before Hackel, states that "the constancy of the
appearance of the nucleus is subject to essential limi-
tations if, as cannot be avoided, the cells of cryptogams
are also considered, and it is not assumed that the
nucleus must be present even where it is invisible"

102 PROTOPLASM THEORY AFTER 1860.

("Die Elementar Organismen"). Likewise Max Schultze,
in 1854, and Kuhue, in 1864, showed the existence of
organisms without nucleus. Lockhart Clarke, in 1863,*
describes the formation of muscular fibre in much the
same way as Beale, the so-called nucleus being the
protoplasm itself.

" The nuclei concerned in the development of muscular fibres
have no envelope, or cell wall, in the proper sense of the word,
and these bodies are not entitled to be considered as nucleated
cells." ..." However, there is little doubt that the muscular
substance is the result of some process carried on by the nuclei
themselves." .... The striated fibre, "instead of being the
product of a nucleated cell, would appear to be itself a kind of
conformation, which at first finds its prototype in the organic
muscular fibre cell, and in which the investing sarcous sub-
stance represents the cell wall"

It is unnecessary to multiply examples of non-
nucleated organisms, as the fact of their existence is
now quite established ; and with respect to the position
of the nucleus question in the higher orders of living
beings, Strieker, in 1870, sums up the then existing
opinions by stating that its use is unknown, but that
it cannot be essential, because although when present
it divides on division of the cell, still other cells with-
out any nucleus can live, divide, and propagate, so
" we must exclude the nucleus as an unnecessary factor
in the ideal type of an elementary organism" (Hand-
Book, Syd. Bee.). Again, J. Ranke, in 1872, says —
" The nucleus arises out of the protoplasm, and always
lies embedded in it, and may become re-dissolved into
protoplasm ; it contains essentially the same chemical
* " Qu. Microsc. J.," p. 8.

NUCLEUS AFTER 1860. 103

constituents as it, and is, when present, an important
part of the protoplasm" ("Physiologic," p. 8). Van
Beneden, in his recent memoir on the Gregarinse (" Qu.
Mic. J.," 1871), gives some general remarks on the cell
theory, from which we may extract the following : —
" The existence of the monera, which have been the
origin of all living beings, and whose simplicity is
found again in the youngest Gregarinse, proves the
existence of the plasson [Protoplasm] (see note, p. 45),
as the primitive condition. But in the plasson the
nucleolus appears before the nuclear layer. If we
identify plasson with the blastema, such as Schwann
understood it, we shall return to the views of the cele-
brated histologist who assigned to the cell a centri-
fugal evolution." This is in accordance with what I
have said at pp. 25, 27, and if we look upon the
nucleolus and nucleus in the light of organs, in the
lower independent individuals, as stated at p. 58, we
shall escape the difficulties of this question. In one
of the most recent notices of cell theories, viz,, that by
Professor Cleland,* substantially the same opinions are
expressed, although the author raises a useless ques-
tion whether certain non-nucleated organisms should
not rather be regarded as cell nucleus, instead of proto-
plasm. From all this it is evident that general opinion
is now in accord as respects the facts with Dr. Beale's
statements on the nucleus in 1860, and I think his
theoretical views of it (see p. 60) will appear to most
to be in harmony with these facts. As regards the cell
.theory as a whole, also little difficulty will be felt in

* "Qu. Microsc. J.," July, 1873.

104 CELL THEORY SINCE 1860.

concluding that the general opinion now is that which
was first distinctly spoken out by Beale. Neverthe-
less, many still cling to the cell doctrine as a whole —
in name, at least, if not in reality. At which we can
hardly wonder, indeed, if we accept this description of
it by Ranke : —

" Of these component parts of the cell [cell wall,
protoplasm, and nucleus], one or other may be wanting
without the totality ceasing to be a cell. The nucleoli,
the cell wall, or the nucleus, may be wanting, and yet
we must designate the microscopic form a cell, or ele-
mentary organism." We have seen also that Hackel,
in spite of his admission of cytods, or rather by his
bestowing that name on bodies which have nothing of
cell form, shows the same unwillingness to give up the
name. Now, if any one choose to describe a gun-
barrel as a stockless gun without a lock, he is free to
do so ; but what good purpose can it serve ? Or is
there even any fun in it ? The truth is, this clinging
to the mere name of the cell theory by the Germans
seems to arise from a kind of perverted idea of
patriotism and of pietas towards Schwann and
Schleiden. These feelings are no doubt commendable
and to be sympathized with to a certain extent, but
surely they are carried too far when we find Strieker
in 1870 taking no notice at all of Goodsir, and only
mentioning Beale once in the most cursory way.

While we find the protoplasm generally admitted to
be the simplest form of living matter, and credited as
the agent of much vital action, and even as the ger-
minal substance from which all tissues proceed, ye tit
is far otherwise with the doctrine that it is the

PROTOPLASM ALONE LIVING. 105

living matter in organisms with a complicated struc-
ture. Indeed in this Beale stands alone among living
physiologists, just as Fletcher did nearly forty years
ago. The doctrine has hardly even been properly
criticized as yet ; in fact, its significance has not been
fully grasped, and people seem to be satisfied without
further thought that a system which makes four-fifths
of a man, including the muscles and nerve-cords, to be
nothing but dead matter, must be an error of some
kind. And this, with the erroneous ideas that it rests
solely on the carmine staining process and requires the
revival of the vital principle, further indisposes them
to give the theory the attention it merits. Even those
who have adopted Dr. Beale's anatomical ideas, and
to a great extent those on the formation of tissues and
secretions, hesitate to accept to the full the essentiality
of the absolute and unfathomable distinction between
dead and living matter, and that the latter must
always be structureless and semi-fluid.

For instance, Dr. Carpenter expresses his general approval
of Beale's doctrines, but in his edition of 1865 he still states
that " new cells may originate in one of two principal modes ;
either directly from a previously existing cell, or by an entirely
new process in the midst of an organizable blastema." Pro-
fessor Tyson comments on this inconsistency, for it is obvious
that this last mode is incompatible with Beale's theory. Pro-
fessor Tyson himself, however, follows Carpenter in admitting
that the formative power may reside in the germinal matter,
but that we cannot, on that account, deny vitality to many
kinds of formed material, inasmuch as they, e.g., the nerves
and muscles, perform vital functions. It is obvious that both
these commentators have either failed to appreciate the car-
dinal point in Beale's system, or they deny the truth of it. In
the "Journal of Anatomy and Physiology " for 1867, the re-

106 PROTOPLASM THEORY SINCE 1860.

viewer of Beale's " Todd and Bowman," while highly com-
mending the work done, and stating that Dr. Beale " alone
takes a place worthy of the British name beside the histologists
of Germany," still he is " unwilling to admit that the exterior
of the cell possesses none of the vital properties, and is a mere
passive, lifeless agent, and that indeed a large part — perhaps
the larger part — of our bodies, being composed of cell walls, is
in this condition." Dr. Bastian, in his " Beginnings of Life,"
objects to the absolute distinction into living matter and
formed material, stating that the simplest living things present
no such distinction of parts as those spoken of by Beale ; then
adds, " It has always appeared to me to be a very fundamental
objection to his theory that so many of the most characteristi-
cally vital phenomena should take place through the agency of
tissues — muscle and nerve, for instance — by far the greater
part of the bulk of which would, in accordance with Dr.
Beale's view, have to be considered as dead and inert " (155).
Again, "Dr. Beale's dictum that the matter which he calls
' formed material ' is dead, we regard as a singularly founda-
tionless hypothesis, the maintenance of which is beset with
difficulties. If muscles and nerves perform work, such func-
tional activity must be attended by tissue changes in their very
substance. How, then, is repair to be effected ? Not after the
fashion in which living tissues are renovated, for these, accord-
ing to Dr. Beale, are dead, and therefore cannot be amenable
to the laws which govern the repair of living structures. I
have no faith, however, in the ability of carmine to discrimi-
nate the not-living from the living, and can only state my
total inability to accept the opinion of Dr. Beale." We da
not wonder that any one who could hold such a doctrine
as tins should exhibit so much antagonism towards the evo-
lution hypothesis. But how such marvellously abrupt tran-
sitions are brought about we are not told ; and Dr. Beale,
moreover, forgets to mention upon what evidence he feels him-
self entitled to make such positive and startling assertions.

To a certain extent, however, we find there is an agreement
between Dr. Beale's doctrine and that of other excellent ob-
servers. He says :*— " However much organisms and tissues
* Loc. cit., p. 48.

BASTIAN — CLELAND. 107

in their fully formed state may vary as regards the character,
properties, and composition of the formed material, all were
first in the condition of clear, transparent, formless, living mat-
ter." Surely, however, he is uttering something quite contra-
dictory when he says, in effect, previously, and also in actual
words subsequently : — " All that is essential to the cell or ele-
mentary part is mailer that is in the living state, germinal mat-
ter, and matter that has been in the living state— formed ma-
terial" Such " formed material " as Dr. Beale speaks of may
be necessary in order to support certain theories, but it does
not actually exist in the simplest living things or elemental
living parts — these are, as he himself has frequently stated,
" perfectly structureless " (p. 156).

Dr. Bastian gives no reason for his want of faith in the car-
mine process, so his remark adds nothing to the subject. The
truth is, the sting of Beale's theory to Bastian lies in the diffi-
culty it offers to the supposed evolution of living beings
through mere chemical action, which is the theme of Dr.
Bastian's book. This subject will be touched on more at
length in chapter xi., but in the meantime I would remind Dr.
Bastian that the theory of life without a vital principle is not
tenable except on the theory of a living matter anatomically
one in a chemical state sui generis, for if the solid structures
undergo an isomeric change at death, how do they retain their
exact physical qualities 1:

Prof. Cleland (op. cit.) says : " In the present day the proto-
plasmic element has assumed an enormous importance, casting
the nucleus into the shade ; while the reign of the cell walls
has come to an end altogether. But to speak of life, as i&
sometimes done, as if it were an inherent property of a par-
ticular chemical substance, is surely going too far, and is a.
view which has nothing true in it which is not more than thirty
years old ; for it has been long familiar to every one that life
never exists without the presence of nitrogenous substance of
an albumenoid character ; and though it has since been dis-
covered that life in various instances exists in non-nucleated,
structureless masses of protoplasm, that is a very different
thing from life being a property of protoplasm " (258). He

108 PROTOPLASM HISTORY SINCE 1860.

does not go deeper than this, and fails to tell us what life
[vitality] is, if not a property of nitrogenous matter, nor how
many kinds of nitrogenous matter may manifest vitality
although nfot as a property. I presume, however, that the
above may be taken to be an objection to the theory of the
living matter being anatomically one. Why does he not say
more clearly what he means 1

CHAPTER VII.

COMMENTARY ON BEALE'S NERVE THEORY.

THE application of the foregoing principles to the
structure and functions of special tissues and organs
must of necessity work a great change in our views of
physiology and pathology. Much has already been
done in this direction by Dr. Beale, although as yet
almost single-handed, and to follow him into details
would afford the most convincing proofs of the truth
of the doctrine of the sole vitality of the protoplasm,
which is still so little heeded. It would be out of
place, were it not superfluous, for me to attempt that
here, and I can merely refer all those who have the
opportunity to study his own works, viz., the edition
of " Todd and Bowman," " Bioplasm," the treatises on
the diseases of the kidneys and the liver, and on
disease germs, and numerous memoirs in the " Archives
of Medicine," and the medical and microscopical jour-
nals. Nevertheless, for those who may not desire to
enter on this study in all its completeness, I may give
a full commentary on the theory as applied to two
important tissues, viz., the muscular and nervous.

110 PROTOPLASMIC NERVE THEORY.

These, indeed, have been the chief stumbling-blocks in
the way of the acceptance of the protoplasmic theory,
and, singularly enough, even to those persons who
show the most inclination to reduce all vital pheno-
mena to mere chemical and physical actions.

As the function of the muscles is intimately con-
nected with that of the nerves, it will be more con-
venient to begin with the general question of the
structure and functions of the latter, although the full
discussion of the theory of the nerve-action cannot be
completed till we come to the muscles. The anatomi-
cal element of the question is of primary importance,
for the differences between Dr. Beale and other ana-
tomists on several essential points are irreconcilable,
and if he be right many prevailing theories will have
to be very much modified or abandoned altogether. I
may, therefore, give an analysis of the chief features of
his anatomy of the nervous system and the physio-
logical deductions founded upon it.

The development of the nerves always proceeds pari passu
with that of the tissue to which they belong : new nerve fibres
are never developed so as to influence old muscular fibres, nor
old nerve fibres caused to influence newly-developed muscular
tissue, but if wasting takes place the whole are removed
together, and if regeneration takes place the new tissue is
formed from formless spherical masses of germinal matter
complete ("Croonian Lecture," 1805 — 264). The protoplasm
or bioplasm in many of the textures performs no other office
than the formation of them ; but, " in every part of the ner-
vous system, however, more especially at the peripheral distri-
bution and central origin of all nerves, active changes of the
most important kind are effected through the agency of the
bioplasm, and these continue throughout life. Indeed, in
some instances, nerve action, which is dependent upon changes

KINDS OF NERVE FIBRES. Ill

in the bioplasm, never ceases for a single moment from birtli
todeath"("Biopl.,"p. 167).

In many of the lower animals, e.g., the common starfish, and
some other members of the radiata, are seen very delicate
fibres and masses of bioplasm, arranged so as to form an ex-
tensive network amongst the tissues, and the entire " nervous
system" consists of such a network extending through all parts
of the organism. Dr. Beale is convinced that an arrangement
fundamentally similar in principle is common to all animals,
from the highest to the lowest : — " The active part of every
peripheral nerve apparatus is an uninterrupted network of ex-
tremely delicate fibres, which are structurally continuous with
the masses of bioplasm in the nerve centres — these last, how-
ever, in the lowest classes being, as it were, so spread out as to
render it difficult or impossible to define which part of the
nervous system should be considered peripheral and which

" The nerve fibres composing the nerve trunks, and those
finer branches which unite to form dark-bordered nerve fibres,
may be arranged in the following subdivisions, according to
their distribution : —

" 1. Nerve fibres passing towards a centre— Afferent 'fibres.

"2. Nerve fibres passing from a centre— .Efferent fibres.

" 3. Nerve fibres connecting nerve centres with one another
— Commissural central fibres.

" 4. Nerve fibres connecting the peripheral ramifications of
nerves and peripheral nerve organs with one another — Com-
missural peripheral fibres" ("Biopl.," p. 182).

The first three of these subdivisions are in agreement with
general opinion, but the last leads to the question whether the
nerves terminate by free ends in other tissues, or in certain
end-organs, or on the other hand constitute closed circuits by
looped extremities. On this possibly hangs the whole theory
of the nature of the vis nervosa as a current force, so his expo-
sition must be given somewhat fully.

"The active part of the nerve fibre in adult vertebrata in-
variably consists of a very delicate compound thread, which
exhibits a slightly fibrous character, and is composed of an

112 BEALE'S NERVE THEORY.

oleo-albuminous material. Connected with the threads, at
varying intervals, are oval masses of bioplasm. In highly-
sensitive peripheral nerve organs, and in the motor nerves of
muscle, these masses of bioplasm are very numerous, and, in
some cases, are almost continuous with one another ; but in
less sensitive textures the masses of bioplasm are often sepa-
rated from one another by a distance of one-hundredth of an
inch or more. In all these cases these bioplasts, or ' nuclei/
are situated very close together at an early period of develop-
ment, and at first the tissue which represents nerve, consists of
bioplasm only. As the tissue advances towards maturity, the
masses of bioplasm become gradually separated from one
another by a greater extent of fibre ; but at all periods of life,
and in all peripheral branches of nerves, these bodies are
present "("Biopl.," p. 171).

" The active part of the nerve fibre distributed to the peri-
pheral nerve organ which receives the impressions, exhibits the
same general structure and anatomical arrangement in all
cases. It is invariably a pale, very transparent, faintly granu-
lar, but, in the natural state, perfectly invisible cord, composed
of still finer fibres" ("Monthly Microscopical Journal," 1873,
p. 173).

These fine fibres are themselves compound, and "fibres
often pass off at an angle from these fine nerve fibres, and
divide and subdivide, joining others, so as to form a network,
the meshes of which vary very much in diameter in different
cases. Every one of these delicate fibres, of which some are
not more than one-thousandth of an inch in diameter, must
be regarded as composed of still finer fibres, which, after
leaving the branch under observation, pursue opposite direc-
tions. In using the term network, therefore, I do not mean to
imply that fine nerve fibres unite with each other after the
manner of capillaries, but merely that the bundles of fibres are
arranged like networks. The fibres composing the bundles do
not anastomose. In lace the appearance of such a network of
fibres is produced ; but every apparent thread is composed of
several, each of which pursues a complicated course, and forms
but a very small portion of the boundary of any one single

NO NERVE ENDS EXIST. 113

space. Proceeding from the finest nerve fibres, no fibres ex-
hibiting ends, or terminal extremities, can be detected, and the
general conclusion to which we are led is, that nerves are
arranged to form continuous strands of fibres, which pass
amongst the elementary parts of the tissues, but neither
become continuous with them, nor terminate in free extremi-
ties in or upon them" ("Biopl.," p. 172).

"In all cases, as far as I can ascertain, the ultimate ter-
minal fibres are pale and granular, exhibiting nuclei at varying
intervals, but are distributed upon precisely the same plan. I
am of opinion, therefore, that there is not such a thing as a
true end to any nerve fibre" (p. 173). The diameter of fibres
composing the terminal plexus is often less than one-thou-
sandth of an inch.

"Every fibre of this network is compound : so that, perhaps,
the term 'plexus' more truly describes the arrangement.
'Plexiform network/ I think, expresses the character of the
arrangement still more exactly.

" Some have said that my view accords with the old idea of
loop-like terminations of nerves ; and this is, in the main, true,
but the course of one single fibre forming the loop is far more
extensive than was supposed by the older observers, and the
looped fibres divide and subdivide into finer fibres. This
diagram is intended to represent a plan of the arrangement
which is shown to exist in many tissues according to my obser-
vation" (" Croon. Lect.," p. 237).

These views are not generally admitted, especially by the Ger-
man histologists who follow, for the most part, Kuhne, who
holds to the existence of terminal extremities in several motor
and sensitive organs, and Pfliiger, who describes the termination
of efferent nerves in the protoplasm of secreting organs. Yet,
after reviewing all that has been advanced against him up to
1872, Dr. Beale still persists as follows : —

"I am quite convinced that numerous specimens I have
made fully justify me in maintaining the general proposition
that, in all cases, the terminal distribution of nerves is a
plexus network, or loop, and hence that in connection with
every terminal nervous apparatus there must be at least two

8

114 NERVE TRUNKS.

fibres ; and that in all cases there exist complete circuits, into
the formation of which central nerve cells, peripheral nerve cells,
and nerve fibres enter. All these elements are in structural
connection with each other " (" Biopl.," p. 174).

It would be superfluous to go into the details of the contro-
versy, as Dr. Beale has reviewed it so recently, including the
elaborate memoir of Dr. Klein,* but some points will be
touched upon in discussing the theory of muscle and nerve
action.

On the Nerve Trunks. — "Every peripheral nerve network is con-
nected with its nerve centre by fibres, and whenever the distance
between the centre and peripheral organ is considerable, the nerve
fibres are protected from each other, and from the tissues through
which they pass, by a thick layer of oleo-albuminous matter,
which forms an investment to each bundle of delicate fibres,
by which it is insulated and separated from its neighbours,
and from other structures, by a distance equal to from five to
twenty times its own diameter. When the trunk passes
through narrow canals, as through holes in the cranium, this
insulating protective covering is much reduced in thickness, so
that a large bundle of nerve fibres is made to pass through a
space not more than one-fourth of the diameter which the
nerve-trunk possesses in other parts of its course. The fibres
which have this thick covering are known as ' dark-bordered
fibres/ from the dark double contour line they always exhibit
when examined in water or weak serum ; the covering itself is
known as the ' white substance of Schwann,' or the ' medullary
sheath'" ("Biopl.," p. 175).

It forms a tolerably uniform layer round the core, which it
probably insulates and protects, like the gutta-percha does the

opper wire of the marine cable. Also this white substance of
Schwann is so constituted as to interfere with the free passage
of fluid. It is not very permeable to aqueous or albuminous
solutions, and thus a uniform degree of moisture of the axis

* <: Monthly Microscopical Journal,"^ vol. vii. p. 156. Dr. Beale's
reply is at p. 253 of the same volume, and appears lo me satisfactory
in all the essential points.

NERVE TRUNKS. 115

cylinder is preserved ("Monthly Microscopical Journal,"
1872).

"What appears as the single core or 'axis cylinder1 of a
nerve fibre in the nerve trunk is formed by the coalescence of
very numerous fine fibres, each coming from a different central
nerve cell. In following a single dark-bordered, or other nerve,
towards centre or periphery, we find that it divides and sub-
divides into a great number of fibres, which pursue different
and often opposite directions, one passing towards the centre,
and the other to the periphery. And these are implanted in
different parts of the nerve centre or peripheral organ at con-
siderable distances from one another" ("Biopl.,"p. 177).

The effect of the frequent crossing and interlacing and
change of course of the nerve fibres, Dr. Beale pointed out, is
to prevent the complete paralysis of either motion or sensation
of any part by injuries of a moderate number of nerve fibres.

The so-called pale fibres of the sympathetic do not differ essen-
tially from the dark bordered nerves. There is simply no
medullary sheath, where the distance between the nerve
centre and the peripheral distribution of the nerve is not very
great. " Where, however, the ganglia, or peripheral organs are
connected with nerve centres at a considerable distance off, a
number of fibres having this investment are found ; so that
amongst the sympathetic nerve fibres we find dark bordered
nerve fibres. In the bladder of the frog I have observed that
when the distance between the ganglia and the peripheral dis-
tribution of the nerve fibres is considerable, the fibres have the
dark bordered character, while on the other hand, if the peri-
pheral distribution is near the ganglion, the ultimate nerve
fibres are connected with the latter by pale fibres only" ("Biopl./'
176), Dr. Beale has also demonstrated the existence of very
fine fibres running close to the dark bordered ; these fibres in
fact result from division of the dark bordered fibres, and are,
in fact, a continuation of them near the point of their distri-
bution.

On the Nerve Centres.— While in the lowest animals there is
no obvious distinction between peripheral and central parts of

8—2

116 , NERVE CENTKES.

the nervous system, in the higher invertebrata and in the verte-
brata it is probable that the nerve tissue collected in the nerve
centres exceeds in amount that spread out amongst the tissues
in all the other parts of the organism.

" Each central nerve cell consists of a mass of bioplasm sur-
rounded by formed material, which last is drawn off at two or
more points into fine threads. These divide and subdivide into
still finer ones at a short distance from the cell, and are, in fact,
processes of the nerve cell which become nerve fibres" The
processes invariably take opposite directions soon after they
have left the "cell." In vertebrata there are two principal
kinds of central nerve cells which are very distinct from one
another, and probably differ in function not less than they do
in structure. These are,

1. The angular, or caudate nerve cells.

2. The oval, pyriform, or spherical nerve cells ("Biopl.," p. 186).
The latter alone are considered to be centres of evolution of

nerve force, while the caudate cells are merely commissural
organs. Dr. Beale denies the existence of apolar or unipolar
cells, and maintains that there are at least two fibres to every
nerve cell.

The spherical, oval, and pyriform nerve cells are composed
of masses of protoplasm, from which two or more fibres appear
as if drawn out, and are curved and coiled as if they continued
to grow, or were spun off as the cell revolved. These cells are
found in all the ganglia of the sympathetic, and on the posterior
roots of the spinal nerves, the gasserian ganglia, &c. In some
ganglia cells there is a straight and a spiral fibre. A singular
ganglion cell has been described by J. Arnold, but several
German authors have doubted the authenticity of Beale's pyri-
form ganglia, the drawing of which is copied in most text-
books. The actual specimen has, however, been shown to
many observers under the 1-25 (1800 diam.) Among the rest
I have seen it, and can testify to the correctness of the drawing,
and to the impossibility of such an appearance being produced
by any accidental tearing out of connective tissue or any such
cause. Dr. Beale concludes that these spherical, oval, and pyri-
form cells are the sources of nervous power, while the caudate

GANGLION CELLS. 117

cells are more probably concerned in the radiation of the nerve
currents.

" From the cells of the sympathetic ganglia of man and verte-
brata several fibres proceed, and pass in different directions
soon after they leave the cell. Bundles consisting of fibres
from many different cells leave the ganglion from different
parts of its surface, and pass by circuitous routes towards their
destination, each bundle being composed of fibres from many
different cells situated in different parts of the ganglion.
Ganglia are extremely numerous in the sub-mucous tissue of
the alimentary canal of J all mammalia, and in the human
subject multitudes may be demonstrated at short distances
from one another. Connected with the nerves in the pelvis
of the kidney I have also demonstrated numerous ganglia of
the same kind. From every one of these, bundles of nerve
fibres pass to be distributed to the cortex of the organ. The
fine nerve fibres of the kidney are distributed to vessels, and
also to the uriniferous tubes " (" Biopl.," 193). " The early de-
velopment of the spherical and oval cells, and their large size
at a time when the caudate nerve cells are not to be dis-
tinguished, their constant presence, their growth, and multipli-
cation in the adult, and probably at an advanced age, and their
peculiar structure — at least in some animals — their situation,
as regards the nerves to which they belong ; and especially the
fact that these are the only cells constituting the nerve centres
upon which the rhythmic contraction of detached portions of the
cardiac muscular tissue depends, have led me to look upon them
as the sources of nerve power " (" Biopl.," 196).

TJie Angular, or Caudate Cells. — These are characteristic of
the great central nerve organs of vertebrata, the brain, and
spinal cord, and attain their maximum of development in man.
The peculiarity of these cells is, that lines are seen traversing
them, from each of the many fibres connected with them, and
passing to every other fibre. Fibres from different caudate cells
unite to form single nerve fibres. "In passing towards the
periphery these compound fibres divide and sub-divide, the
resulting sub-divisions proceeding to different destinations.
The fine fibres resulting from the sub-division of one of the

118 CAUDATE CELLS.

caudate processes of a nerve cell may help to form a vast
number of dark bordered nerves, but it is, I think, certain that
no single process ever forms one entire axis cylinder" (187).

" It is probable that the caudate nerve cells are not sources
of nerve force. These cells are fewer in number, and com-
paratively insignificant in the lower vertebrata, particularly
batrachia and fishes. In the invertebrata they do not exist at
all, and it is doubtful if any ' cells ' precisely corresponding to
them are to be found in their stead. The bioplasm of the nerve
cell is embedded in the material which exhibits the lines cross-
ing in all directions, and no doubt this substance is formed
from it ; but as far as I have been able to ascertain, no nerve
fibre arises from, or is connected with, the bioplast (nucleus, or
nucleolus). It appears probable that the caudate cells are the
stations at which nerve fibres pursuing many different directions
decussate and change their course" ("Biopl.,"p. 190).

We have thus a central counterpart of the commissural
peripheral plexus formation, and it is interesting to note that
Professor Bain, looking at the subject from a totally different
side, arrived at conclusions concerning the arrangement of the
central nervous mechanism agreeing in all important particulars
with those of Dr. Beale.

" From the foregoing observations the reader will be led to
conclude that I regard a nervous apparatus as consisting essen-
tially of fine fibres and masses of bioplasm, which form unin-
terrupted circuits. The fibres are continuous with the bioplasts,
of which some are central, some peripheral, and grow from
them. Currents emanating from bioplasts at one part of the
circuit would influence the changes in the bioplasts in another
part, and the last react upon the first " (" Biopl.," p. 209).

Such is a brief view of the anatomical elements of
the nervous system according to Dr. Beale. The most
important additions made by him to our knowledge
are, the extreme number and minuteness of the fine
fibres, and the compound nature of even these ; the
commissural nature of the caudate cells, and the peri-

PROTOPLASMIC NERVE THEORY. 119

pheral termination of all nerves in loops. By means
of such anatomical elements we can see how the most
complex functions of the nervous system as a whole,
viz., afferent, efferent, commissural, and possibly inhibi-
tory, can be performed. And also we have the possi-
bility of a current force acting by induction from a
closed circuit shown for the first time if the loop form
is proved true, and sufficient insulation be rendered
probable.

By the foregoing, we see how the nerves may consist
of merely dead formed material, if considered merely
as constituting an apparatus for conducting a stimulus
from one living part to another, and it is in this sense
that the nerves are generally spoken of when no other
qualifying word is used. But like other parts, even
the conducting cords require the presence of their
special protoplasm masses or bioplasts for their forma-
tion and repair. And besides, it is in these that the
nerve current (whatever be its nature) originates and
not in the fibrous matter itself. As proofs of this, Dr.
Beale adduces the following facts.

" That these masses of germinal matter, which I have shown

to be numerous in all ultimate nerve fibres of all nervous organs,

. besides taking part in the formation of the fibres, are concerned

in nervous action, appears to be probable from the following

facts : —

" 1. They are very numerous in the peripheral ramifications of
all nerves.

" 2. All special peripheral nerve organs, as the retina, the ex-
pansion of the olfactory and auditory nerves, the papilla of
touch and taste, as well as the peripheral nervous expansions
beneath sensitive mucous membrane, the skin, &c., are re-

120 PROTOPLASMIC NERVE THEORY.

markable for the great number, as well as for the large size of
the masses of germinal matter.

" 3. The proportion of germinal matter is always very great in
nerve centres which are the principal seats of development of
the nerve power.

"The principal change which takes place in a texture, which
in health appears to be but slightly sensitive, and becomes
eminently so when inflamed, as the peritoneum, is a very great
increase in the germinal matter which it contains, and this
often proceeds to such an extent that the ramifications of the
nerves appear as lines of oval masses of germinal matter, so
that when a tissue, which in the healthy state gives no evidence
of sensation, becomes acutely painful when inflamed, the feel-
ing of pain must be due, in some way, to an increase of the
germinal matter of the nerves as well as that of other tissues.

" From a consideration of the facts, we are led to conclude
that the nerve fibre in all cases transmits the nerve current as
a conductor, and that pressure, &c., on any part of its course
will affect the rate of transmission of the current, and the con-
ducting property of the fibre. The nerve current itself results
from changes occurring in the germinal matter or in the sub-
stances formed by it, and it is probable that the masses of
germinal matter in the peripheral nerve organs may give origin
to nerve currents as well as those in the nerve centres. In
disease, the currents formed at the periphery of the nerves
probably undergo an increase in intensity" (Beale, "Med.
Times," May 22, 1869).

" 5. That where, as in the sensitive papilla upon the toe of the
frog, the nerve organ is more acutely sensitive (or more active
in any other way) at one part of the year than at others, its in-
creased activity is associated with a great increase in the
amount of bioplasm" (" Biopl.," p. 206).

Thus, in short, the nerves may be looked on as a
system of mere dead conducting cords, studded at
short intervals with bioplasts or little masses of living
matter, which, besides their other living functions act

NERVE-CORD ACTION. 121

.as little batteries from which the vis nervosa — a mere
dead force like all other forces, and possibly electricity —
is evolved. This view harmonizes with the facts which
indicate living action in them and distinguish them
from mere telegraph wires. Among these may be
noted, excitement by stimuli, such as pinching, prick-
ing, and other mechanical and chemical irritants in
any part of their course when entire, and even in the
peripheral ends when cut ; the cumulative action of
the vis nervosa shown by the greater effect of stimula-
tion of a nerve at a distance from its muscle than near
(Pfliiger) ; the increase of velocity of nerve current as
you approach the muscle (Munk); and a variety of
other facts, showing that "nerve excitement is not
simple conduction " (Eanke) ; for if the impression
conducted were merely the propagation of an impulse,
like waves it would grow weaker the farther from the
point of excitement owing to resistances.* The in-
fluence of the electric current in exalting and lowering
;the irritability of the nerves is also, on the whole,
probably in harmony with this view of the constitu-
tion of the nerve cord, for a weak galvanic current
increases the irritability to other stimuli, while a
strong current weakens and ultimately destroys it, just
as we find with all other stimuli to vital action, and in
fact, irritability is always used by Fletcher as synony-
mous with vitalit}^. It is also in harmony with the

* The explanation of Pfliiger is that the molecules of the nerve in
succession disengage active energy, and each stimulates its successor,
but the increase of action ("avalanche-like") shows that each molecule
disengages more force than the one before. Scale's is evidently a much
more natural explanation, for in it each little battery of protoplasm is
set in action by the passing current, and contributes its quota to the
current which is thus really swelled like an avalanche.

122 VIS NERVOSA OF ONE KIND.

fact that the conducting power of the nerves is im-
paired or destroyed by injuries to their integrity of
every kind ; such as cutting, even though the cut ends
are at once replaced in contact, bruising, tying, burning,
cauterizing, or chemical alteration, all which impair
or destroy vital action, even though they would little,
or at all, interfere with electric conductivity.

Whatever the exact nature of the vis nervosa may
be, Beale thinks "it is at least not improbable that
the varying effects noticed in connection with the
nervous system may be determined by alterations in
the intensity of the current and in the conducting
properties of the fibres, instead of being due to the
transmission of different Idnds of nerve force"

This is in harmony with the general opinion of physiologists.
The motor and sensitive nerve fibres are similar in their funda-
mental physiological properties, and both are said to be equally
capable of conducting the afferent or efferent nerve current,
as was inferred by Lewes, and afterwards supported by the
experiments of Kiihne, Phillipeaux, Vulpian, and Kosenthal.
Quite recently, however, Vulpian has repeated his experiment
of soldering the lingual and hypoglossal nerves ; and he now
attributes the motor phenomena to conduction through the
chorda tympani, and not through the lingual (sensory) nerve.
Both motor and sensitive nerves are likewise equally capable
of transmitting the electric current in both directions, and
both display the negative variation under excitement.

We must, however, remember that the specific irritability of
nerves differs towards poisons ; the woorari, for example, acting
only on the motor nerves, so we must infer specific differences
of vital properties in different nerves although the nerve
force may be of one kind.

The nerves of special sense were thought to convey directly
an impression of the qualities of outward things to the sen-

SPECIFIC NERVE INFLUENCE. 123

sorium by a specific sensation in them, but the fact of common
or electrical irritations of the nerve trunks causing the sen-
sation usually dependent on the natural peripheral irritation is
against that. The optic nerves under the action of common
irritants cause the sensation of light, but neither they nor the
fibres of the retina itself are susceptible to the stimulus of
light, except when they are connected with the rods and cones.
The specificity of the nerve influence does not thus lie in any
specific kind of excitement of the mere nerve cords, but must
be referred to the central organs to which it is conducted.
The mental organs, which are excited by the stimulus conveyed
through the nerves of special sense, are so excited because, from
the special constitution of their protoplasm, they are only com-
petent to produce that determinate sensation. "The same
stimulus when.it affects different mental organs, will be inter-
preted according to their several specific energies" (Ranke,
p. 693). If, however, we are wholly to deny the transmission
of specific irritation by the nerves several pathological and thera-
peutical theories must be much modified, and the specific effects
of poisons must be referred solely to absorption, except in so
far as a mere plus and minus of action is spoken of in organs
connected by nervous sympathy. But we must not forget
that, even if the vis nervosa is a single physical force, it may
be "capable of an almost infinite number of variations or
gradations/7 like the shades of colour or tones of sound ; and
without such differences how can we explain the differences of
impression of sweet and bitter conveyed by the same nerve,
for example, or any specific impression at all conveyed by
them 1 so that Fletcher's theory of the conveyance of specific
irritations by his respiratory system of nerves of organic
sympathy (corresponding to the central vaso-motor system now
spoken of) may still be tenable. He considered that the
stimulus of poisons, besides being diffused by absorption into
the blood, might be conveyed rapidly by means of the common
centre in the spinal cord through all the nerves of organic
sympathy, and only take effect on parts which were susceptible
of its influence.

124 TROPHIC NERVE INFLUENCE.

On the other hand, we must also remember that there must
be a specific apparatus at the periphery of sensific nerves
which shall enable them to take cognizance of, and express as
a stimulus in vis nervosa, the different forms of pressure-force
into which the objective cause of. the special senses, except
taste and smell, may be resolved. Helmholtz has revived the
theory of Young, that distinct peripheral nerve apparatus in
the retina take cognizance of the cardinal elements of colour ;
and has extended the same theory to the sense of hearing, in
which he supposes that a separate nerve fibre takes cognizance
of each definite note to which the rods of Corti vibrate in con-
sonance. The structure of the retina in birds and reptiles, as
described by Max Schultze, and the extreme fineness of the
ultimate peripheral nerve fibrils, as described by Beale, give an
anatomical basis for the hypothesis. Thus the nerve force, as
a stimulus, may be very similar everywhere, and may be a mere
sign, whose specificity lies in the interpretation given at the
nerve centre where it acts ; and also in the speciality of the
peripheral apparatus, enabling the living matter to take cogni-
zance at all of the different forms of external force as
stimuli. Nevertheless, we can hardly suppose the existence of
separate nerve fibres for all the numerous varieties of sensa-
tions depending on stimulation through nerve fibres ; so we
must conclude there are some qualitative differences in the vis
nervosa capable of being conveyed through one and the same
fibre.

Beale would apparently reduce the whole of efferent
nerve action to causing a simple plus or minus
of muscular contraction, voluntary and involuntary,
and the greater part of the afferent nerve action to
furnishing the stimulus for the latter; for he denies
all direct nerve action on the living matter in secretion
and nutrition, any such action being merely indirect,
through the change of calibre of the capillary arteries
from muscular action. His theory is here surrounded

NERVE INFLUENCE ON SECRETION. 125

with difficulties, and can hardly as far as I can see, be
reconciled with the numerous facts, which show, not
only mere quantitative alteration of secretion and nutri-
tion, from altered supply of blood produced by efferent
nerve irritation, but also alteration of quality.

The fact of the influence of motor nerves on glan-
dular secretions is now universally recognized, and the
flow of saliva from stimulating the distal end of the
cut chorda tympani has become a stock experiment in
the class-room. Beale refers this solely to the increased
supply of blood to the secreting protoplasm masses
caused by the influence of the nerves on the capillaries.
But against this view is urged the fact that stimula-
tion of the sympathetic nerve fibres supplying the
gland, likewise increases — though not to the same
extent — the flow of saliva, although at the same time
it causes contraction of the capillary arteries with
a diminished flow of blood through the capillaries ;
the quality of the secretion is at the same time altered,
and it is rendered more viscous and richer in salivary
corpuscles. It is, therefore, quite possible that the
chorda saliva results from the action of nerves on the
vessels, while that of the sympathetic, from action on
the secreting protoplasm, as supposed by Pflliger and
others. Besides the above, we may adduce Lud wig's
experiment of exciting secretion in a gland cut out of
the body by nerve stimulation, although no blood was
present. To these I have seen no answer by Beale, but
I believe his chief reason for dissenting from this view
rests on the anatomy of the question ; for, as we have
seen, he denies that the nerve fibres ever terminate in
the glandular protoplasm. Without questioning the

126 NATURE OF NERVE CURRENT.

accuracy of Beale's anatomical view of the nerve ter-
mination, I can see no reason for doubting that
glandular protoplasm may be influenced directly by
the vis nervosa, even if the nerves are distributed
as he supposes, just as all protoplasm is suscep-
tible to the stimulus of heat, electricity, and other
active forces, although we may not yet understand the
exact mode in which the force is transmitted. The
same remark applies to the direct action of nerves on
nutrition, under certain circumstances. Of this there
are too many well- ascertained examples* to be ex-
plained away by the argument of Dr. Beale — viz.,
that nutrition and growth take place independently
of all nervous action, and are, in fact, most active
before the nerves themselves are formed. Because
these operations take place under other stimuli, with
pabulum and conditions, than nerve stimulus, that is
no reason why nerve stimulus should not influence
them when developed; not, of course, in any sense
being the source of their vital power, but merely rousing
that into activit}^ like other stimuli. Dr. Beale seems
lately to have changed his opinion on this subject.

On the Nature of the Nerve Current. — The chief
theories of the nature of the vis nervosa are — first,
that it is a molecular force, like electricity ; or, second,
that it is electricity itself; or, third, a chemical action,
propagated from particle to particle, liberating energy,
like a train of gunpowder set on fire by a spark at .
one end. To this last, Dr. Beale objects that, if by

* See Laycock's papers in the " Medical Times," also H. Power's,
in the " Practitioner," 1873 ; also Ranke, "Physiologic," p. 83, and
many other sources.

IS NERVE FORCE ELECTRICITY? 127

that is meant a mere chemical slow combustion, such
as Liebig at first supposed to occur in the muscles, it
is quite untenable, as the nerve is a slow-growing
tissue, and is incapable of undergoing such changes,
and, as a matter of fact, is not so consumed. These
objections, however, would not apply, if by chemical
we understand those changes sui generis in the proto-
plasm, called by him and Fletcher vital ; in fact, it is
a postulate of life, that changes involving consumption
and regeneration of protoplasm be constantly taking
place. It would, however, be necessary in that case
that the protoplasm should be continuous, by however
thin a thread, and always terminate in contact with
the protoplasm of the part to be influenced, because
vital action cannot be transferred to the smallest
distance. Beale's anatomy of the nerves, and with
their termination in loops, is fatal to this theory, if
vis nervosa influences any part with which the nerves
are not in continuous contact. The first theory — viz.,
that it is a specific or peculiar molecular force, easily
transformable into electricity and heat, but yet not
electricity, is treated by Dr. Beale with a degree of
scorn which I am at a loss to understand. He says it
is a very odd thing that people should have no difficulty
in referring the phenomena of the nerve current to a
specific mode of force correlated with heat and electri-
city, while they turn up their noses at the idea of
vitality depending on "some equally undiscovered
form of force having no connection with primary
energy or motion " (" Monthly Microscopical Journal,"
1872, p. 177). It is certainly very strange that he should
not see the vast difference between his revival of the

128 VIS NERVOSA ELECTRICITY.

vital principle, and the assumption of a specific mode of
molecular motion, in addition to those distinct forms
of current force already — but not so very long — known,
viz., electricity, galvanism, and magnetism. Thus,
rejecting the other theories, Dr. Beale plainly adopts
the proposition that the nerve force is simply electri-
city and nothing -else. The arguments in favour of
this idea have been long known, but Dr. Beale sums
them up as follows : —

"The general arrangement of the fibres and cells in all
central and peripheral nerve organs ; the structure and arrange-
ment, with respect to one another, of all nerve fibres which
pass through a considerable distance before they reach their
destination ; the manner in which nerves act upon contractile
tissues, and the circumstance that a current of electricity pro-
duces a similar action ; and the fact that electricity is set free
in special organs which are very rich in nerves, but which do
not differ in any essential particulars in ultimate arrangement
from other nerve organs in which electricity is not set free, render
it probable, as it seems to me, that the current transmitted by
the axis cylinder is ordinary electricity, and that all the effects
produced upon other tissues depend upon the transmission
through nerve fibres of currents of electricity varying in inten-
sity" ("Monthly Microscopical Journal," 1872, p. 176).

Bioplasm of the nerve tissue does not differ much from other
bioplasm, and it is probable that " considering the character
and arrangement of the bioplasm matter, and its relation to
the formed material in all tissues, it is not unreasonable to
conclude that currents, and perhaps of the same nature as
those discharged by the nerve organs, are set free, but that it
is only in the case of nerve that an arrangement exists suitable
for insulating the currents, and for rendering evident varia-
tions in their intensity, rate of transmission, &c."

The arguments against the electrical theory of the
vis nervosa are summed up by De Bois Reymond : —

VIS NERVOSA NOT ELECTRICITY. 129

" Every attempt to identify it with the electric current as it
circulates in a telegraph-wire, must appear hopeless, even if a
circuit, such as would be necessary for the supposed nerve
current to circulate in, were anatomically demonstrated. Thus
to the other arguments against this view of the nervous agent
— that the resistance of the nerve tubes would be far too great
for any battery to send an available current through them —
that the physiological insulation of the nerve tubes from each
other would be impossible to explain— that the effect of liga-
ture, or of cutting the nerve and causing its ends to meet again,
would be equally obscure. What we have termed the nervous
agent, if we look upon its very small velocity, in all probability,
is some internal motion— perhaps even some chemical change
of the substance itself contained in the nerve tubes, spreading
along the tubes, according to the speaker's experiments, both
ways from any point where the equilibrium has been disturbed ;
being capable of an almost infinite number of variations or
gradations, and of so peculiar a character as to require the
unimpaired condition of the nervous structure " (" Matter and
Force," B. Jones, p. 130).

To this Beale rejoins, in substance, that he has
discovered the anatomical conditions of a circuit,
although he cannot speak with equal confidence of
insulation; that the experiments with strong electric
currents through nerve-fibres, though undamaged, are
unsatisfactory; that the loss of excitability, by death,
without loss of conducting power of electricity, may
depend on changes as to moisture and of currents of
fluid, caused by the death of the protoplasm ; and to
the objection of the uncommonly slow velocity of the
nerve current compared to that of electricity, he says
that it is not yet known how slowly electricity would
travel through such a bad conductor as the axis
cylinder, and certainly it would go immensely slower

9

130 VIS NERVOSA A SPECIFIC FORCE.

than through a copper wire. But of the tremendous
loss of power incurred by sending electricity through
such a bad conductor, and to the fact that the vis
nervosa is not transmissible through a metallic wire,
he says nothing at all. As, however, his theory, that
the force evolved in muscular action is derived wholly
from electric currents, turns much upon the first of
these points, the question may be deferred till we come
to that subject.

From the foregoing considerations, it seems to me
that the more probable conclusion is that the vis nervosa
is a specific force analogous to electricity, galvanism,
and magnetism, but distinct from them just as these
are distinct from each other, although it is easily con-
vertible into heat or electricity.

CHAPTER VIII.

COMMENTARY ON BEALE'S MUSCLE THEORY.

ON entering on the question of the structure and
function of the muscles, let us first give a short
summary of Dr. Beale's views :

The transverse markings of the striped muscle, which is the
most perfect form of this tissue, have long been objects of
attention, but they are not essential to contractility, for they
are absent in the involuntary muscular fibres. In the early
stage of development of the voluntary muscles, they are also
absent, and Dr. Beale states that they do not appear till the
act of contraction has occurred repeatedly ; and he considers
they are due to important changes taking place while the con-
tractile material is in a soft and plastic state. In opposition to
the prevalent theory, that muscular movements are the off-
spring of the protoplasmic movements, Dr. Beale shows that
the two kinds of movement are essentially different. Accord-
ing to him " a contractile tissue may be likened to a chain of
beads, every bead being capable of becoming short and broad,
or long and narrow, but forced to retain its relative position
with regard to every other bead. The contractile cord may
thus become shorter, causing its points of attachment to ap-
proximate" ("Biopl.," p. 214). And he defines a contractile
tissue to be one " in which simple movements, like shortening
and lengthening, alternate with one another, each movement

9—2

132 MUSCLE-FIBRE N ON-LIVING.

being a mere repetition of the first movement that occurred
when the formation of the tissue was complete " (Ibid., p. 237).
Such a movement is totally different from the protoplasmic
movements described at p. 51, and it is difficult to conceive a
substance like the protoplasm contracting as above described.
The question of the exact boundaries of the living action, and
that of the mere mechanical arrangements for the transforma-
tion of force, wrhich together cause muscular movement, is still
involved in obscurity. But Dr. Beale has made great strides
towards the clearing up this difficulty, and has always advanced
in the most philosophical and cautious manner, by keeping the
anatomical evidence in the foreground. He demonstrates,
first, that for each elementary muscular fibre, whether plain or
striped, the sarcolemma, and the sarcous prisms, whether scat-
tered or arranged in Bowman's discs, and also (most probably)
the single refracting semi-fluid in which they are imbedded,
are non-living, for these reasons : — " The structure of unstriped
muscle is smooth, or very slightly fibrous, but exhibits no indi-
cations of containing bioplasm in its substance. The tissue is
not tinged with the carmine fluid. It possesses all the general
characters of formed material, and its relation to the bioplasm
is the same as that of the formed material of other tissues.
The evidence is therefore against such a view, as regards un-
striped muscle. Neither is it probable that in each sarcous
particle of striped muscle there is a minute portion of bioplasm,
because, in the first place, the living matter cannot be detected
at an early period of the development of muscle ; secondly, in
inflammation, and in other morbid conditions, in which the
masses of bioplasm of tissues are much increased in size, no
change is seen in the sarcous particles themselves ; thirdly,
the lines of sarcous particles correspond with the wavy bands
of the fibrous tissue of tendon, which unquestionably consists
of formed material only ; and, lastly, since the very transparent
contracting tissues of some of the lower animals do not contain
bioplasm in their ultimate fibrillae, there is good reason for
concluding that there is no living matter in the substance of
the higher forms of contractile tissue. The phenomenon of
contractility characteristic of this class of tissues is therefore

BEALE'S MUSCLE THEORY. 133

probably due to changes in non-living formed material only,
and is not in any way dependent for its manifestation upon
bioplasm" ("Biopl.," p. 227).

With respect to protoplasm, or living matter belonging to the
muscular fibre proper, on the other hand, " the proportion of
bioplasm to the formed material in fully-formed muscular
tissue is considerably less than in many other textures."
"The position of the masses of bioplasm varies very much
in different kinds of striped muscle. In some forms we find a
row of nearly spherical bioplasts in the very centre of the ele-
mentary fasciculus of contractile tissues, in others an oval mass
is seen at the side of a very long, narrow fibre, consisting of
very few fibrillae ; and in many of the muscular fibres of
various classes of vertebrata, numerous oval masses are situated
at short distances, and alternating with one another throughout
the whole extent of the tissue within the sarcolemma. This
variation in position, and the difference observed in the relative
proportion of bioplasm and contractile tissue in muscles which
act in the same manner, lead me to infer that the bioplasm is
not immediately concerned in muscular contraction" (" Biopl.,"
p. 225).

In the muscular fibre of the dytiscus marginalia a small mass
of bioplasm is seen in the centre of each Bowman's disc. The
function of these protoplasm masses Dr. Beale holds to be
restricted to the formation and repair of the contractile tissue.
Besides these masses of living matter belonging to the fibre
proper, the sarcolemma upon its outer surface is connected with
the delicate intermuscular connective tissue, with capillary
vessels, and with nerve fibres. The greater number of the
masses of bioplasm on the surface of the sarcolemma of the
muscles of vertebrata are those of the numerous nerves and
capillary vessels distributed to the elementary fibre ; but they
have generally been mistaken for "connective-tissue cor-
puscles."

So far, then, according to Beale, we have a division into
passive or dead fibre apparatus fitted for mechanical work, and
living matter solely destined for the formation and repair of
that apparatus, but no provision as yet for extrication of force

134 COAGULATION AND STAINING OF THE FIBKE.

— a steam-engine without the boiler, as it were. This is more
fully stated as follows :—

" The states of rest, of partial contraction, and complete con-
traction, are but different degrees of the self-same process of
shortening of a delicate fibre. This contractile fibre, perhaps,
consists of a passive basic substance of a fibrous character,
through which is diffused a soft material, prone to move in di-
rections at right angles to one another, according to the manner
in which external forces operate upon it. The changing sub-
stance upon which the alteration depends can be expressed
from the muscular tissue, and coagulates spontaneously, like
the fibrin of blood. Young muscles yield a larger proportion
of this material than old ones, but I do not think that it is
derived solely from the biojrtasm of muscle';* (" Biopl.," 212).

* That is to say, in spite of the spontaneous coagulation of tliis
semi-fluid matter, which may be expressed from the contractile fibre,
it is still " passive," or dead, and he cannot allow that it can be proto-
plasm, and evolve force in a vital manner, or be the source of muscular
action by protoplasmic movements. I do not think the circumstance
of coagulation after death, although that is one of the signs of living
matter, has much weight as a proof of the living nature of the single-
refracting matter, for we know the fibrinogen of the blood, and of
effused fluids, can remain fluid for long when in contact with living
matter, which by its interaction with it prevents the formation of
fibrin. No doubt this is part of the function of the protoplasm-
masses (nuclei) of the sarcolemma. It must be remembered that what
Kiiline called muscular protoplasm was obtained by shredding frozen,
frog-muscles freed from blood. The viscid liquid filtered from this,
when thawed, he called protoplasm, but it is obvious it must have con-
tained particles of true protoplasm of the nuclei of nerve, muscle-
sheath, capillary and connective tissues, This would account for any
signs of vitality beyond coagulability, which certainly belongs to the
muscle-fibre contents, as we see by the rigor mortis. But lactic acid
is also one of the products of death, of probably all true protoplasm —
certainly of muscular action — and causes staining with carmine. Why,
then, is the fibre itself not stained ? It is true that Ranke and Ger-
lach, from experiments on the muscles of the Axolotl, assert that the
intermediate substance between the sarcous elements is coloured by
the carmine, while the latter are not. And Ranke generalizes this for
all muscles ; but it is denied by Beale, and this denial is supported by
his plates. I have seen several of the preparations from which these
were taken, and I can testify to the accuracy of the plates. Rauke
used preparations made with alcohol, which may have vitiated his re-
sults (Henle's "BerichV 1868, p. 351).

WHENCE THE MUSCLE FORCE ? 135

Whence, then, these " external forces 1" Here the same
philosophical caution is displayed, and no theory entered on till
an anatomical basis is discovered. His theory implies that not
only the stimulus, but the whole force for muscular action and
work is furnished by the motor nerves, and this is founded
mainly on the demonstration by his own anatomical prepara-
tions of the invariable presence of motor nerve fibres in con-
nection with all muscular forms.

The chief facts concerning the ultimate distribution of the
muscular nerves are already given, being included in the general
anatomy of nerve distribution. But with respect to the muscles
specially, he holds that in addition to the generally accepted
plexiform arrangement of the dark-bordered nerve trunks and
fibres, and their ramifying distribution to the muscles, numerous
far finer fibres proceed from these, and pursue a tortuous course,
frequently crossing the muscular bundles. These fine fibres
continue to subdivide, and finally terminate in plexuses or
loops, never by free ends. Moreover, contrary to anatomists
who assert that muscular fibres may receive nerves at one or
two points only, and that considerable portion of the ends of
muscles are destitute of nervous supply, he asserts — " I have
been led to conclude that every muscular fibre is crossed by
very delicate nerve fibres frequently, and at short intervals, the
intervals varying much in different cases, but I believe never
being of greater extent than the intervals between the capillary
vessels" (" Biopl.," p. 250). He asserts also, contrary to the
opinion of Doyere and Kiihne (Strieker, Syd. Soc., i. 207),
and others, that the nerve fibres never penetrate the sarco-
lemma, but always cross and ramify on the outside of it.
Likewise, contrary to the opinion of Kiihne (Strieker, i. 223),
that no general scheme of muscle-nerve distribution can be
laid down from its extreme variety in different animals, Beale
states — " On the other hand, my observations lead me to the
conclusion that the arrangement is in its essential points the
same in all classes of animals. In no case are there nerve
ends, but always plexuses, or networks, which are never in
structural continuity with the contractile tissue of the muscle"
(" Biopl.," p. 260).

136 BEALE'S ELECTRO-MOTOR THEORY.

Finally, that there is no contractile tissue in any animal, from
the highest to the lowest, that is not furnished with nerves —
i.e., contractile tissue proper— not formless protoplasm or cilia,
exhibiting movements. "And as I have detected nerves in
every form of contractile tissue that I have examined, I think
it right to conclude that contractile textures are invariably
associated with nerves " (Beale's " Biopl.,7' p. 237).

Dr. Beale does not profess to be electrician enough to explain
the exact mode in which the contraction is brought about, but
is satisfied by showing the existence of a mechanism by which
work may be done by induction from a current in closed circuits.
" They (the nerves) are certainly not connected in any way
either with the nucleus or with the contractile tissue of the
muscular fibre. They cross the fibre either obliquely or at right
angles ; and oftentimes a nerve fibre runs for some distance
parallel with the muscular fibre. The influence, therefore, ex-
erted by the nerve fibre cannot depend upon any continuity of
texture between it and the contractile tissue, but is doubtless
due to the passage of a current through the nerve, which de-
termines a temporary alteration in the relations to one another
of the particles of which the contractile tissue consists"
(" BiopL," p. 239).

This remarkable theory, which is as yet opposed to
the great majority of the prevailing opinions, demands
all attention, and invites thorough and searching
criticism.

It is obvious that the old question of the inherent
irritability of the muscular- fibre is again raised. Not
in the old form, in which the faculty of contracting
was supposed to be communicated from the central
nervous system, for that has long been set at rest, but
whether each individual primitive bundle, of which
the muscle as a whole is composed, is idio-muscular
or nervo-muscular, in the language of Schiff, adopted

IDIO OR NERVO-MUSCULAR IRRITABILITY. 137

by Kulme. Both these authors believe in the con-
tractility of the fibre, independently of nerves ; but
Schiff thinks the two modes have some essential
difference, while Klihne accepts the terms in the sense
that the fibre has inherent contractility which may
respond to other stimuli than that of the nerves. No-
one of late, except Fletcher, attributed the faculty to-
some living matter — not the actual fibre — within the
muscle as a whole, till now Beale makes a real and
absolute distinction between these two expressions,
and denies altogether the idio-muscular actions.

The arguments that irritability resides in the muscle as a
whole, independently of the motor nerve trunks and the blood-
vessels, are, it is here taken for granted, unanswerable ; but it
is also generally assumed that it must reside in the primitive
fibre itself, and it is even asserted that the fibre can be seen to
contract on the direct application of stimuli, when destitute of
nerves. This point demands special examination, and the chief
proofs of it rest on Kiihne's experiments,* so we had better
consider these a little in detail.

The cardinal point is the structure of the sartorius muscle
of the frog in respect to the motor nerves. The main trunk of
the motor nerve is said to enter about the middle of the muscle,
and branch out towards both extremities in ever diminishing
size and number of twigs, so that there are five zones of nerve
supply, and corresponding irritability. These diminish gradually,
and the zones at the extremities possess no nerve fibres at all.
Thus two-fifths of the muscle are said to have no nerve fibres,
and on this all his results hinge. And, from a variety of ex-
periments, he concludes that " the excitability of the muscle
stands in the closest connection with its nerve distribution"

* TTutersuclmngen uber Bewegungen und Yeranderungen der Con-
traktilen Substanzen. Von Dr. W. Kuhne. Eeichert and Dubois'
" Arcliiv," 1859, heft. 5 and 6.

138 KUHNE'S NERVELESS ZONES IN MUSCLES.

(p. 589) ; but that in those two nerveless zones, though the ex-
citability was at a minimum, still with a certain strength of
electric current contraction could be excited, and if the motor
nerves were paralyzed by an upward current, that low degrees
of excitability extended through the whole muscle. This last
circumstance is difficult to explain on Beale's theory, but
Kiihne says it is very difficult to get it to succeed, so perhaps
we may wait till it is confirmed. In the meantime we may
notice that in Strieker's Handbook, in 1870, Kiihne still main-
tains the assertion of the absence of nerves in portions, and
makes it even more general, describing it as a well-known fact
*' that considerable segments of every muscle may be met with
in which no nerves are to be found, and that in particular the
extremities of the muscles appear to be destitute of nerves for
.a considerable space" (p. 204). This, in spite of Beale's well-
known observations— according to which the most important
part of the nerve, as conductor of force, begins where Kiihne's
nerve seems to end.

" The active part of the nerve-fibre, as regards the elementary
muscular fibre, commences only at the point where the dark-
bordered character of the nerve fibre ceases, and it therefore
follows that the most important, and most active portion of the
peripheral nerve fibres distributed to muscle, has escaped the
observation of many observers. The fibres are extremely deli-
cate, and, like other very fine nerve fibres, can only be rendered
visible by special methods of preparation. Every nerve fibre,
however fine, is compound, being composed of several fine
iibres. ' Nuclei' are invariably found in relation with these
fibres, and they vary in number in different cases " (" Biopl.,"
p. 273).

Perhaps we can account for this discrepancy when we know
that the finest nerve fibres are invisible in the living body, and
Kiihne's preparations are directed to be made by macerating
•with dilute sulphuric acid, dissolving the connective tissue by
warming to 104° F., isolating the muscular fibres by vigorous
agitation with water in a test-tube, and then pencilling away
the still adhering capillaries with a camel-hair brush. It would
be difficult to imagine a better way of removing the plexus of

KUHNE'S IDIO-MUSCULAR PROOFS. 139

fine fibres described by Beale, and which he rendered visible by
long soaking with all the parts in situ in glycerine of graduated
density.* It is plain that if Beale's anatomy of the muscular
nerves is right, the signification of Kiihne's experiments must
be entirely changed ; but it must be allowed that there are
some facts difficult to reconcile with the purely passive role of
the muscular fibre. Setting aside those resting on irritability
of a supposed nerveless portion, there are the contraction of a
small part when mechanically irritated, which does not spread
to the rest of the muscle supplied by the same nerve. I sup-
pose to this we may say that it is not known how small a por-
tion of the nerve may have independent sources of nerve
power. The fact that if the motor nerve trunks are paralyzed
with curare, no stimulus applied to or through them excites con-
traction, but if you electrify, or pinch, or bruise the muscle it-
self, it contracts. This may well be when we consider that
this poison is so specific in character that it has no effect on the
sensiferous nerves ; so it may also fail to act on the intra-mus-
cular nerve protoplasm, which is the source of power ; and, in
fact, Schiff found that irritation of a muscle whose nerve trunk
was paralyzed by curare re-acted beyond the point of contact,
and therefore he concluded that the nerve-ends were not
paralyzed. Again, the action of chemical irritants ; Kiihne
(590) adduces glycerine, creosote, lactic acid, and alcohol as
exciting the nerves violently, and, through them, the muscles ;
while, if applied directly to the latter, no action results. If
you apply glycerine to the cross section of the (supposed)
nerveless end, no contraction is excited, while if to the central
cross section, where nerves are, palpable jerkings follow. This
is, no doubt, from the fewness and fineness of the nerve fibres,
and the want of diffusive power of glycerine, for the experi-
ment succeeded only very imperfectly, if at all, with the
creosote, alcohol, and lactic acid, no doubt from their greater
power of diffusion into a region better supplied with nerve

* Tergast, in his memoir on " The Relation of Nerves to Muscles,"
in 1872, denies that any parts quite free from nerves exist (" Jaliresbe-
richt," 1873, p. 121).

140 CHEMICAL IDIO-MUSCULAE, PROOFS.

bioplasts. A more difficult experiment to explain is that of
Professor Rutherford,* who clipped the cut end of the sciatic
nerve into ammonia without producing muscular contraction ;
but when the cut end of the same gastrocnemius was touched
with the same solution, immediate contraction ensued : again,
when the nerve end, contaminated with ammonia, was cut off,
and salt applied to the fresh surface of the nerve, contraction
took place. I can only suppose here that the ammonia
paralyzed the nerve, while the same quantity applied to the
larger moist muscle section was only sufficient to stimulate.

We have also the experiments of Cl. Bernard with Kali
sulphocyan : and of Kolliker and Pelikan with upas and vera-
trin, which seem to show a specific vital action on the fibre
itself. The Rhodankalium was tried by Kiihne, and, as he
states, it only slightly stimulates, and then paralyzes the nerve ;
whereas its action on the fibre is very powerful, and when ap-
plied to the whole muscle causes violent jerking, speedily fol-
lowed by death and coagulation (rigor mortis}. On dipping a
portion of the muscle into a solution, that part could be killed,
although the nerve passing through it could still conduct
stimuli to a sound part. The explanation of these facts is, I
presume, simply that the Rhodankalium is a powerful stimulus,
soon causing death to the protoplasm of both the fine nerves
and the sarcolemma, but that the larger fibres are protected for
a time by the medullary sheath.

Unless we can in some way explain the action of these
chemical agents, the passive theory of the muscle fibre must
be given up, for if they acted at all it must have been as
stimuli, and this implies irritability and vital action, for they
could not furnish force to cause physical shortening of it.

But a new question is raised by the observation of Wundt,f
who states that when the constant current acts directly on the
muscle, the contraction lasts and is uniform during the whole
time between making and breaking the circuit. And it is thus
different from the tetanus produced by electrifying the nerve,

* "Lancet," Jan. 21, 1871.

f Eeichert and Dubois' " Archiv," 1859, p. 549.

CONTEACTION UNDER GALVANISM. 141

which is always irregular, and composed of separate longer or
shorter contractions. Can it be, therefore, that the galvanic
current conducted by the sarcolemma, or connective tissue,
may furnish the force inductively to cause the physical change
in which contraction consists, just as the nerve force does
naturally1? We should thus have contraction without vital
action or irritability. I cannot find that this observation has
been confirmed, and especially if the work done has been
measured. Wundt further asserts that the contractile substance
itself will not contract under anything else but the galvanic
current. Schiff and Eckhard, however, deny that the current
can act at all upon it except through the nerves, while Kiihne
reiterates his assertion of the action of both galvanism and
chemical stimuli, in spite of these three. Kiihne ultimately,
by using very fine electrodes, finds several points in the muscle,
even in the centre close under the nerve trunk, where the irri-
tability is at a minimum, just like the extreme ends, and there-
fore he concludes that these spots are also destitute "of nerves.
Nevertheless, he observes that these points seem to receive a
nerve stimulus in some way, because they contract also when
the nerve trunk is excited (594). This harmonizes with Beale's
view that they are supplied with the fine nerve fibres which
must have been reflected from some finer twigs at a distance
from the trunk entrance.

The representation we may keep in mind of the
mechanical conditions of muscular fibres in action, is
as follows : — To form a fibre (or primitive bundle), we
have a long, delicate, flexible closed sheath — the sarco-
lemma— in which is contained a semi-fluid, single
refracting substance, in which are embedded a number
of three to five sided prismatic double-refracting
bodies, arranged in the striped muscles, in regular
layers (Bowman's discs). During the act of contraction
these discs become broader and thinner, and approach

142 ANATOMY OF THE MUSCULAR FIBRE.

nearer eacli other, and, in consequence, the whole fibre
becomes shorter and broader, and its extremities are
caused to approximate, and thus mechanical pulling
work may be done. At the same time, a little of the
fluid contained amongst the fibrillse is forced out, forms
vacuoles (Kiihne), and lies in bullse, or blebs, beneath
the sarcolemma, which is drawn up into wrinkles
(Carpenter). This last circumstance, and the fact that
this membrane is always very delicate, and, in some
muscles (even the strongest, as the heart) entirely
wanting, may let us at once put it out of account in
the mechanical agency.

The question is, as Briicke states it, " How can a solid sub-
stance, even of the consistence merely of a trembling jelly,
really set about the process of contracting itself ¥' also, whence
is derived the force to do that work1? Kuhne* agrees with
Bowman, and others, that a wave-like swelling passes along the
fibre during contraction when touched, which he thinks shows
a state almost of fluidity ; and, in opposition to Kolliker, he
says it would be unduly stretching the definition of a solid to
call the fibre solid, for it possesses the perfect mobility of the
molecules of a fluid, and, in consequence, takes the form which
would be given by gravity, therefore it remains after the con-
tracting force is withdrawn pretty much as it would under
gravity, and in a state not very different from the contracted
shape, unless drawn out by the elasticity or the weight of
neighbouring parts. He will not admit the propriety of speak-
ing-of a semi-fluid, but says the muscular fibre is a closed tube
containing fluid and the muscle prisms. This Beale will not
admit, but contends for the state of a soft solid, because some
fibres, viz., those of the heart, are destitute of sarcolemma.
The action of the flesh-prisms, or sarcous particles, is also very
difficult to understand. Briicke (Strieker, Syd. Soc., i.) shows

* Reichert and Duboia' " Archiv," 1859, p. 809.

ANATOMY OF THE MUSCULAR FIBRE.

that they are uniaxial, positively refractile bodies, like rock
crystal, and that they are made up of groups of still smaller
bodies, to which he restricts the term disdiaklasts. During
contraction the flesh prisms, or sarcous elements, become
shorter and thicker, and if they were single solid bodies, that
would imply a strain and change of position of the molecules,
which would alter their refracting power. No such alteration
takes place, therefore " the form of the whole group— that isr
of the sarcous element — is here changed by an alteration in
the arrangement of the several corpuscles, just as in a company
of soldiers groups of various breadths and depths are produced
by changes in the position of the several individuals" (p. 240).
By the more recent researches of Schafer, Flogel, Merkel, and
Engelmann ("Medical Record," 1873) we find that the shortening
of the rod-layer may amount to two-thirds of its length (Flogel).
It is denied that the double-refractile rod-like bodies and the
single-refracting intermediate substance are distinguishable
during life (Engelmann). Each muscular fibre is divided into
a number of equal divisions, each of which contains transparent
fluid substance, in which is accumulated at the sides of the
median membrane the gelatinous contractile substance, the
proper transverse stripe (Merkel). " When a muscular fibre
contracts, the individual divisions do not pass at once from the
state of rest to that of contraction, but they go first through
an intermediate state." This latter is characterized by the dis-
appearance of all optical differences, the contents of the muscular
division being perfectly homogeneous, and at the same time
very bright. "During this state the contractile substance,
imbibing all the fluid that is contained in the division, swells
so as to fill out this completely, and having gone through this
preparatory state, again presses out the fluid and accumulates
on both ends of the division beside the terminal disc. The
individual particles of the contractile substance press as close
as possible to this terminal disc, the former tiying to come into
contact with the latter by as many of its particles as possible :
in consequence of which the muscular fibre not only becomes
broader, but also the fluid which is pressed out by the contrac-
tile substance is now accumulated in the middle of the division

144 FORCE TRANSFORMATION IN MUSCLE WORK.

at the sides of the median membrane. As far as volume is
concerned, the contractile substance is in excess of the fluid in
a state of rest, whereas in the state of contraction the contrary
is the case " (Merkel). To this last sentence Engelmann does not
agree, and it is not easy to reconcile the observations of the
•different experimenters in all details. Probably the above state-
ment of the homogeneity of the division during life refers to a
state of complete relaxation. Engelmann also states that during
contraction the isotropous substance becomes firmer and less
transparent, while the anisotropous becomes clearer and softer.
Schafer, on the other hand, asserts that the ground-substance
is anisotropous, while the rods are isotropous and in the state
of rest the whole fibre appears anisotropous, because the muscle-
rods are surrounded by the anisotropous ground-substance.
This last, he assumes, is comparable to a protoplasmic matrix,
which is the true contractile part, whereas the rods are elastic
structures, which serve to restore the fibre to its original length
after contraction has ceased (" Qu. Micro. Journal," April,
1874). So far are observers yet from being agreed as to the
physical process.

As to the force requisite to produce these remarkable
changes, can we imagine any merely chemical change
in the semifluid single-refracting substance capable of
evolving and directing it ? We are here restricted to
the single-refracting substance, which is comparatively
small in quantity, for we know that the flesh prisms
are not consumed in the process, and how can we
imagine an evolution of force from chemical actions in
a formless fluid to be so directed as to change so exactly
the shape of those bodies imbedded in it ? The ques-
tion seems not worth discussion. The next theory is
that these movements are protoplasmic. This, of
course, involves the vitality of the fibres, which has
already been argued against, and besides that, I think

ANALOGY OF THE ELECTRO-MAGNET. 145

the arguments of Beale are most cogent which rest on
the totally different character of the movements, which
need not be gone over again. So there seems to
remain nothing but the theory of a current force of the
nature of electricity, which may be supposed to change
the shape of the flesh-prisms by altering the position
of the disdiaklasts, or to change the position of the
sarcous particles as a whole, and to increase the
cohesion of the particles of the fibre as a whole, pro-
bably by some change similar to that which iron
undergoes when magnetized. This we know becomes
lengthened in the direction of magnetization owing, as
supposed by De la Rive, to the crystals of which the
solid bar is composed setting themselves parallel to the
bar in their longest dimensions. Even when the mag-
netic oxide of iron is reduced to fine powder and
suspended in water, in a vessel surrounded with a coil
forming part of a voltaic circuit, the same tendency is
shown and the particles attach themselves in lines
(Grove). If we suppose the action of the nerve current
to be the reverse here or diamagnetic as it were, we
have a dim representation of the action of the striped
and smooth muscular fibres. There is also a clink
heard when the circuit is made and broken in the
electro-magnet, and this is paralleled by the muscle-
sound.

The question, as placed by Dr. Beale, is entirely
different from the position which the electric theory
has ever occupied before, for now it is not the question
of a mere stimulus given by the motor nerves, but the
whole force needful for the work must be furnished by
them, and as this is a measurable quantitative relation,

10

146 WHENCE THE FORCE EVOLVED

we must again go back to anatomy to inquire if the-
organs exist to furnish this amount of force. Singu-
larly enough, Dr. Beale himself seems to have over-
looked this point, for I can find no direct allusion to
it. We have first to distinguish between the amount
of force required for a stimulus and that required for
doing the work. The motor nerve trunk, which sup-
plies the muscle as a whole, is certainly sufficient to set
agoing the whole apparatus of force extrication within
the muscle to its full extent. How much does it con-
tribute to the actual work ? The answer is given by
an experiment by Matteucci.

After having carefully determined the minimum
duration of the passage of an electric current through
a motor nerve needful to cause the contraction of the
muscle to which it is distributed, he measured the force
expended in exciting the nerve action by calculation
from the weight of zinc dissolved in the voltaic battery
during the passage of the current. On the other hand,
the amount of mechanical work performed showed the
force developed in the muscle when contracting under
the influence of the nerve action. On comparing these
quantities, it was found that the mechanical work per-
formed by the muscle during its contraction, was equal
to 30,000 times the force expended in producing the
nerve excitement (Gavarret, " Phenomenes Physiques,"
p. 255).

To discuss the question further, we must consider
the processes necessary in the evolution of the force
for muscular work ; and for those who may not have
the data at hand, I will briefly give the chief facts a&
yet known : —

FOR MUSCLE WORK. 147

It is very interesting to notice how the great truths in
science come to bear different interpretations in the progress of
knowledge. We are too apt to undervalue the discoveries of
our predecessors because the theories founded upon them are
subsequently found to be imperfect in some points. Such
superficial judgments of one generation are sure to be avenged
in the next, for at no time can any department in physiological
science be pronounced complete. In this question of evolution
of force by muscular action we have had four important prin-
ciples laid down at different times : 1. " The principle of Liebig,
that the oxidation of the albuminous matter of the muscles was
the sole source of the force required for mechanical work ;"
2. "The muscle is only the instrument through which the
transformation of force is brought about, but it is not the matter
by the metamorphosis of which the effect is produced ;" 3. " The
enduring power of doing work is proportional, not to the mass
of the muscle, but to the mass of blood circulating through it ;;;
4. "Not the hundredth part of the oxidative process is per-
formed outside the walls of the blood-vessels." These three last
are laid down by J. E. Mayer, in his Mechanik der Warme
(see " Life and Equivalence of Force," p. 50). The last principles
appear conclusively to contradict the first one of Liebig, and
when we add to that the facts since demonstrated of the non-
increase of urea under severe and prolonged muscular work,
when the diet was non-nitrogenous, and in addition, the testi-
mony of Beale to the impossibility of the consumption of the
actual muscular structure in ordinary work, we perceive that
Liebig's principle, in its naked form of statement, has been pro-
nounced untenable with apparent justice. Nevertheless, read
by the light of subsequent discoveries, all of the above prin-
ciples contain fundamental elements of the truth, and therefore
constitute important stages in the progress of knowledge.
For we come back through Beale's theory to the principle that
the muscular fibre is merely a mechanical instrument for the
transformation of force into simple work of pulling, while the
evolution of the whole force takes place exclusively within what
is technically called the muscle, as a whole, by the consump-
tion of a structureless nitrogenous matter, which is constantly

10—2

148 CHEMICAL CHANGES

decomposed and immediately renewed from the 'blood circu-
lating within the muscle. This is in harmony with all Mayer's
principles except, perhaps, the last, which cannot be accepted
literally when we consider that in insects the tracheae extend
into the parenchyma far beyond the corpuscle-holding blood-
vessels, although, if we take it simply to mean that the blood
within the boundary of the muscle is the permanent source of
both the combustible matters and the oxygen, in vertebrates this
will be found compatible with it, taking into account the power
of diffusion of oxygen through the capillary walls, and, what
will be presently adverted to, the storing up of oxygen. Among
the proofs of these propositions we may notice the following :
The idea that force was furnished from the central nervous
system was soon disproved by the observation that muscles will
for a time contract when the connection with it is severed or
even when they are detached from the body. The idea that the
force was produced in the blood and furnished as heat or any
other form of force to the muscle, was also negatived by the
fact that the latter will still contract for a time when quite
empty of blood, although with blood it will do more work, and
that in proportion to the change produced in that blood ; there-
fore force is not derived from the blood per se, but the oxygen
and material with potential energy, whereby the muscle evolves
it, are.

In the resting muscle there is a certain amount of chemical
change continually going on, consisting of processes which
ultimately involve consumption of oxygen and formation of
carbonic acid, but cannot be looked upon as direct oxidation,
but rather a formation by oxidative synthesis of a substance
which splits up into lactic and other acid products which are
neutralized by the surrounding alkaline fluids. These changes
produce the disengagement of active force manifested in the
electricjmuscle-current and also heat. In the active muscle all
these processes are increased and some other products are recog-
nized, though probably there is no really qualitative difference in
the action (Hermann). More oxygen is taken up and more of
the carbonic and lactic acids are produced, as also of the
alcoholic and ethereal extracts indicating the products of de-

IN MUSCULAR ACTION.

composition of the albuminous and of the crystallizable,
saccharine, and fatty elements which occur in muscles. At the
same time there is some diminution of the total albuminates, of
the watery extracts and of the substances from which lactic,
carbonic, and the fatty acids are formed (J. Ranke). It is
impossible to go more accurately into the compounds actually
found in the living muscle, for of kreatin, grape-sugar, inosite,
sarkiri, myosin, &c., some are probably, and the last certainly,
not formed till after death, and most of the experiments are
vitiated by the fact that death takes place during them (L. Her-
mann). However, in the living state the reaction certainly
becomes acid, and there are found products which lessen the
capacity of the muscle for work and are called fatigue-stuffs.
These are supposed to be chiefly lactic acid, carbonic acid, and
phosphate of potash. That the fatigue-stuffs have this effect is
shown by the fact that if they are washed out with a weak
solution of common salt, and if oxygen be then furnished, the
activity of the muscle is restored : likewise, if lactic acid or
flesh-extracts be injected into a fresh muscle, the same weak-
ness is produced. Recovery from fatigue therefore depends on
the restoration of oxygenated blood and the neutralization of
these fatigue-stuffs and their final absorption by the capillaries,
the plastids of which decompose them into blood and effete
products. During the active state force is evolved and con-
sumed in mechanical work, the electric muscle current dimin-
ishes almost to zero and heat is also produced.

The vital and chemical processes during rest and motion are
thus not essentially different, but form merely a plus and minus
of the same state. In fact the so-called state of rest is always,
(in health) a state of minimum of contraction, as is seen by the
drawing towards the opposite side, when the nerves of one side
are cut or paralyzed. The so-called tonicity is nothing but
partial contraction.

Now, although it is certain that the total force for muscular
•work is derived from the passing down of complex compounds
to a simpler state of combination with satisfaction of stronger
affinities,* and ultimately may be described and measured as

* " It must not be overlooked that the liberation of force is not de«

150 STORING UP OF OXYGEN.

oxidation, still direct oxidation is not the immediate means
whereby muscular force is evolved, any more than it is of the
performance of any truly vital function. " It is also certain
that the chemical metamorphoses which furnish the force to the
muscles are, in part, not performed at the moment of the mus-
cular contraction" (Ranke, op. bit., 632). This relates chiefly
to the supply of oxygen, which is not, as was formerly supposed,
derived directly from the oxygen of respiration at the time, but
from oxygen already stored up in the organism in some mode not
yet settled. The proof of this is that, according to the experi-
ments of Pettenkofer and Voit, the expired carbonic acid is no
measure for the quantity of oxygen inspired at the same time,
and the quantity of carbonic acid expired during the day
greatly exceeds the oxygen inspired during the same time, even
if the body be at rest, but still more (to the extent of double) if
working, while the contrary 'is the case during the night. Thus
in the waking day the expiration of carbonic acid is due in
great part to the 'surplus of oxygen inspired during the pre-
ceding night, and stored up in the system ; and in fact the

pendent on oxidative processes alone, although this may be the most
frequent example of the general law that force is set free by every
chemical process through which stronger affinities than before ore
satisfied. An example of a non-oxidative process whereby, neverthe-
less, heat is evolved, is given by the alcoholic fermentation of sugar.
As shown in the diagram, the affinities of the C atoms, which in the
sugar-molecule were unsatisfied either by the carbon or the hydrogen
affinities, are after the splitting up satisfied by the O affinities ; but as
the attraction of O to C is greater than C to C or to H, an evolu-
tion of force must take place by this atomic change of position"
(Hermann, 191).

Sugar = C6 Hi, O6

Splits up into carbonic acid and alcohol

C2H60 C02 CO, C2H60

FORCE EVOLVED BY ALBUMINATES. 151

-organism is more vigorous and fit for work the more oxygen is
thus stored up.

It was also observed by Valentin, thaj; hybernating animals
at times gain weight between the weighings, owing to absorp-
tion 'of oxygen, although a certain constant loss by carbonic
acid and water is going on. Also in diabetes and leucoemia, in
which the debility is so well known, Pettenkofer and Yoit
found that the nocturnal absorption of oxygen does not take
place. Thus is accounted for the fact that labourers are unable
to do the same amount of work on a diet with too little flesh-
meat, although furnished with an ample supply of the fatty and
starchy matters to extricate the requisite amount of force. In
this case, as in disease and in otherwise unwholesome feeding,
the requisite nocturnal storing up of oxygen does not take place
to render the individual fresh and vigorous in the morning.

Pettenkofer and Voit showed that this store was formed only
through the means of albumin-substances, and the maximum
of the storing was regulated by the amount of these. So even
if the ultimate oxidation of fats and sugars did furnish force for
work, still the albuminates by this storing of oxygen always
took an essential part in the process, and therefore " in this case
also the quantity of the albuminous matter determines the
amount of work"* (p. 14). Again, after disproving Liebig's
2nd and 3rd propositions, viz., that muscular work is the sole
cause of decomposition of albumen, and urea the measure of
work, and that it is the formed muscular structure which is
consumed, Pettenkofer and Voit still uphold the 1st proposi-
tion, viz., that the work of the muscle is furnished by the decom-
position of albuminous matter alone. This, in spite of the
difficulty that the urea is not increased by muscular work ; and
Voit controverts by experiment and reasoning all the efforts
to explain this away, even those of Liebig who suggests that
the products are not excreted in the same day, and appeals to
the experiments of Parkes, who, however, drew no such con-
clusion from them, but, on the contrary, confirms the fact that
there is no increase of urea, though he gives no help in the ex-

* " Lehre von der Quelle der Muskelkraft," &c., von Carl Voit,
1870.

152 COMPENSATORY PROCESSES

planation of the fact. Voit, in effect, says that work is "clone-
as in many machines, by a store of force laid up at some other
time, as by winding up a spring for example, this store being
laid up by the intermediation of albumen binding the oxygen
and then splitting up ; but he does not make it clear how this
takes place without increase of the urea according to the work,
for the more work a machine does the more winding up it
needs, no matter when. Voit, besides, shows that fat and milk
are formed from albuminous matters and not from the non-
nitrogenous principles, and he rather falls back into the old ther-
mogene theory, for he says : " In a pure albuminous diet the fat
produced from it serves for heat production, while by introduc-
tion of easily combustible carbo-hydrates into the diet, these
last are oxidated and the fat originating from the albumen
remains accumulated" (p. 81). Voit resembles Goodsir and
Beale in describing " milk as a dissolved organ of the body, and
not a simple nitration from the blood " (p. 83), and that in the
secretion the mammary gland uses albuminous material for the
building up of cells, which then partly undergo fatty degenera-
tion and partly take up fat from the blood. In respect to the
difficulty of the non-increase of urea in proportion to work, the
explanation of Kiihne is probably the one with which we must
be satisfied for the present, viz., that compensatory pro-
cesses are taking place at the same time, of the exact nature and
amount of which we are at present ignorant, but which may
" decompose an absolutely great amount of albumen while pro-
portionately little is oxidated down to urea, and therefore the
excretion of the latter is as slightly increased during work as
experiment shows."*

A single yeast cell will convert sixty times its weight of
sugar into carbonic acid and the still combustible alcohol with
evolution of active force as heat, not by catalysis, for there are
other products, and the cell either grows or wastes away accord-
ing as it is furnished with a due amount of nitrogenous pabu-
lum. In this case some compensatory processes must have
been at work, and the same particles of nitrogen must have
taken part in the vital decomposition and recomposition over
* " Physiologische Chenne," p. 327.

RETAIN THE NITROGEN.

and over again. A bee will move with extreme activity upon
a diet of pure honey or sugar, and thus by a more complex organi-
zation convert the chemical force of carbo-hydrates, by union
with oxygen, into motion, which the yeast cell could not do,
while its tissues do not waste, though supplied with so little
albumen, thus showing the existence of compensatory processes.
In spite of the supply of oxygen to the extreme points by exten-
sion of the trachese beyond the blood-vessels in insects, no mere
oxidation can be the cause of evolution of muscle-force, for the
theory that an animal could convert the heat of carbo-hydrates
into motion, though still taught in some text-books, was long
since disproved by Clausius and Voit, followed by Tick. As to
where this storing up of oxygen takes place, no doubt it maybe
partly in the blood, which must be richer in circulating albumi-
nous matter, and no doubt also part of this store is consumed in
oxidating and removing effete products, but the chief part must
be in the muscles themselves, for a muscle when detached from
the body, with all the blood washed out, and when placed in
a vacuum or in indifferent gases, will still contract and do work
for a time. And in the living body, J. Kanke states, " I could
prove that the capacity for doing work of the muscle rises and
falls with the amount of solids contained in it, so that a muscle
is the more capable of work the richer it has been in normal
muscle-stuffs during the state of rest " (635). Likewise, it is.
known that the amount of carbonic acid in the venous blood
of the active muscle is greater than can be accounted for by the
disappearance of oxygen.*

During work from stimulation by voluntary or reflex motor
nerves, both the formation of this consumable matter by oxida-
tive synthesis from the blood and its dissolved oxygen, and the
consumption of it are immediately increased. But this in-
crease does not equal the loss, and consequently the store
wastes, while the neutralization and removal of the acid pro-
ducts does not' keep pace with their formation, and therefore
the fatigue-stuffs accumulate— hence fatigue, and recovery after

*, The venous blood of the active muscle contains 3 vol. per cent. less,
oxygen and 4.1 per cent, more carbonic acid than that of the resting
muscle. — Sczelko \v.

154 PROTOPLASM PERFORMS

the needful rest. J. Ranke is inclined to give the whole causa-
tion of fatigue to the accumulation of fatigue- stuffs^and little or
none to the over consumption and modification of the proto-
plasm. But I cannot agree to this, as fatigue, after over-
stimulation, is universal in all living functions, and especially
those of the nervous system, while we have few proofs of accumu-
lation of fatigue-stuffs. Besides, we know that when one kind
of stimulus has ceased to act, another will do so— certainly not
from removing fatigue-stuffs. This harmonizes with the theory
that storing up is partly a simple growth of the protoplasm
whose decomposition is the source of the nerve force which
does muscular work, although there is a possible intermediate
chemical stage here ; still in all vital action the same vigour
and freshness is felt after repose.

It is certainly noteworthy that a veteran experi-
mental physiologist like Voit should have the con-
clusion forced upon him, that muscle-work force, fat,
and milk are all, even in herbivorous animals, produced
by the decomposition of nitrogenous matter, and it is
30 far in harmony with the hypothesis of Fletcher,*

* Dr. Fletcher (" Kudiments," &c., p. 108), after setting aside all
the theories of active elongation, reviews under six beads all the theories
of muscular contraction up to that time (1836), and concludes that the
most probable physical cause was the zigzag bending of the fibre, though
he rejects the hypothesis then tacked to it, that these bendings occurred
where a nerve loop passed round the fibre, and that the drawing was
caused by galvanic force sent by the nerve trunk. It is curious how
nearly Beale comes back to this, but at that time, the electro motor force
of galvanism was hardly known, and its conditions were not practically
iinderstood. Fletcher did not attempt to explain how £he vital was
connected with the physical action. He says, " But, at the same time,
it must be continually kept in mind that there is still a wide, unoccu-
pied gap between simple irritation or the perception of a stimulus by a
muscle, and the assumption by its fibres of this zigzag direction as a
consequence of it." Nevertheless, this irritability is not inherent in the
fibre itself, but in the ganglionic nervous matter [protoplasm], inter-
woven with it, for in accounting for the essentiality of a supply of
blood to contraction, he says, " we must remember that it is by the
blood that the "nutrition of the limb is maintained, that its ganglionio
nervous tissue ceases in this case [tying the arteries] to be renewed in.
proportion as it is exhausted, and that there is consequently, after a time,
a cessation of irritability — a necessary condition of muscular contrac-
tion" (117).

ALL VITAL WORK. 155

that every manifestation of vital action is due to the
-consumption of " irritable matter " — a nitrogenous
substance in a peculiar state of combination — and also
with the identical hypothesis of Beale in respect to
*' germinal matter," both now corresponding to proto-
plasm. It is quite possible, however, that the actual
evolution of force may take place in an intermediate
chemical compound formed by the protoplasm, and
that may be even of such a nature, according to the
hypothesis of Traube and L. Hermann, as to allow the
compensatory process to take place within the muscle,
and that this explains the non-increase of urea. However
this may be, the difficulty here is no greater than for
the whole doctrine of Beale, viz., that all nutrition and
.secretion are produced by the death or decomposition
of protoplasm — i.e., a nitrogenous substance — while
many of the products are simple binary or ternary
compounds. We are obliged to assume that in the
perfect and complex machinery of the living organism,
the molecules are arranged and re-arranged through a
long series of still unknown compounds, so that the
more simple and effete compounds only are finally
excreted and thus the nitrogen is retained. The facts
.are also in accordance with this, for with a diet of
purely nitrogenous matters, in many animals all func-
tions can be performed, and heat and work kept up,
.and the formation of fat and other secretions goes on.
In such a diet, then, is the maximum of urea excreted ;
but, as we substitute non-nitrogenous articles, these
are consumed and their products excreted, and the
quantity of urea comes down to a certain minimum,
below which it cannot fall, however rigidly non-nitro-

15(> NERVE PROTOPLASM GIVES ALL

genous the diet be. Independently of this, the ex-
cretion of urea is almost entirely regulated in health
by the quantity of nitrogenous matter in the diet, no
matter the amount of muscular work done. Thus, the
immediate source of muscular, as of all other work
and every other vital act, may be the decomposition of
a nitrogenous compound, such as protoplasm, yet from
the harmony and perfection of the working of the
organism as a whole, the most perfect economy in
extracting the force of the food is attained by the
excretion of only the spent products of the diet, what-
ever its nature.

The question now is, where do all these processes
take place in the muscle ? The parenchyma is now
pretty well explored, and there are no considerable
territories still unknown in which these operations
may take place. According to Beale, the change of
matter must take place in the protoplasm, but the bulk
of the muscles, i.e., the fibres, do not consist of proto-
plasm and are not living, nor is the power evolved in
the bioplasts of the muscular fibre. There remains
only, therefore, the protoplasm of the motor nerves or
of the capillaries or of the connective tissue. The proto-
plasm of the capillaries (venous at least) is no doubt
fully occupied in the recomposition and absorption
into the blood of the products of change, and the con-
nective tissue corpuscles are too insignificant to be
taken into account. Therefore, we are compelled to
fall back upon the protoplasm of the intra-muscular
motor nerves (and, possibly, to some extent, the bio-
plasts of the arterial capillaries) as the source of the
whole poiver of muscular motion, and unless there is-

THE FORCE FOR MUSCLE WORK. 157

an anatomical basis corresponding to this function, the
theory cannot be upheld.

As before said, Beale has not adverted to the quan-
titative relations of nerve action in muscular work, but
when we look into his anatomy we find even a stronger
testimony to the correctness of his doctrine, in that it
is in a manner involuntary. This lies in the size and
number of the nerves connected with the muscular
fibres, and of the protoplasm masses belonging to them,
and incidentally this comes out in the discussion of
the endings in tufts and nerve plates given by Kiihne.
If we consider these all to be masses of nerve-proto-
plasm and, as such, sources of electric or other force
evolved by nerves, we can see a sufficient anatomical
basis for the actual work of the muscles being per-
formed by the motor nerves within the muscles.

It is hardly necessary to add to what has been said on the
general abundance of protoplasm in the peripheral parts of the
nerves, and especially of the motor nerves in the muscle by Dr.
Beale, figured in his plates and quoted at p. 134 •* but we pro-
ceed at once to notice the question of the alleged nerve " tufts"
and " eminences."

These have been brought under the notice of anatomists by
Kiihne specially, who still adheres substantially to his original
opinions in Strieker's " Handbook " in 1870, notwithstanding
the published discoveries "of Beale in 1864, 1865, and 1868.
Again Dr. Beale reviews the whole controversy in 1872, and as
nothing of moment has been added since, it is unnecessary to

* In addition, I may call attention to the size of the ganglions in the
auricle of the Hyla and of the local reflex ganglions described and
figured by Beale, and also similar ganglions belonging to the capillaries
of the frog's bladder described and figured by Dr. Darwin, in the " Qu.
Micro. Journal," April, 1874. It would seem that these were intended
to furnish the -whole force of muscular contraction, and not merely the
infinitesimal quantity required for stimulus.

158 NERVE TUFTS AND EMINENCES.

go into the question in detail. It is sufficient to say that, according
to Kiihne, in many of the invertebrata and the amphibia the motor
nerve ends in a sort of tuft or eminence upon the sarcolemma at
one or more points, and that here the sheath of Schwann becomes
continuous with the sarcolemma, so that the axis cylinder thus
penetrates the sheath and comes into contact with the fibre
itself. Here it frequently spreads out into a branched end
plate, or "layer of protoplasmic muscle substance that may
stretch to a variable extent into the contractile part of the fibre"
(209). Rouget also describes in lizards a mass of nuclei and
granular substance, beneath the point of entrance of the nerve.
Kiihne states that the nerve eminences vary much in form and
size in the Reptilia. In the Lacerta agilis the plate he gives of
the " terminal nerve plate," or the " motor nerve plate," is copied
into many text-books, and the nerve is here seen terminating in
a large, non-granular, thin layer. The thickness of this is con-
siderable, and in the central part is nearly as great as the short
diameter of a nucleus of the basis substance (223). Kiihne con-
cludes, that although there is so much variety in the termina-
tion of motor nerves in muscles, that no single scheme can
comprehend them all [this is denied by Beale, as said above],
yet, " The extremity of the axis cylinder always corresponds
to a remarkably broad expansion, which constantly forms a
flat branching mass" (227). Beale, as we have seen, denies that
the axis cylinder ever penetrates the sarcolemma, but admits
the existence of structures resembling the above outside the
sarcolemma ; he says, also, that although the latter is drawn into
a sort of eminence at the point where the nerve begins to ramify
over the fibre, that eminence is not a special organ. With respect
to the " end plates " and <( tufts," Beale has not found them in
the muscles of animals generally — in fact they are rather excep-
tional— though he has found them in the lizard and chame-
leon, and that they are not terminal organs, but display fibres
passing both to and from them. In fact these tufts are redup-
lications, and expansions, and coils of nerve-fibres interspersed
with large masses of bioplasm, which last are conspicuous in
Beale's plates, xii. and xiii. (" Biopl.," p. 263). Beale's conclu-
sion respecting the " nerve tufts " is as follows :

CHAMELEON'S TONGUE.

" ' Nerve tufts ' are not terminal organs ~but networks. The
nerve tuft consists of a complex network of fibres, the meshes
of which are very small. Connected with the fine nerve fibres
are numerous masses of bioplasm or nuclei. The plexus or
network constituting the nerve tuft is not terminal, nor does
it result from the branching of a single fibre, as has been repre-
sented. Many fibres enter into its formation ; and from various
parts of it long, fine fibres pass off to be distributed upon the
surface of the sarcolemma. It seems most probable that at the
situation of these compressed coils (nerve tufts) the contraction
of the muscular fibre would commence, and that from the nerve
current traversing several fibres collected over a comparatively
small portion of muscle, the contraction at these spots would be
sudden and violent, while it is probable that the contractions-
commencing at these points would extend, as it were, from them
along the fibre in opposite directions. I consider these nerve
tufts, therefore, simply as collections of nerve fibres, differing
only from the ordinary arrangement before described, some-
what in the same manner as the compressed nerve network in a
highly sensitive papilla differs from the lax expanded nerve-
network in the almost insensitive connective tissue" ("Biopl.,"
p. 268).

These organs were found numerous in the tongue of the
chameleon, and in corroboration of the supposed use of them,
I may notice the function of that organ :

" The chameleon is another curious example of a reptile
obliged to employ its tongue in securing insect prey. The
chameleon is arboreal in its habits ; its feet, cleft as it were
into two portions, firmly grasp the boughs upon which it climbs ;
while its well-known power of changing the colour of its skin,
so as to imitate that of the branches around it, efficiently con-
ceals it from observation. The tongue of this creature, when
extended, is as long as its whole body, and is terminated by a
club-shaped [extremity smeared over with a viscid secretion ;
when an insect comes within a distance of five or six inches
from the chameleon, the end of this tongue is first slowly pro-
truded to the distance of about an inch, and then, with the
rapidity of lightning, launched out with unerring aim : the flyx

160 FORCE-EVOLVING SUBSTANCE, A SECRETION? *r

glued to its extremity, is with equal velocity conveyed into the
mouth " ("The General Structure of the Animal Kingdom,"
Rhymer Jones, p. 687)-

Thus we have in the anatomy of Dr. Beale a suf-
ficiency of source of power, or nerve-force, for muscular
work in these intra-muscular masses of protoplasm, so
profusely distributed in connection with the equally
abundant supply of nerve fibres, at least as far as can
be judged by inspection alone. And, as yet, no means
are known of testing such a question by actual experi-
ment. At first sight, as the bulk of the muscle con-
sists of the contractile fibre, one would think it unlikely
that the source of the power should be elsewhere, but
when we reflect that the flesh prisms which form the
l»ulk of the fibre cannot be the source of the power by
which they are moved, we have only to look to the
single-refracting matter, and even if the consumption
of that were a possible source of regular movements,
its quantity must be smaller than that of the nerve
protoplasm.

Whether the evolution of force takes place by direct
metabolic or vital changes in the living matter itself or
in a chemical substance of high potential energy produced
l)y it and decomposed as required, presses itself on our
attention here. In commenting on Hermann's chemical
theory in my former work, in 1871, 1 suggested that this
might be the case, and I perceive since then that Dr.
Beale has expressed the same idea, for he says, at p. 205
of " Bioplasm," that the nerve current originates in the
bioplasm, or in the "soft formed material on its surface"
And again, " by chemical changes in ike matter formed
by the bioplasts electrical currents may be produced

NERVE FORCE AND ELECTRICITY. 161

and then traverse the fibres." While the function of
the formation of this substance and the means of de-
composing it when -required, would still remain with
the true living matter, there is room here for subor-
dinate, merely chemical action in aid of the functions
of the living body as a whole, such as we see also in
the action of the digestive juices. It is possible, also,
here occurs a portion of the storing up of force-pro-
'ducing material, and that here also, and not within the
actual fibre, we have scope for some hypotheses such
as those of Traube and Hermann, which, however, need
not be gone into, especially as the last involves the
incipient formation of myosin, a proximate principle,
which certainly does not appear till after death, and is
the cause of rigor mortis. It is possible, also, that
some share in the formation of this chemical substance
may be taken by the protoplasm masses of the arterial
capillaries.

Nature of the Nerve Force, and its Relation to Electricity. —
Since the time of Galvani, the existence of the nerve and
muscle electric currents has been known. It has since been
ascertained with accuracy that in the living muscle and nerve,
during rest, a current is detected when connection is made be-
tween the cross section and the longitudinal surface of the
muscle or nerve : the electricity of the former being negative,
and that of the latter positive. Also two points at unequal
distances from the centre of the longitudinal surface are posi-
tive and negative towards each other, and a different position
of these poles is taken up when the section is oblique. Several
other minute points respecting the behaviour of animal elec-
tricity are also known, but as their signification is as yet quite
undetermined it is unnecessary to particularize them. As the
muscle is surrounded with moist conductors, these electric cur-
rents are continually brought into equilibrium throughout the

11

162 MUSCLE AND NERVE CURRENT.

body and converted into heat during rest. When the muscle-
(or nerve) acts the current immediately ceases, or undergoes
the negative variation. This is not, as C. B. Eadcliffe explains,,
a change to a current of negative electricity, but simply a
weakening or exhaustion of the strength of the current almost,,
but not quite, down to zero. This negative variation is so-
constant that, in default of the visible sign of action which the
muscle gives by contraction, it is taken as a sign in the nerve
that it is in the acting state. " Nothing is as yet certainly
ascertained respecting the quantitative relation of the negative
variation to heat production and mechanical work. The varia-
tion takes place in the stage of latent irritation (of Helmholtz),
and only occupies a very short time, i.e., 0.001 of a second "
(Bezold). Hermann, p. 239. The stage of latent irritation
is the period which elapses between the application of the
stimulus and the contraction of the muscle. A certain time
thus appears to be required for the change from the pro-
duction of the electric current to that of work. The
muscle current belongs exclusively to the living muscle,
and gradually diminishes after somatic death till it quite
ceases when rigor mortis comes on. It is also stronger the
more functionally capable the muscle is, and is diminished by
privations, poisons, and all agents which injure or destroy life.
The same applies to the nerve current.

These are the chief facts of importance in respect to
animal electricity, and they form a slender foundation
for tbe theory of the identity of that force with the
nerve force. The disappearance of the current on the-
action of the muscle does not necessarily show that the-
motor force of the muscle was electricity, for the same-
would happen, whatever the nature of the nerve force,
if it were directly transformed into mechanical work
instead of into electricity as it is in the resting
muscle.* The theory, in fact, rests more on analogical

* The negative variation on the occurrence of contraction would at
first sight appear to speak in favour of Dr. C. B. Radclifie's ingenious

ELECTKICITY ONLY A STIMULUS ? 163

reasoning, as we have seen, p. 127, and also on the
action of electricity itself on the nerves and muscles.
This last is a wide subject, and one for which a volume
would scarcely suffice; so I will not touch upon it
further than to notice that, besides the difficulties of
the electric actions — which are merely physical, and
would take place in any moist, imperfect conductors —
we have its action as a stimulus, and the whole forms
a complexity so great that little practical knowledge
has as yet been gained.

One thing, however, must be noticed, viz., that by
Beale's theory the question is put on a different foot-
ing, for the muscular fibre is put out of account as the
recipient of a stimulus, and the nerve protoplasm alone
has to be considered directly, and when we speak of
irritability it is only of the nerve protoplasm.

The action of electricity is thus to stimulate, as any

theory ("Nature," Jany., 1872). He holds that muscular contraction,
whether in ordinary muscular contraction or in rigor mortis, is nothing
more than the result of the operation of the elasticity of the muscle
upon the discharge of the charge of static electricity which had pre-
viously kept up the state of relaxation. That the two opposite charges
are disposed Leyden-jarwise upon the two surfaces of the sheath, and
cause elongation of the fibre by compressing between them the elastic
sheath, and the contraction of the fibre follows the discharge of these
charges by the operation of the elasticity thvis brought into play.
This theory is so totally opposed to what is here held respecting the
nature of rigor mortis, and of the sarcolemma, and the fibre, &c., that
it is unnecessary to go into it at length. It has recently been found by
Dr. B. Sanderson that there is an electrical current from the proximal to
the distal end Lof the living leaf of the Dionaea muscipula. If a fly
creeps in to the sensitive hairs and causes the leaf to close on it, the
needle swings to the right, showing the negative variation. The author
adds, "But it is to be borne in mind, that although when the muscle
or leaf contracts, electro-motiYe force disappears and work is done, there
is no reason for supposing that there is any conversion of the one into
the other, or that the force exercised by the organ is electrical'
(" Nature," June 18, 1871).

11—2

164 ELECTIUCITY ONLY A STIMULUS ?

other stimulus, the nerve-protoplasm, and through ifc
effect muscular contraction. This it certainly does,
and it also produces all other effects which the mode-
rate and excessive action of stimuli do on living mat-
ter : it also produces a variety of electrical phenomena
which are not connected directly with life at all. But
I can find no experimental evidence, except that of
Wundt (see p. 1 39), which seems to show that electricity
(from without) can cause the muscular fibres to con-
tract independently of the nerves, and no quantitative
experiment at all showing that it can furnish, to any
measurable amount, the force for muscular work.
Under greater stimulus, we know, more work can be
done; but the relation between that increase is not
known, while the relation of the stimulus as a whole
to the action performed is infinitesimally small.

Dr. V. Poore, in the " Practitioner " for Jan., 1873,
has called attention to the power of the galvanic cur-
rent in refreshing the muscles and removing the sensa-
tion of fatigue, as had been noticed already by
Haidenhain and Cyon. Dr. Poore found that when a
man was made to hold out a weight at arm's length,
the feeling of fatigue which quickly supervened was
at once removed on passing a mild galvanic current
through the nerves of the arm, and that, whereas he
could only support the weight for six minutes when
no electricity was used, he was able to support it for
more than double the time when the muscles were
refreshed now and again with the galvanic current.
Further, on testing the strength of the muscular con-
tractions, it was found to be considerably greater
when the galvanic current was being used. But no

ELECTROTONUS. 165

experimental evidence is given as to whether any part
of the " mild galvanic current " accounted for the work
done, and its action was most likely that of an addi-
tional stimulus both to nerve action and the removal
of fatigue stuffs. Therefore, in the meantime, we may
take electricity into account solely in its capacity of a
stimulus.

When a galvanic stream is sent along a nerve the latter is
thrown into the state called " electrotonus," which, however, is
a merely physical state, and may be represented by any moist
cord except for the changes caused on the protoplasm of the
living nerve by the action as a stimulus. Thus, in the state of
electrotonus, if moderate, the irritability may be increased
just as under moderate heat, while by excessive electric action
it is paralyzed, or destroyed altogether. The most powerful
action as a stimulus is produced by changes of intensity of the
current. Besides these actions as a vital stimulus, it appears
that as a physical force an opposing current may neutralize and
stop the nerve current (which, whatever its nature, is also pro-
bably a physical force), but whether physically or as a paralyzing
agent seems not determined.* In addition to these there are
an immense number of facts known which have probably little

* From the recent experiments of Mr. Dew Smith, of Cambridge,
the influence would appear to be physical ("Journal of Anat. and
Phys.," Nov., 1873). Mr. S. stimulated the sciatic of a frog by elec-
tricity simultaneously at two points, one farther from the muscle than
the other. The force, he observes, of the muscular " contraction result-
ing is the same as when the near point only is stimulated: but when a
small interval of time is allowed to elapse between the two stimulations
the contraction increases, rising to a maximum as the interval is
lengthened, and afterwards dividing into two independent curves."
This is not merely a variation of the phenomena of summation of con-
tractions as observed by Helmholtz, for these apply to maximum shocks
only. The experimenter thinks it implies "a block of nervous im-
pulses," for a current proceeds in both directions from the two points
stimulated, and the two impulses moving in opposite directions mu-
tually antagonize each other. This, I think, points more to the neu-
tralization of movements of a physical force rather than to a paralytic
vital influence, and it may throw light on the nature of inhibitory
nerve action.

166 NERVE FORCE NOT ELECTRICITY.

bearing on the physiological question when we recollect the
infinite variety of merely physical phenomena which may be
displayed in such a medium as the animal body when subject
to electric currents, considering the many new facts discovered
in making telegraph cables even.

We come back to the question by what force, de-
veloped in nerve protoplasm and conducted by nerve
fibre, tlie whole of muscular work can be done as sup-
posed by Beale. If some of the foregoing facts favour
the idea that the force is electricity, yet we must re-
member that the nerves are not better conductors of
electricity than other tissues. " The moist tissues,
with the exception of the bones, are all equally good,
or, rather, equally bad conductors of electricity — about
three million times worse than quicksilver " (J. Ranke).
Besides, as before said, tbere is no demonstrable insu-
lation by the sbeatb of Schwann, so the nerves are not
fitted for simple conduction of electric currents; and
these have no reason to choose tbe nerves as their
channels, so they spread through the moist tissues
almost uniformly.* These facts form an insurmount-

* If the two electrodes of any current apparatus are laid on any
two given points of the human body, the electricity from, the positive
pole spreads through the body in all directions, to be gathered together
again at the negative pole. The whole body must be looked upon,
theoretically as filled with current curves. Hence it appears as if it
were impossible to submit any isolated spot to the electric influence.
In fact, strictly speaking, it is impossible, and the fact cannot be
sharply enough insisted upon." Practically, the electrization of iso-
lated parts is only effected in a very qualified degree by the greater
strength of the current at the spot over that which spreads by diffu-
sion (Fick, " Die Mediciriische Physik," p. 370). This, no doubt, be-
sides interfering with electro-therapeutics, vitiates many physiological
experiments. Dupuy found that in electrifying parts of the brain the
stimulus was widely diffused over the hemispheres, and the results did
not correspond with those of Dr. Ferrier (" Lancet," 24th January,
187J..

NERVE FORCE A SPECIFIC FORCE. 167

uble argument against Dr. Beale's hypothesis that
electricity is the nerve force, and exactly his theory of
muscular action adds insuperable force to the argu-
ment against the electric theory, for, although it might
not have mattered so much sending the force of a
mere stimulus, of which so small a quantity is needed,
through a bad conductor, how can we reconcile it with
the economy of nature, that a force which is to do the
whole work of the muscles should be sent through a
conductor which offers three million times the resist-
ance of mercury, and still more than that of silver or
copper ? "We are, I think, compelled to conclude that
the force must be a distinct force, not like heat, light,
or sound, but a current force, analogous to electricity,
galvanism, and magnetism, but distinct from these.
Perhaps this is what Dr. Beale means, and indeed
physicists generally describe these all as modifications
of electricity. Nevertheless, Professor Challis regards
these forces as essentially distinct. He says :

" It is, I think, to be regretted that experimentalists use the
word ' electricity ' with so great a latitude as to its application.
The practice seems to have arisen from speculatively inferring
the identity of different physical forces from phenomena which
they have in common, and not giving sufficient consideration
to other circumstances by which they are distinguished." He
has " uniformly regarded ' electricity ' as an effect produced by
friction or other means exclusively at the surfaces of sub-
.stances," and he considers it quite distinct from galvanism.
He adds, " I have with satisfaction noticed that the Astronomer
Royal employs in the Greenwich observations the terms * gal-
vanism ' and 'galvanic signals ;' but electric telegraph is, I fear,
too established by common usage to be unsettled," p. 99. He
looks upon the galvanic current as very different from the
electric, but nearly resembling the magnetic, into which it is

168 TV1USCLE WORK DONE BY INDUCED ACTION.

easily converted. He rejects the term electro-magnetic, and
would substitute ' galvano-magnetic." The currents which act
upon the galvanometer are produced in three ways, viz., by-
chemical action, by magnetic current, and by heat. These he
would designate chemico-galvanic, magneto-galvanic, and
thermo-galvanic (" Mathematical Principles of Physics," 1873).

Therefore, I think it would be better to speak of the
influence in question as nerve force, or vis nervosa, or
neuric force, and adopt the terms neurolysis and neuric
induction to express the functions corresponding to elec-
trolysis and electric induction, if such exist. I do not
think psychic force is a happy term, for that implies*
something mental, while mental action only expresses
itself through this very nerve force, which can exist
quite well without mind.

Now, if we admit the theory of Beale, that the-
muscular fibre is passive, and the whole work of ani-
mals is done by a current force analogous to electricity
acting through that passive fibre, we come to a some-
what remarkable conclusion. When we consider the
kiiown modes in which work is done by the forces
generally called electric, we perceive that all mechani-
cal work is done by induced action. The telegraph,
and all electro-motive machines, are so worked. While
no direct work is done by galvanism, except chemical
decomposition. Supposing the nerve force to be
similar, this would be represented in the living body
by the statement : All action of the nerve force as a
stimulus within the nerve circuits, corresponding to
electrolysis, or neurolysis, as it might be called, in-
volves a vital change, while all 'mechanical work of
the nerve force is by induction of a merely physical

STIMULATION AND WOKK. 169'

change on the muscle fibres. This harmonizes mar-
vellously with Beale's theory of muscular action,
whereby fine nerves in closed circuits charged with
neuric force cross the fibres in contact with them but
outside the sarcolemma, instead of plunging into
living actively contractile matter and ending there as
Kiihne and the majority maintain.

But with respect to the action of the vis nervosa as
a stimulus, according to Beale, we must admit two dis-
tinct modes, viz. ; 1st, that of the afferent and efferent
nerves in which a continuous closed circuit between*
the peripheral and the central protoplasm is formed,
and the nerve cords act by contact with the living^
matter : in fact in what would correspond to electro-
lysis in chemical action, or neurolysis as we may say ;
and 2nd, by some induced or derived influence if a
stimulus is directly given to any other living matter
outside of the closed nerve circuit. This last mode also
seems to be now admitted by Dr. Beale.* We have
thus not the same simplicity as in the more common

* In Dr. Beale's memoir on the relation of nerves and pigment, and
other cells [" M. Microsc. J." 3Teb. 1872], he re-asserts that whatever
be the nature of the influence produced by the nerves upon the struc-
ture and the action of various tissues and organs, it is not dependent
on continuity of substance between the nerve and the tissue aflected.
But he adds now that when contraction of bioplasm follows upon irrita-
tion of nerve fibres the result is due to a change in the nerve which
runs near to it, and not to an influence propagated to the bioplasm
from the nerve by reason of continuity of material. Though he here
denies that the nerve fibres are continuous with the connective tissue
corpuscles of the cornea, and with the pigment cells of fishes as main-
tained respectively by Kiihne and Pouchet, yet this is an admission of
the vital action of nerve force on protoplasm as a stimulus and is an
abandonment of his previous position, and allows the whole doctrine-
of trophic and secreting nerve influence. For be it observed, it is hera
a vital act under nerve stimulation that is in question — not the physi-
cal contraction of a muscular fibre which is always pronounced to be-
dead.

170 NATURE OF THE CLOSED NERVE CIRCUITS.

theory that all nerves pass from living nerve centres
as single cords, and terminate or begin in contact with
living matter, whether glandular or tissue, including
muscular and sense organs. There is, however, also a
• simplicity in Beale's view, if we represent it thus :
Nerve cords are never in continuous contact with any-
thing except nerve protoplasm, central or peripheral,
and all the work done by the nerve force out of the
circuit of the nervous system, is inductive, although
that may be employed in two ways, viz., as a physical
action in shortening the muscle fibre, or as a stimulus
to the living matter of tissues and organs. But the
question is not one of simplicity or symmetry, but one
of truth and fact. And if Beale's mode is not incom-
patible with trophic and secreting nerve influences, we
must recollect that Pfliiger's mode is not the only
possible mode of communicating nerve influences, so
neither can be decided upon by a priori reasoning,
but solely by experiment and observation. The ques-
tion, as an anatomical one, cannot be said yet to be
settled, although I think Dr. Beale has, as yet, success-
fully met all the objections to his scheme of nerve
distribution.*

* In spite of Dr. Beale's writings and preparations the termination of
nerves in single cords is still generally held by anatomists. One of
the latest writers, Dr. Thin (" Journal of Anat. and Physiol.," Nov.,
1873), describes the tactile corpuscles as representing the termination,
each of a single medullated nerve fibre. And, as before said, the ter-
mination of single nerve cords in glandular, muscular, and other pro-
toplasm is still the prevailing anatomical doctrine. Without question-
ing the accuracy of Dr. Beale's anatomy, that in all cases more than
one fibre will be found connected with every nerve bioplast, and that
loops are the only mode of distributing nerve force to other parts than
the nerve bioplasts, central or peripheral, which are in continuous con-
tact with the fibre, yet I think he is hardly explicit enough in his
theoretical view of the function of the second cord, for he does not

CONCLUSION ON BEALE'S MUSCLE THEORY. 171

In conclusion, I have gone into this lengthened com-
mentary on the nerve and muscle theory from respect
to the high authority from which it comes, and its
intrinsic merits, and as it is held to be a test of the
theory of the sole vitality of the protoplasm. For it
is the most vulnerable point of Dr. Beale's views, and
far from being yet sufficiently proved. But if ulti-
mately disproved, I do not think the protoplasmic
theory would thereby be affected, for vitality would
not necessarily be attributed to anything rigid and
possessing structure, but only to the isotropous semi-
fluid contents of the muscular fibre sheath ; we would
simply have to accept the muscular fibre as containing
protoplasm, and the contraction to be a vital act just
as secretion is. In other respects the protoplasmic
theory would remain the same. The common theory
has at first sight nearly everything in its favour, for
all protoplasm is contractile, and gathers itself into a
ball under stimuli ; the muscular fibre also contains
what to the microscope appears to be protoplasm, and is
said even to take the carmine (see p. 132). And it is

state whether it is a return cord essential to complete the circuit, or
whether it or -they, if more, are commissural or afferent to different
nerve centres. The whole subject of electro-dynamic actions of cur-
rents not closed, but with ends as in the Leyden-jar, is not yet worked
out by the mathematical physicists to the degree of accuracy that has
been attained with respect to the closed galvanic circuits, so perhaps
we can hardly expect any decisive theory of nerve action as yet. Bufc
Dr. Beale appeals to the action of the electrical eel, the force of which
is certainly electricity, as an example of the mode of transmission of
nerve force. It is not very clear how the shock of this animal is
transmitted, but it does not appear that a circuit is formed through
the animal of which the recipient forms part. Again, in the muscular
nerve circuits he does not state where the return cord of the nerve
loop is inserted ; whether all return to the spinal cord, or whether some
return to protoplasm masses within the muscle itself.

172 CONCLUSION ON

only after many considerations, such as are given
above, that the strength of these arguments is
weakened, and the power of a substance so constituted
physically to exert such force is discredited.* On the
other hand, examples are wanting of a dead substance-
physically so constituted as the muscular fibre, con-
tracting so powerfully under any known force. The
analogy of the galvano-magnetic machine is only a
very remote one, for the soft iron is from its nature
already capable of becoming a magnet in other ways.
In short, we are wholly ignorant of the intimate me-
chanism of the act of contraction, and cannot tell from
that whether it be a vital or a physical act ; for the

* As before said, tlie question of tlie dependence of muscular con-
traction on vital protoplasmic movements of the fibre itself, must be
looked on rather as one not yet raised than as settled, and most physi-
ologists seem to take it for granted. For instance, Dr. B. Sanderson at
once concludes that the contraction of the leaf of the Dionsea muscipula
is of the same nature as that of the muscles of vertebrates. He says
also, that in muscular contraction an exactly similar change of shape-
in every particle of the muscle takes place ; for " a muscle is not an
apparatus made up of parts differing from each other in structure, but
a mass of substance equally instinct with life in every part." Also, that
in the plant the agent of contraction is the protoplasm of the cells of
the contractile organs, which, under stimuli, undergoes a most peculiar
change of form and arrangement. With all respect due to so high an
authority, I cannot accept the inference that because the contraction of
the plant leaf depends on changes, apparently in the contents of the
cells, the muscular contraction of the higher animals is of the same
nature. By a parity of reasoning we should be compelled to conclude
that the functions of respiration and digestion are not performed by
the special apparatus provided for them in the higher animals, because
these functions can be performed, in a kind of a way, by formless masses
of sarcode. The causes of the movements and the locomotion of the
Diatoms, Desmids, Bacteria, and flagelate Infusoria, and also the ciliary
motions, are as yet unknown, though it may be allowed they are in
some way dependent on the existence of protoplasm. And although a
mechanism through which it can work in these organisms is not yet
distinctly known, that forms no reason why a physical mechanism
should not exist in the muscular fibre, nor that the latter should be
*' instinct with life in every pai-t."

BEALE'S MUSCLE THEORY. 173

determination of that we are thrown back upon other
reasons such as have been here detailed, and which
show a preponderance in favour of the physical view,
although we must be prepared for a possible reversal
of this judgment in the progress of knowledge.

CHAPTER IX.

ON THE NATUEE OF LIFE.

WE must now turn again to Fletcher, to see the proto-
plasmic theory of life in its purest form, for Beale, un-
fortunately, has obscured the question by the revival
of the vital principle as the efficient cause of the pe-
culiar attributes of the protoplasm. I think, however,
it can be shown that only a very narrow line divides
the opinion of the two authors, and that in fact, prac-
tically, the theories of both are identical, as the sup-
posed vital principle explains nothing, and is therefore
superfluous. At the same time, I think it is hardly
worth while taking into account the views of other
persons than these two authors on this question, be-
cause unless the generic unity of the protoplasm be
admitted the whole theory is untenable, and as yet
none but those two have adopted it in its full extent.
Fletcher, we remember, holds vitality to be synonymous
with irritability, or the faculty of undergoing upon
the application of a stimulus, any change not strictly
chemical or mechanical. This property resides in a
substance called by him "irritable," or "living"
matter, which undergoes corresponding changes with
every manifestation of "life" or '''irritation," for "the

AUTHOR'S DEFINITION OF LIFE. 175

degree of irritability in any part is necessarily in the
direct ratio of the quantity and quality of the irritable
matter which it contains." Further, that this matter
is " continually renewed and consumed by molecular
processes " in all vital acts. And again, that this
matter is in a state of combination so peculiar as to be
absolutely sui generis, and on which none of the
ordinary chemical agents and forces can act at all in
the way they do on non-living matter ; nor can they
cause ordinary matter to pass into this peculiar state.
That can only be done by pre-existing living matter,
and moreover, this matter cannot pass back to the
state of ordinary chemical combination, except by a
process of its own peculiar nature, i.e., its death as
well as its birth is a specially vital process (iii. 144).
Life is, therefore, not an entity, nor a force, but an
action — and moreover, that action alone which is in-
volved in the consumption and regeneration, from
pabulum, of a material compound entirely sui generis
called irritable matter or protoplasm, under certain-
conditions and stimuli. Just as combustion is not the
materials for it, nor the product, nor the active force
evolved, but simply the act of chemical union; nor
does any supposed fire substance or element take part
in the process. Just as little does any life substance =
or principle, material or immaterial, take part in vital
processes. Our object is to reduce the idea of life to
its simplest form in order to distinguish between the
processes which are vital proper and those which are-
chemical and physical, all of which are engaged, more
or less, in making up the functions of even the simplest
order of individuality of living beings. The above

176 DEFINITION OF LIFE BY DE BLAINVILLE.

•definition approaches most nearly that of De Blain-
ville, viz. : " Life is the twofold internal movement of
composition and recomposition, at once general and
-continuous." While it is exempt from Mr. Herbert
Spencer's objection that " it equally well describes the
-actions going on in a galvanic battery." From want
of limitation to changes in one specially constituted
-substance, such as the protoplasm, I must object also
to the definition of Mr. Spencer himself, viz. : " The
definite combination of heterogeneous changes, both
simultaneous and successive, in correspondence with
-external co-existences and sequences." Here is recog-
nized, after John Brown and Fletcher, the fact that
certain actions in correspondence with external agencies
constitute life ; but in the illustrations which follow,
Mr. Spencer does not really distinguish between the
-chemical and the vital parts of the functions which
are performed by living beings, although, as we shall
see, he follows Fletcher in perceiving that they must
contain a substance totally different from the chemical
compounds known in the laboratory. With Fletcher,
^as with Beale, all structure is dead — the true living
matter being always structureless — and inasmuch as
structure is necessary to function, he distinguishes
between that and action, defining a function as the
action " of an apparatus destined to some specific
purpose in the general economy of an organized being."
Hence as all living beings perform certain functions
l>y means of some non-living structure, however rudi-
mentary, all definitions of life by the non- vital prin-
ciplists which describe it in varied language as the
sum of the functions, define really the life of individual

FLETCHER AND LEWES. 177

living beings, and not life in the abstract. This
applies, for example, to the otherwise excellent defi-
nition of G. H. Lewes. " Life is a series of definite
and successive changes, both of structure and compo-
sition, which take place within an individual without
destroying its identity."* Even Fletcher's definition
applies to individuals when he uses the term " organ-
ism" for the organized being as a whole; but not
when he defines life as " the sum of the actions of
organized beings resulting directly from their vitality
so acted on " [by pabulum, conditions, and stimuli].
Observe here the word directly, for it is only thus that
we can define life in the abstract, and separate what
is vital from non- vital in functions to which both kinds
of action contribute.^ Fletcher uses the term organ-

*In his last work, "Problems of Life and Mind/' published in 1874,
since he has apparently become acquainted with Fletcher and Beale,
although he does not mention them, he says : " The movements of the
bioplasm constitute vitality" (p. 118). In spite of the remarkable
clearness of thought and accuracy of expression in general of this
author, I must point out that this mode of speaking is not in agreement
with the definition of terms given by Fletcher at part ii. p. 5. The
term vitality can only be applied to the property or capacity of under-
going certain changes. What is meant is life, but it would not be
correct to speak of that as movement. The vitality of the bioplasm is
a certain state of composition which renders it capable of undergoing
certain changes of composition which constitute life. No doubt move-
ments are essential to those changes, but they do not constitute life.

t For example, in a vertebrate animal, with circulating and digestive
organs, the resistance and support of the skeleton, and the tenacity
and elasticity of the blood-vessels, are physical attributes, but the for-
mation and maintenance of these and all other tissues are vital. The
first stages of the digestion of food are mere chemical action, but the
absorption by the villi and conversion of it into blood, are vital. The
perception of stimuli is vital, but their transmission through the nerves
is physical. And so on through all functions. There is probably, or
rather certainly, no individual, however low in the scale, which has not
something physical and chemical in tbe " sum of its functions," besides
the distinctively vita1.

12

178 ORGANIZATION AND LIFE.

ism also for that arrangement of matter into the
peculiar state explained in protoplasm, and with him
the word " organization " means the process by which
a being possessed of organs is formed — not the result of
the process. With this distinction between action and
function, and organism and organization, we escape the
confusion into which Mr. Spencer frequently falls, as
well as Professor Huxley when he speaks of the rhizo-
poda exhibiting " life without organization " — this
last word meaning no doubt structure palpable to our
senses. The truth is the so-called evolutionists like H.
Spencer and Hackel are perpetually hampered in their
definition of life by their desire to explain away the
unfathomable gulf fixed between vital and all chemical
actions, and thus to leave open a way for the origin of
life from natural chemical processes, while Fletcher —
a vitalist although not a vital principlist — as well as
Beale and all the vital principlists are content to leave
it unexplained. Beale's objections'* to the definition
of life as the sum of the action of living beings do not
apply to Fletcher, who had already limited life to the
action of the protoplasm alone.

The question now presses whether our previous
knowledge of the chemical properties of matter gives
us reason to suppose it possible that such remarkable
powers as those of life can be the attribute of any mere
combination of matter. In addition to what has been
.said on this point by Mr. H. Spencer and Dr. Bastian,
I have brought together -f the chief facts in evidence
of thejufluence of not only chemical combination, but

, * "Protoplasm," 3rd edit. p. 74.
t For part iii. of " Life and the Equivalence of Force."

OX THE NATURE OF LIFE. 179

mere complexity of atomic grouping in developing new
and unexpected properties in compounds. This evi-
dence is too voluminous to be given here, I will there-
fore only give a summary of the conclusions. The
elements themselves are in all probability not simple
bodies, their specific properties being given by the
-combination of atoms of still simpler bodies; these
elements may exist in several different or allotropic
states, displaying different properties owing to the
mere grouping of their particles. When we come to
bodies composed of several elements we have an almost
infinite variety, increasing as might be expected with
the number of separate constituents ; but not only
that, we have an additional element of variety in the
mere complexity of grouping of the atoms of the same
elements going to make up the molecule of the com-
pound— as evidenced by the series of isomeric, poly-
meric, metameric, and homologous bodies. As an
example, it is noticed that in twenty-seven volatile
oils, including those of chamomile, hops, turpentine,
clove, lemon, and valerian, the carbon and hydrogen
are united in the same proportion, viz., ten to sixteen
atoms. Another evidence is the remarkable physical
properties of matter in the colloid state, which is
attributed to the number and complexity of grouping
of the atoms in the molecules. From these and similar
considerations we are entitled to conclude that mere
chemical combinations and reactions are sufficient to
explain (when once formed) the properties of the
infinite variety of tissues and fluids which make up
the dead framework and secretions of organized bodies
and even to account for some of the processes which go

12 2

180 THE VITAL QUITE DISTINCT FKOM THE CHEMICAL.

to make up their functions during life ; and moreover
that there is a strong probability that by still further
complexity of composition and grouping matter may be
capable of existing in the form of a substance possess-
ing the properties of truly living matter. But that is-
the utmost we can say. I have reviewed the argu-
ments of H. Spencer, Hackel, Bastian, and others, who
bring forward as efficient causes of vital action, the in-
stability and proneness to decomposition of the large
moleculed organic colloids (Spencer) ; the faculty of
imbibition (Hackel) ; the processes of catalysis and
fermentation, and the fact that a number of chemical
compounds usually formed by living bodies can also
be made from organic elements in the laboratory.
From these facts the conclusion is drawn by the school
to which the above writers belong, that there is an
unbroken chain of more and more complicated, merely
chemical actions from the simplest reaction up to the
complicated process of germ development. In opposi-
tion to this, reasons are given showing that the insta-
bility of the colloids has no counterpart in the living
matter which has the power of self-renewal and main-
taining its existence for years, and that, in fact, in this
respect the living matter displays the strongest con-
trast rather than resemblance to the chemical colloids,
for, as held by Fletcher, followed by Beale, the passage
back to the chemical state or death of the living
matter is a positive act belonging still to the vital
series instead of mere negative chemical instability.
That the faculty of imbibition no doubt is possessed
as a physical attribute by the protoplasm as well as
dead colloids, but that explains nothing of its peculiar

ON THE NATURE OF LIFE. 181

power of growth aiid self-renewal from heterogeneous
matter ; that the process of catalysis does not really
resemble vital action at all, inasmuch as, in it, definite
forces tending to double decomposition are always pre-
sent, and besides the catalytic agent never renews
itself; that although chemical fermentations may make
two and even three different products [e.g., amygdalin
with emulsin and water forms bitter almond oil,
prussic acid and glucose] without consumption of
the ferment, and some of these of higher molecular
complexity ; yet these ferments do not grow like the
organic ferments such as yeast and the putrefactive in-
fusoria, and to argue from one to the other is simply
to beg the question by the poor verbal fallacy of call-
ing two different things by the same name.

Finally, the extraordinary difference in the tempera-
ture and whole process of formation of organic com-
pounds in the living organism, and in the laboratory,
give the strongest proof that some totally different
agency is at work instead of showing any analogy.
In addition to these the individual proximate prin-
ciples of organic bodies * are shown to be destitute of
the properties of living matter. The conclusion is that
it is impossible to uphold the material theory of life
unless we admit a profound and ineradicable distinction
between the merely chemical and physical functions
performed by living beings and those which are vital,
and that the latter must reside in a substance, although
chemical, no doubt, in a wide sense — still so absolutely
different from matter in its ordinary state that it should
be put into a category by itself. Not to multiply

* Op. cit., §§ 68 to 75.

182 METABOLIC FOR VITO- CHEMICAL.

words I have suggested that this peculiar state of
combination should "be designated by Schwann's word,
'metabolic, which should be restricted to what pertains
to it, and we may then speak of the metabolic state of
matter, metabolic action/ metabolic affinity, &c., in-
stead of the ambiguous corresponding term vito-
chemical.

Fletcher's hypothesis of the peculiar, vital, or meta-
bolic state of matter for long met with little attention,
being probably confounded with the speculations of
Oken respecting the primordial slime (Urschleim), from*
which all living things were supposed to have arisen*
spontaneously, and gradually developed into the-
species — a speculation now brought into vogue again
by H. Spencer and Hackel. Nevertheless, when other
minds began to think in the same track, they could
not fail to hit upon similar ideas, and accordingly we
find Mr. Herbert Spencer, in his " Biology," published
in 1864, puts forward a very similar idea in what he
calls " Physiological Units." In the elaboration of
this theory he follows, step by step, the same train
of thought as Fletcher, arguing that the proximate
chemical principles, or chemical units, "albumen,
fibrin, gelatine, or the hypothetical protein substance,"1
cannot possess the property of forming the endlessly
varied structures of animal forms. Nor can any such
power be given to the cell as a morphological unit,
even if it had a right to that title. Therefore, he con-
cludes, " There seems no alternative but to suppose
that the chemical units combine into units immensely
more complex than themselves — complex as they are ;
and that in each organism the physiological units pro-

ON THE NATUKE OF LIFE. 183

duced by this further compounding of highly com-
pound atoms have a more or less distinctive character.
We must conclude that in each case some slight differ-
ence of composition in these units, leading to some
slight difference in their natural play of forces, pro-
duces a difference in the form which the aggregate of
them assumes " (i. p. 182). We have here an indica-
tion of the great influence that may be exerted on the
ultimate varieties of power of the different kinds of
protoplasm by slight changes of composition of the
molecules. In the further development of the subject
he uses these physiological units chiefly to explain the
plastic faculty of living beings, viz., the innate ten-
dency of the living particles to arrange themselves
into the shape of the organism to which they belong,
"just as in the atoms of a salt there dwells the in-
trinsic aptitude to crystallize in a particular way."
This, for want of a better term, he proposes should be
called organic polarity. By these same units he ex-
plains also heredity and variation. " Sperm cells and
germ cells are essentially nothing more than the
vehicles in which are contained small groups of the
physiological units in a fit state for obeying their pro-
clivity towards the structural arrangement of the
species they belong to " (254). " The likeness to either
parent is conveyed by the special tendencies of the
physiological units derived from that parent." I do
not suppose these statements are put forth as explana-
tions, but their value lies in the admission that these
truly vital actions must belong to a substance pos-
sessed by living beings and vastly different from the
chemical proximate principles. Mr. Spencer, I per-

184 SPENCER'S PHYSIOLOGICAL UNITS.

ceive with regret, does not mention Fletcher. Per-
haps, as he is not a professed physiologist, he may not
have heard of him, but what are we to say to the fact
that he does not mention Beale, whose lectures had
appeared four years before ? It would have been
better if he had studied both these authors, for his
theory is at present most imperfect, and will bear no
comparison with the complete protoplasmic theory of
Fletcher and Beale. Indeed, it has the appearance of
an afterthought, when, on reflection, he perceives that
colloidality, instability, osmosis, arid other chemical
and physical properties to which he attributes a large
portion of the functions of living beings, hastily named
by him vital, are wholly unable to throw any light on
the really and distinctively vital actions. The imper-
fection of the theory is shown on attempting to adapt
it to the phenomena of life on frequent occasions. For
instance, in attempting to explain evolution, he says
(vol. ii. p. 11) : " Such being the primitive physio-
logical units, organic evolution must begin with the
formation of a minute aggregate of them — an aggre-
gate showing vitality only by a higher degree of that
readiness to change its form of aggregation which col-
loidal matter in general displays, and by its ability to
unite the nitrogenous molecules it meets with into
complex molecules like those of which it is composed."
Now, granting that we have got our complex units,
see here how the grand characteristic of living matter
is slipped in as a thing of little consequence, and quite
on a par with the colloidal instability supposed to be-
long to living matter, but does not. This faculty of
combining heterogeneous compounds into matter like

ON THE NATURE OF LTFE. 185

itself — growth, in fact — is the very thing possessed by
no other substance in the world, and which is possessed
by all living matter. He has thus here in words
leaped across the unfathomable gulf that separates
living from dead matter without recognizing it ; and
until the difficulty is fairly met, and all vital action
referred to some peculiar complex substance in a state
of generic unity though capable of infinite specific
variety, while all structure and physical and chemical
action belong to matter in its ordinary state, the ma-
terialist theory of life will be untenable. In short,
the physiological units must be all in all for life, or
the supposition of them is of no use at all. By other
physiologists the existence of different and more com-
plex compounds than the proximate principles are
spoken of, but in a vague manner; by Hackel and
Huxley, as we shall see in a subsequent chapter, but
not with the distinct line of demarcation above given.
Among others, Ranke says, " The chief constituents of
the protoplasm seem to be albuminates in a state of
imbibition with water, or still more highly composite
•stuffs, which, like haemoglobin and vitellin, give rise to
-albuminates on their decomposition " (p. 80).

It may be interesting to say a few words on the
possible physical state of the living matter. The fore-
going considerations of the development of properties
by complexity of constitution have been summed up
by Dr. H. Madden, in his brilliant essay, " On the
Relation of Therapeutics to Modern Medicine," 1871.
Dr. Madden adopts my suggestion of restricting
Schwann's word metabolic to designating the atomic
constitution of the living matter, and my conclusions

186 MADDEN'S COMPLEXITY SEEIES.

respecting the nature of force and the distinction be-
tween force and property, which reconcile Fletcher's
hypothesis with the modern doctrine of force and
bring it into harmony with Beale's discovery of the
unity of the protoplasm. He then goes on to say,
" We have now, therefore, reached the confines of
physiology, and we have seen four classes of com-
plexity, each of which contains many degrees, viz.,
1st. Atomic complexity, varying in accordance with
the atomic weight of the element ; 2nd. Chemical com-
plexity, varying according to the number of elements
and the number of atoms of each which go to form
each chemical combination; 3rd. Colloid complexity ;
4th. Metabolic complexity. We have likewise seen
that this last and most complex molecular arrange-
ment of all must be reached ere the phenomena of life
can be manifested." While agreeing with this scale
of complexity as a matter of fact, I would state it dif-
ferently, in order to retain the simplicity of the sharp
antithesis between chemical on the one hand and
metabolic on the other. So, putting aside for the
present the compound nature of the elements, and as
there is no question but that the colloids are simply
chemical compounds, we have the reactions of the ele-
ments up to the degree of colloids and all organic
proximate principles, called chemical, while those
higher reactions characterized by life are called meta-
bolic. When we call to mind the hypothesis of
Samuel Brown, that the elements themselves may
owe their distinctive properties to the mere number
and grouping of certain ultimate atoms of one kind-^
a hypothesis now almost proved true by the more

ON THE NATURE OF LIFE. 1ST

recent discovery of spectrum analysis* — this lends
additional probability to the development of a state of

* The bearing of the spectrum analysis on this question is the sub-
ject of several admirable mathematical papers by Mr. Ponton, in the
" Quarterly Journal of Science," 1871, Irom which the following
points are extracted. If the elements had been simple, homogeneous
masses, of definite size and weight, each element in the state of incan-
descent vapour would have exhibited in the spectrum one single bright
line ; but this is, we know, not the case, and even hydrogen, the lowest
in the scale of chemical equivalents, shows four bright spectral lines,,
while iron presents a large number. Hence the great probability is,,
that " each ultimate particle of the element consists of numerous more
minute atoms, differing in their inertia, and held together by a force
too great to be overcome by any chemical means which can be brought
to bear upon them." The smallest particles of the chemical so-cailecL
elements he proposes to call "ultimates," and the word atom is re-
served for the still smaller constituents of these. Thus " molecules '*"
will denote the particles of chemical compounds, and ultimates and
atoms as above. The atoms constituting the chemical ultimates, while
very close to each other within the limits of the ultimate, cannot be in
absolute contact, otherwise they would be incapable of separate in-
dividual vibration. And the circumstance that the ultimates absorb
definite lines in diverse and distinct parts of the spectrum shows that
the motion must be taken up by different atoms, having, in virtue of
their intrinsic inertia, a tendency to vibrate at those difierent definite
rates. From the calculations given, he concludes that the ultimate of
hydrogen is made up of a great number of atoms of lour diverse sorts,,
the number of atoms of those sorts being different. A similar com-
plex constitution obtains with all the other elements to a greater ex-
tent than with hydrogen, and it is concluded that several ot the atoms
are common to the uJtimates of several different elements. Thus the
species of atom which in the ultimate of hydrogen produces the line.
0, occurs also in the ultimates of six metals : several atoms are com-
mon to iron and titanium, to iron and calcium, to iron and nickel, &c_
Ko force is known on our planet, or even in our sun, which can tear
asunder the constituent atoms of the ultimates, but it is thought that
in the more intense heat of Siriu?, which is said to be a younger star
than our sun, the atoms are dissociated, and the elements are thus not.
yet formed.

All this is substantially confirmatory of the views of Samuel Brown
on the nature of the so-called elements, as laid down in his lectures on,
the Atomic Theory in 1843. His position was that the so-called atoms
of the elements [ultimates of Ponton] are "made up of homceomeric
parts, not essentially indivisible, but indivisible by such forces as are
competent to the division of their aggregates." And again, " Atoms,
are defined as indivisible by such forces as divide their aggregates or
the forms produced by their concourse." Almost the same statement
on the divisibility of matter and definition of a molecule are given by

188 THE METABOLIC STATE.

matter such as the metabolic by complexity of com-
bination and grouping.

The supposition of three distinct states of combina-
tion of matter, all comprised in the term chemical in
its wide sense, but which we have no power of inter-
changing at will in the laboratory, is not unphilo-
sophical. -Almost all systematic treatises on chemistry
describe the elements as bodies which have not yet
been decompounded, though not necessarily undecom-
poundable ; while no one asserts the practicability of
their transmutation. On the contrary, the whole
fabric of modern chemistry rests on the certainty that
you will get back, weight for weight, every particle of
those elements on analysis : and never that you may
get weight for weight of the atoms of one element
combined into another or split into several other ele-

Prof. Clerk- Maxwell, in his text-book on "Heat," in 1872. Means
!being thus wanting to decompose the elements, S. Brown believed,
however, that he had demonstrated their compound nature by syn-
thesis, and that he had formed silicon by uniting four atoms of carbon.
These experiments have not succeeded in the hands of any other chemist
as yet, and therefore we must suppose there must have been some un-
detected source of fallacy, either in his experiments or the repetition
of them.

We have seen that Fletcher held the living matter to be in a quite
different state from ordinary chemical combination, and possessing
powers of analysis and synthesis of which the experience of the labora-
tory can give us no idea. And from the difficulty still existing of
accounting for the origin of some elements in certain plants, he was
inclined to the belief that the elements themselves were decomposed,
and re-combined in the living matter. Samuel Brown, in accordance
with his theory of the compound nature of the elements, agrees to the
probability of the supposition, and says, " Indeed, the carbon, oxygen,
hydrogen, and nitrogen which have been extracted from organic bodies
may often be mere products of transformation" (76). Arid he sug-
gests that the silica found in the larger reeds, as the bamboo, grown,
in soil without an apparently adequate supply of that earth, to the
puzzlement of botanists, may be formed from carbon by the living
plant. It is proper, however, to say that an absolute deficiency of
-sufficient silica in the soil has not been demonstrated.

ON THE NATURE OF LIFE.

ments. And yet strong reasons are not wanting for
the belief that these elements are made up of certain-
ultimate component atoms, held together by a strength
we cannot yet overcome. In contradistinction to
those simplest compounds, over which chemistry has
no power of analysis, it is not unreasonable we should
suppose compounds of the opposite extreme of com-
plexity, over which we have no power of synthesis
and no power at all chemically except for destruction.
The range of what may be properly called chemical
action must be held to extend from the elements up
to the protoplasm (not inclusive), thus comprising
what is now called organic as well as inorganic che-
mistry, while it has no place in the vital, or metabolic,
or protoplasmic state. The molecular actions of the
protoplasm constitute, in fact, physiology.

To all arguments against the vital or metabolic state
being a mere material combination, without any new
vital power or principle added to it, on the ground
that we cannot set it together by any chemical pro-
cess, we point to another truly material combination,
viz., the elements, which we have just as little power ta
unmake. Besides there are many chemical compounds-,,
such as the diamond, and other precious stones, and,,
as yet the vast majority of organic chemical com-
pounds, which we can destroy but cannot yet con-
struct, although nobody thinks of attributing their
properties to any spiritual principle. But between
the chemical and the metabolic states we are justified
in believing there is a greater gulf fixed than between
transmutation of the elements on the one hand, and
ordinary chemical reactions on the other.

190 MADDEX'S ILLUSTRATION.

With respect to the nature of the metabolic state
little can be said. Fletcher speaks of it as " an ever-
varying form of existence,"* and Dr. Madden illustrates
this by analogy with well-known facts in chemistry.
The ordinary chemical affinities are suspended, he
•says, because of the perpetual change going on.

" Most chemical combinations require time, and the rate at
which the constituents are brought together, and the duration
-of their contact, will materially influence the result ; so much
so, indeed, that advantage is taken of this fact in the arts to
accomplish purposes which would otherwise be unattainable.
For example, before calico can be printed, every loose particle
of cotton must be removed from the surface, in order that the
coloured inks may not run, and damage the clear outline of the
pattern. This removal is effected by passing the calico over,
and in contact with, a red-hot iron cylinder, and by regulating
the rapidity with which the cylinder revolves and the calico
passes over it, the intense heat burns off the loose fibres and
yet does no injury to the woven cloth. In other words, the
changes in the relation of the high temperature and the cotton
are too rapid to admit of the fibre combining with the oxygen.
Let the rate of revolution be reduced but a very little and the
calico would burst into flames. Again, it has been found that
certain fulminates can be detonated in contact with gun-cotton
without causing the latter to explode ; and experts account for
this on the ground of the extreme rapidity with which these
fulminates expand, too rapid, indeed, to enable the pyroxyline
to initiate its new mode of motion, and hence it remains un-
changed. Precisely the same kind of thing occurs in the
•metabolic state of matter. It can only last so long as rapid
.and incessant changes are going on, for which purpose it must

* And again, "The really organic elements or molecules are pro-
bably, under ordinary circumstances — that is to say, while the organized
being not only possesses the aptitude for life, but manifests life itself —
never for one instant the same, and are certainly such as to have en-
tirely eluded hitherto all our attempts to overtake them." — Fletcher's
" Physiology," p. 133. ^

ON THE NATURE OF LIFE. 191

always be in contact with pabulum ; and if the rate of these
changes is reduced beyond a certain point, the chemical affin-
ities of the materials will at once assert themselves, and the
whole will break down into more or less stable chemical com-
binations " (p. 5).

This may be: but we must remember that the
living matter has also long intervals of a resting stage,
or even a state of suspended animation. In seeds,
also, and germs, life seems dormant for long periods,
and all change is reduced to a minimum. What that
minimum may be we know not, for the rest is never
absolute, and Dr. Beale remarks that some change,
however slow, must be going on as long as life lasts.
I do not attach much weight to any speculative
opinions on these points.

With respect to the physical condition of the living
matter, the molecules themselves must be constituted
by atomic combination into the vital or metabolic
state, but no part or organ, or probably even single
plastid, is composed of molecules of only one kind, as
is the case with crystals. Hence the different mole-
cules which make up every mass having its specific
vital attributes, must be connected by cohesive force,
although slight ; and it is a fundamental fact that life
does not exist in matter in the gaseous or liquid, but
exclusively in the solid state. The apparent exception,
of the blood, lymph, and other fluids is easily explained
by the presence of floating masses of living solids in
them. But this solid state is very peculiar and one
that admits of the interpenetration of a large quantity
of water, without dissociation of the molecules into
that free and mobile state which constitutes liquidity.

192 PHYSICAL STATE OF PEOTOPLASM.

At the same time, sufficient mobility is given to facili-
tate those rapid metabolic changes, and the access of
pabulum and the removal of products which are essen-
tial to vital action. For this reason, also, the living
matter can never exist as a rigid structure of any
kind. This peculiar semi-solid state is called the state
of imbibition, and is so remarkable that Schwann
gives it a prominent place in the process of building
up the organic structures. In fact he is inclined to
the opinion that " organisms are nothing but the form
•under which substances capable of imbibition crystal-
lize" (215). And Hackel, following Schwann, suggests
that the imbibition state should be considered a fourth
physical state of matter,* as it is to be distinguished
from the mere humidation of aggregations like sand-
stone ; and the fact that crystalline bodies are incapable
of imbibition is one reason why they are incapable of
living action. He exalts this faculty to the skies as a
main factor in the production of vital phenomena, by
bringing the pabulum into the interior of the mass,
contrary to what happens in crystals. But in reality
it explains nothing at all, for when the nutriment* has
got into the interstices of the protoplasm the^diffi-
culty of explaining the peculiar changes it undergoes
there, only begins. In fact this is not a distinctively
vital state at all, but belongs to ordinary colloids.
But there is a difference between the physical state of
the colloids and that of the living matter, for the
former are, in many instances, capable of true solution,
e.g.j gelatin, which no living matter is. The tearing
asunder of the molecular groups by the adhesive force

* " G-enerelle Morphologic," i. p. 124.

ON THE NATURE OF LIFE. 193

of the particles of the solvent, produces decomposition
of the complex and delicate living molecules and their
death, just as mechanical force of any other kind, such
as pressure, blows, tearing, &c. Although a large pro-
portion of water must be contained by imbibition in
the living matter, yet a certain proportion cannot be
exceeded without injury. Accordingly, the living
matter is always protected from the solvent action of
pure water either by cell walls or by being kept
bathed by fluids not so strongly diffusible, as is always
the case in the higher animals. Pure distilled water,
in fact, is rapidly fatal to protoplasm when placed in
contact with it,* inducing death and consequent coagu-
lation. In the lowest tribes, which are chiefly aquatic,
such as the infusoria, when they consist of apparently
nothing but a naked lump of protoplasm, no doubt,
this substance is so constituted, as to repel excess of
water and prevent diffusion and solution. No com-
parison with the physical state of dead matter can give
a correct idea of that of living matter as we see it in

the amcebse and other rhizopoda. The slow crawlino-

- °

movement, the rapid pouring out of the substance in one

direction, and, again, the gathering up of the whole
mass into a ball, in short, the numberless changes of
shape without change of volume, show a mobility
almost equal to liquids, with a cohesive power like a
solid, and in fine physical properties, possessed by no
other substance. This very peculiarity of the living
matter viz., that it is always semifluid, transparent

* '•' The plasma usually appears as a semi-fluid, albuminous body,
of the consistence of a tough, sticky, thread-drawing mucilage, which
is insoluble in water, and even, in many cases, coagulates by the access
of water" (Huckel, " Gen. Morphol.," i. 278).

13

194 BE ALE'S OBJECTION TO VITALITY AS A PROPERTY.

colourless, and perfectly structureless, and therefore
one mass is quite indistinguishable in aspect from
another of a different kind, is made the groundwork of
Dr. Beale's objection to the materialist theory. He
says over and over again, how can such a variety of cha-
racter and action, the self-moving, the dividing, and the
forming structures unlike itself and of infinite variety,
depend upon the mere arrangement of the atoms in
this apparently simple, uniform substance ? He objects
particularly to the term " molecular machinery," which
he seems never tired of ridiculing, and seems to think
that our mere inability to understand or to express,
except by figurative language, the intimate nature of
the action in the protoplasm gives, somehow, support
to the hypothesis of an immaterial principle added to
the protoplasm. I fail to see the cogency of the argu-
ment, and rather think he has added to the difficulty
by a suggestion which stands in more need of explana-
tion than the thing it purports to explain. The truth
is, the apparent uniformity of the protoplasm in out-
ward appearance, while capable of infinite variety of
inward composition, is nothing more than is found in
all large classes of chemical compounds. Who expects
all transparent and colourless liquids to have the same
composition ? and so on, with fifty illustrations. The
infinite variety of faculties of the different kinds of
living matter was, of course, at once attributed by
Fletcher to a corresponding variety of molecular com-
position, and no one since, except Dr. Beale, has found
any difficulty in doing the same. This variety of
composition is included in Fletcher's term " organized,"
and has been more happily termed " molecular organiza-

MOLECULAR ORGANIZATION OF PROTOPLASM. 195

tion" by Dr. Bastian. The possibility of the sufficient
variety of the said molecular organization is well ex-
pressed by Gegenbauer, who says that the complicated
formal life-phenomena of the protoplasm — even grant-
ing that it cannot be analyzed farther anatomically —
are nevertheless of such a nature that they not only
pre-suppose a more complicated molecular constitution
than we can as yet understand or imagine, but that
the protoplasm may in this respect be placed on an
equality with complicated organized beings ; and Pro-
fessor Rutherford thus expresses himself, " There ap-
pears to be no reason for supposing that two particles
of protoplasm, which possess a similar microscopic
structure, must act in the same way ; for the physicist
knows that molecular structure and action are beyond
the ken of the microscopist, and that within apparently
homogeneous jelly-like particles of protoplasm there
may be differences of molecular constitution and
arrangement, which determine widely different pro-
perties " (" Brit. Assoc.," 1873).

The theory of the constitution of chemical compounds of
S. Brown, taken in connection with the recent revival of
dynamic theory of molecular action of Lucretius by the mathe-
matical physicists, is most interesting to us, especially as bear-
ing on the supposed spontaneity of vital action. It is becoming
rapidly accepted among physicists that, instead of being at rest,
the particles of matter are all in a state of vivid molecular
movement, and by this are to be explained nearly all the
secondary properties of matter. The elasticity of the gases and
the diffusion of liquids are already proved to depend on mere
molecular movements; the theory agrees also with the doc-
trine of interior work, and explains the apparently spontaneous
action of chemical changes in solutions, and although the exact

13—2

196 THE DYNAMIC STATE OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS.

molecular state which produces the rigidity of solids, is not
yet known, yet the molecules are not there at rest, being agi-
tated by heat and, probably, intra-molecular movements. The
hypothesis of S. Brown here comes in. He holds that the
chemical state forms always a counterpart of the astronomical
state of the distribution of matter. That in each molecule
formed by the combination of separate atoms we have, as it
were, a solar system. The atoms are supposed not to be indefi-
nitely near each other, as was uniformly assumed, but their
" distances may be as great in proportion to the diameters of
those particles as, say, the distances of the planets from the
sun, in proportion to their diameter and his."* In the molecule
the " atoms revolve around each other in the line of the revolu-
tion of the centripetal and centrifugal forces, while of two
unequal and dissimilar particles (as an oxygen and a hydrogen)
the less particle shall be planetary and the other solar." " Each
water-particle is a true unit, with its centre neither in the oxy-
gen particle nor in the hydrogen, but in the shifting focal point
of the forces of both." In commenting on Dalton's reason why
carbon cannot combine with more than two atoms of oxygen,
viz., that " in the state of CO2 there are two atoms of oxygen
combined with one of carbon, and a third or fourth atom of
oxygen, however it may be attracted by the carbon, cannot join
it without repelling one or more of the atoms already combined.
The attraction of the carbon is able to restrain the mutual re-
pulsion of- two atoms of oxygen, but not of three or more." To
this S. Brown says, " This lucid conception may be made more
lucid still, perhaps, by the counter statement in astronomy
that a sun cannot be overloaded with planets." Then, after
illustrating this by the constitution of ammonia, he concludes,
" It remains to be seen whether there are any data of a purely
dynamical sort to determine how many planetary hydrogens
there must be in a compound atomic system of ammonia. If
there be, or if any can be found, then the atomic theory shall

* Professor Challis also concludes that the proportion of space occu-
pied by the atoms is exceedingly small compared to the ethereal streams
and movements surrounding them (" On the Math. Principles of
Physics," 1873).

DYNAMIC STATE OF LIVING MATTER. 197

be perfect." Again, in illustrating chemical decomposition by
the instance of potassa and carbonate of lime, whereby the car-
bonic acid cleaves to the potassa and quicklime is set free, he
says, " It is precisely as if some stronger planet were brought
near enough to draw the moon off from the earth ; in which
•case the compound unit called the terrestrial system, composed
of the earth and the moon, would be decomposed." It is
obvious how this harmonizes with the more recently found
law of atomic values or atomicities, and I do not know that any
other even plausible physical theory of it has been formed. The
diagrammatic representation of the position of the atoms given
in the form of tooth-combs, balls on rayed spikes, bricks, &c.,
seem to be contrived as if to show how they could not possibly
exist in nature. It also gives us an idea how force may be
accumulated within the molecules in the form of interior work,
as it is known to be. To return to the state of living
matter. " Let us," says Beale, " in imagination peer into the
ultimate particles of the living, active, moving matter,, and
consider what we should probably discover. Were it possible
to see things so very small, I think we should discover
spherules of extreme minuteness, each being composed of
still smaller spherules, and these spherules infinitely minute.
Such spherules would have upon their surface a small quantity
of matter differing in properties from that in the interior, but
so soft and diffluent that the particles might come into very
close proximity. In each little spherule the matter would be
in active movement, and new minute spherules would be spring-
ing into being in its central part. Those spherules already
formed would be making their way outwards, so as to give place
to new ones, which continually arise in the centre of every one

of those animated particles The change which occurs in

the living centre is probably sudden and abrupt. The life
flashes, as it were, into the inanimate particles and they live °
("Prot.,"3rded., 277).

In this smallest conceivable mass there exists, as Beale
frequently repeats, fluid pabulum passing into the centre, being
there transformed, and working outwards till on the surface a
portion dies into the formed material. Here are then condi-

198 CHEMICAL AND METABOLIC ACTION NOT MUTUAL.

tions for action independent of spontaneity, and the mere cir-
cumstance of vivid molecular movement can be paralleled in
all liquids, especially where chemical changes are going on. To
peer then farther in imagination into the constitution of those
spherules, we may picture to ourselves the very elements
resolved into their component atoms, and these, rearranged into
clusters and constellations of molecules of relatively enormous
size and complexity. These latter, again, representing systems
made up of atoms corresponding to suns, planets, and satellites,
all revolving rapidly in their orbits, while possibly also, as sup-
posed by Williamson in solutions of salts, some atoms may be
passing from one molecule to another. In this state of matter,,
so different from the simpler inorganic state, we may suppose
new laws of vito-chemical or metabolic combination. In all
chemical combination double decomposition and recombination
with formation of a third substance into which both factors
enter in exact proportion, are the rule, while here, when a
chemical substance — pabulum — is placed in contact with the
living matter, the latter is not decomposed but the pabulum is
instantly taken to pieces— possibly its ultimates even resolved
— and incorporated with the living matter, from which it
emerges in a totally different state of chemical combination
partly as tissue or secretion, and partly as effete products, while
any surplus force comes out as heat or mechanical movement.

Leaving what is merely speculative on the constitution of the
living molecules, it is obvious that between ordinary matter and
such a kind of material composed as protoplasm is, there can be-
no possible relation of a chemical kind at all ; and the only rela-
tions the living matter can have with matter in the ordinary state
and with force are those of pabulum, conditions, and stimuli. To
the living matter there are no acids nor alkalies, no solvents, no
astringents, no fats or soaps, no ferments or catalytic agents,
no sugars nor alcohols, no>lbumen, fibrin, gelatine or the like to
act upon it in any way, resembling in the least their action on
dead matter, but only as pabulum and stimuli. Probably
moisture alone acts purely as a condition, but nearly all kinds
of pabulum, including oxygen, act also as stimuli, while some
agents generally recognized as stimuli, act in that capacity

THE STIMULI. 199

alone,~while some are conditions as well as stimuli. Heat, for
example, is an essential condition for all living action, and it is
likewise a stimulus to all living matter, and if raised above
certain limits, exalts living action, causing the organism to live
faster — an exaltation soon succeeded by a corresponding de-
pression. Electricity is also a stimulus to all living matter, but
not, as far as we know, an essential condition, while light is a
stimulus to only certain forms of living matter ; and magnetism
hardly to any, as far as we know. All stimuli, comprehending all
positive agents which act at all on the living matter, exalt the
living action in degree, and this is followed by a corresponding
depression if beyond the normal amount, and if the excess of
action caused by normal stimuli is great or long continued,
qualitative change as well as exhaustion of the living matter is
induced. But with the preternatural stimuli, such as medicines
and poisons, the depression after exaltation is more marked and
also the qualitative change, so that Trousseau calls them modi-
ficators. The depression and modification is often so marked as
to be the only thing to attract attention, and a direct paralyzing
effect is assumed by many authors, but Claude Bernard, as the
result of his long series of experiments, states that, " Every
substance which in large doses abolishes the property of an
organic element, stimulates it if given in small ones" ("Intro-
duction a la Medicine Experimentale ")• The preternatural
stimuli no doubt become incorporated with the living matter in
the same way as the pabulum and form part of it, till decom-
posed or expelled, and during the process produce the stimula-
tion and modification of qualitative action which we recognize
as the specific medicinal or poisonous effect.

Apparent Spontaneity of Vital Action.— If life is thus merely
the action of a complex material compound, how are we to explain
the spontaneous movements and changes it apparently under-
goes 1 No matter how complex the protoplasmic molecule may
be, its atoms are still nothing but matter and must share its pro-
perties for good or evil, and among the rest, inertia. Hence it
cannot change its state of motion nor rest without the influence
of some force from without. True spontaneity of movement is,
therefore, just as impossible to it as to what we call dead matter.

200 NO SPONTANEITY IN PROTOPLASM.

Nor if we look upon it as, what indeed it is, a compound of
high potential energy capable of evolving force and thus
moving itself by the rearrangement of its constituent atoms,
does that help the question ; for the possibly very small initial
force required for that change is just as impossible to conceive
without adequate cause, as the whole force for moving it and
keeping it moving for ever without equivalent communication
of force. Some have suggested that the revival of the theory
of Lucretius as to the dynamic state of all matter above spoken
of, may help us here. But it helps nothing, for these move-
ments are all in equilibrium, and to change the motion of a
body already in motion requires an adequate cause just as much
as to start it from rest. So we are compelled to admit the
existence of an exciting cause in the form of some force from
without, to give the initial impulse in all vital actions ; this is
the stimulus. When this is once given the amount of action or
work depends on the potential energy of the protoplasm and
pabulum which are decomposed and may bear no calculable
proportion to the initial impulse, just as a spark may explode
any mass of gunpowder, or the nutter of a bird's wing start an
avalanche. We thus see how the stimuli apparently produce
results far beyond the intrinsic energy conveyed by them. It
is on the whole question of stimuli that Dr. Beale differs so
widely from other physiologists, and especially from Fletcher,
who is, above all others, careful to keep the essentiality of them
in due prominence. Dr. Beale does not even represent cor-
rectly the position of the stimulus. He says* that if you call
the development of the egg a consequence of the action of heat
as a stimulus, you may as well say that a steam-engine is a con-
sequence of the coal that takes part in generating the steam
that turns the lathes that are used in its construction. This is
not a correct statement of the position that the stimulus gives
merely the initial impulse to a substance like protoplasm, which
has not only a store of potential energy, but the directing power
of using it by virtue of its marvellous molecular organization.
Tke true analogy is with a steam-engine having its boiler
charged, and the stimulus is, as it were, the power which turns
* " Protoplasm," 3rd edition, p. 270.

STIMULI ESSENTIAL TO VITAL ACTION. 201

the cock and admits the steam into the cylinder. This neces-
sity for an initial impulse, or the removal of a hindrance to
action is of immense significance in a teleological point of view,
for without it no li ving creature above the very lowest order of
individuality could exist ; no function requiring the harmonious
working of different parts of an apparatus could be performed,
and the whole organism would rush to its destruction by the
simultaneous over-activity of all its parts. Hence, in the building
up of the higher orders of animals there is a gradual differentia-
tion of the living matter, so that each kind becomes susceptible
of full activity only under its proper stimulus. No doubt the
essentiality of the stimuli is often lost sight of because they
form part of other essential conditions of life, e.g., pabulum,
oxygen, &c. ; but when more closely looked into, the action as
stimuli will also be found. Even when no visible apparatus is
present, the necessity for stimuli is recognized by most physio-
logists. Of the movements of the amoeba and white blood
corpuscles Kiihne says they take place from stimuli as yet
unknown. Dr. Beale, however, still clings to his theory of a
hyper-physical cause or vital principle which can initiate these
and other vital movements. He is, however, now greatly em-
barrassed. Formerly he did not hesitate to say they were
directly the offspring of a hyper-physical vital power, but
having stated that he did not assert the creation of force by
living matter, he is now obliged to deal with the subject in a
more guarded manner, and it is not easy to say what he does
mean in his third edition of " Protoplasm," where he says that
the antecedent change that occurred just before the vital move-
ment cannot be proved to be phenomenal. While he says, " it
is scarcely incorrect to say that it moves of itself, because at
this time no one can adequately explain the cause of the move-
ment " (269). He will not now say anything more distinct than
that he attributes these movements to " a peculiar power of
movement or to vitality? but the tendency of the remarks at
p. 273 is that they are spontaneous, and depend on no physical
cause. This is, of course, tantamount to a creation of force.
One must be. however, far more surprised that Professor Bain
upholds the doctrine of spontaneity of vital actions in his

202 BAIN'S SPONTANEITY

classical work on the " Senses and Intellect." At p. 64, et seq.,
he maintains, contrary to Fletcher, that a spontaneous Energy
resides in the nerve centres which gives them the power of
initiating molecular novements "without any antecedent
sensation from without, or emotion from within, or any ante-
cedent state of feeling whatsoever, or any stimulus extraneous
to the moving apparatus itself." And this " fact of spontaneous
activity I look upon as an essential prelude to voluntary
power" (296). His chief proofs of this are the tonicity of the
muscles ; and to the objection that cutting the sensory roots
destroys the tonicity, he says, granting that it is really reflex
and arising from perennial irritation of the incarrying fibres,
that it is not what we usually understand by stimulation. This
last he wishes to restrict to the effect of " visible and remitted
applications to the parts. A constant stimulus is no stimulus
at all " (64). This may, to a certain extent, apply to conscious
sensation where relativity plays an important part, but it is
quite inapplicable to mere irritation ; and the permanent action
of stimuli, such as heat for example, is essential to continuance
of vital activity. Nor would the teleological reason for the
stimuli be satisfied by a mere initiatory impulse which will
allow action to continue spontaneously till the whole is con-
sumed, as in firing gunpowder for example. On the contrary,
it must be, and is in most cases, a continued impulse under
which the vital activity only takes place as long as it lasts.
His other proofs are the contraction of the sphincters and of
the capillaries, the rotatory movements produced by uni-lateral
section of the pons varolii, the activity of the involuntary
movements, the initial beat of the heart, &c., all of which may
be easily answered in the same way. But his final and, he
thinks, most conclusive proof, is the priority of movement to
sensation in wakening from sleep, a circumstance noticed by
Aristotle, who referred these movements to an internal source.
Bain holds that the refreshment of the nerve centres after
repose causes a " burst of spontaneous energy" and " a rush of
nervous power to the muscles, followed by the exposure of the
senses to the influence of the outer world" (66). The facts can be, I
think, interpreted differently and more consistently with general

NOT ADMITTED. 203

physiological laws. All life, with Fletcher, implies the con-
sumption of protoplasm under the operation of stimuli, but
this, especially in the activity of the nervous system, does not
always go on pari passu with the regeneration of the life-sub-
stance ; on the contrary, it exceeds it at times ; hence, exhaustion
and modification of living matter, so that the same stimulus
loses its effect and can no longer rouse to activity as before.
The living matter now passes into the resting stage and sleep
comes on, during which the regeneration overbalances the con-
sumption, and in due time the susceptibility is restored to its-
previous acuteness, so that the same stimuli, which are still
present, are now sufficient to excite the nerve centres into the-
wakiug state of activity. Of course it is not pretended here to
explain the nature of sleep, or of the resting stage of living
matter as contrasted with its special activity. But even without
the above connection of the phenomenon in question with con-
sumption and regeneration of protoplasm, there is no doubt that
the repetition of every stimulus produces enfeebled or exhausted
susceptibility towards itself, which susceptibility is revived again
after rest. In this sense it may be said, for a time, in respect
to some stimuli, " a constant stimulus is no stimulus at all."
In respect also to the storing up of the living matter, and
even that chemical substance supposed to be consumed im-
mediately in nerve and muscle action (see p. 159), the facts
agree with Bain's view of the exuberant movements of the
young and the vigour and freshness after rest, only the dis-
charge of energy is not spontaneous. In fact it is as if the
boiler of an engine were well stored with steam you would have
to turn the cock all the same, although the machine would go
faster and farther than when half cold and exhausted.

But the strongest proof of the non-existence of spontaneity is
given by Beale's absolute denial of the existence of uni-polar
nerve cells. There are always two poles at least, and often many
more. If the nerve cell could start into activity spontaneously,
and if any purpose were to be served thereby, one cord would
be enough to convey the evolved energy as far as we know, for
we do not know that the second is necessary for any electrical
reason, i.e., to complete the circuit. The second is no doubt an

204 NO SPONTANEITY IN ACTION OF BRAIN PLASTIDS.

afferent or commissural fibre, whereby tlie stimulus is conveyed to
the nerve cell for the purpose of exciting it to activity at the
right time, and if so there can be, in health, no other mode of
activity possible, for that would frustrate the very purpose of
the trgan. The intricacy of the nerve-cord connections of the
bioplasts of the brain and their extraordinary number are dwelt
on by Dr. Beale (" Protoplasm," 3rd edit.) : " A portion of the
gray matter upon the surface of a convolution not larger than
the head of a very small pin will contain portions of many
thousands of nerve fibres, the distal ramifications of which may
be in distant and different parts of the body." " The bioplasts
referred to are directly concerned in mental action. Movement
affecting the matter of many thousands of these minute bio-
plasts, probably at the same moment, is required for the initia-
tion of the simplest idea" (321). To produce, therefore, any-
thing like harmony and coherence in ideas and movements, all
these separate bioplasts or sources of energy must be rigidly
tied down, never to begin to act except on their appropriate
stimulus. Conceive the effect of any spontaneity ! It would be
incoherence and delirium, speedily followed by destruction of
the individual.

The essentiality of stimuli for all vital action,"even in organic
life, is not so obvious at first sight because the stimuli co-exist
with pabulum and conditions in most instances, but it could be
shown if it did not take us too far from our present subject.

For the same reasons as above, the spontaneity of the will
must also be denied. To allow it any initiating power not
derived from the transformation of pre-existing force, even to
the small extent required by J. Herschel, would be to create
force. I have no pretensions to attempt to unravel the intri-
cacies of this most delicate and complicated subject, so I will
only say that no doubt the perception of internal stimuli is here
the initiating agency.*

* I mean, of course, the spontaneity of the will in its physiological
sense. I have no opinions on the subject of the moral freedom of the
will and moral responsibility different from those held by common consent
in the age and state of society in which we are living, and which admit
that qualified amount of freedom of the will which common sense shows
we are possessed of.

CHAPTER X.

ON THE CONNECTION OF FORCE WITH LIFE AND MIND.

NOTHING has, I think, of late hindered us from forming
a clear conception of the nature of life, so much as the
way in which the relation of the physical forces to the
action of living beings has been viewed. And this has
mainly arisen from a want of due care in distinguishing
force from property, and from an exaggerated conception,
of the office of the former which is virtually by some
exalted to the rank of a semi-intelligent power, vice the
vital principle deposed. The fact is, that many
medical writers, not having gone to the root of the
matter for themselves but only accepting the current
definitions, have been unable to resist " the insuperable
tendency of the human mind to personify its abstrac-
tions," and have taken up the notion that force, or
energy, is a mysterious something capable of existence
per se, and possessing various positive, and even intel-
ligent (such as formative') powers. This is quite wrong.
Force is not an object capable of existing per se, but is
only the motion of matter and aether, or the pressures
antecedent to that motion, whichever way you choose
to apply the word, but, at all events, it is never any-

206 FORCE AN AFFECTION OF MATTER.

thing but an affection of matter, including the sether.
To speak of points or lines of force as the physical
cause of cosmical phenomena without any substance,
which is not force, underlying them, is inadmissible,
and seems as repugnant to common sense as the idea
of motion without something to be moved.* There is
no mystery about force in the sense of its being above
and beyond our intelligence, like the things pertaining
to the spiritual world, but there is much that is yet
hidden till we get a clearer knowledge of the physical
natures of the sether and of the atoms of matter.

* " All the least parts of all bodies are extended, hard, impenetrable,
«nd indued with vis inertia" Challis quotes this passage from New-
ton and adopts it, as likewise Newton's theory of an sether which,
however subtle, is composed, like air, of parts which mutually press.
The idea of an atom as an extended body, with infinite hardness and
strength, is not now entertained by physicists in general, but still, as
stated by W. Thomson, " we must realize it as a piece of matter of
measurable dimensions, with shape, motion, and laws of action, intel-
ligible subjects of scientific investigation" (" Brit. Assoc.," 1871).
Helmholtz's theory of vortex -motions in an incompressible frictionless
fluid is now looked to most hopefully, as likely to give the true idea of
the nature of the atoms : but this does not countenance the notion of self-
existent force, for the sether itself is material. Mr.Macvicar, in his original
and profound " Sketch of Philosophy," No. II., postulates the sether as
consisting of disci'ete spherical particles, all equal ; and that the mate-
rial elements are built up of clusters of these, forming units, and again
combinations of these units into certain stable shapes, forming the
elemental atoms. Dr. Samuel Brown favours Boscovich's well-known
hypothesis of points of repulsive and attractive forces, and of these he
(S. B.) supposes five spheres of alternate attractions and repulsions,
which are since nearly paralleled by Challis's series of sethereal waves
of attraction and repulsion. But when pressed to explain the
nature of this ultimate repulsion without substance, S. Brown used to
give utterance to the following sublime conception, which I cannot
refrain from repeating, although I do not find it in his published works.
The ultimate repulsion constituting the extension and impenetrability
of the atoms of matter, could be conceived of in no other way than as
the persistent exercise of the Will of God Himself, " in whom we live,
and move, and have our being," and which, if but for an instant with-
drawn, the whole material universe and its forces, in all their vast-
ness, glory, and beauty, would collapse and sink in a moment into their
original nothingness.

DEFINITIONS OF FORCE. 207

In the meantime, I think the best way for us is to
adopt the luminous definition of the man of genius,
J. R. Mayer, viz., " Force is that which is expended in
the production of motion ; and this which is expended
is, as cause of the effect, equal to the motion pro-
duced."* The idea of expenditure is thus the cardinal
point in all exercise of force, and if this is constantly
kept before our eyes, we shall escape the difficulties
which are apt to entangle us in the distinction of
property from force. The majority now hold that
that which is expended is simply motion, and would
describe the forces as motions. The mathematicians
prefer to apply the word force to the dead pull or
pressure which is the antecedent of motion. For us it
is, however, far more convenient for the understanding
of the phenomena, to keep to the idea of expenditure and
of motion ; but the grand difficulty is how to conceive
of the passive forces as motion, i.e., those in which the
movements of masses or atoms of matter cannot pos-
sibly produce the result, e.g., the attractive forces of
gravitation, cohesion, chemical attraction, &c. For the
discovery of the mechanical equivalent of heat has
given the death-blow to the notion of all inherent
powers of attraction and repulsion as properties of
matter as well as all action at a distance, which were
till lately generally held, in spite of the strong objec-
tions of Newton himself. It is not necessary we should
have any theory of the cause of gravity, nor of the
nature of force, in order to accept Mayer's definition,
which is, indeed, framed to avoid all speculations, but
it clears our conceptions to have some hypothesis.
* " Mechanik cler Warme," p. 265.

208 CHALLIS'S HYDKO-DYNAMIC THEORY

The dynamic theory of gaseous elasticity, diffusion, and
pressure opens the way for a general conception of the
manner in which all the forces may depend on move-
ments of the matter or the sether, and I may, therefore,
briefly refer to Professor Challis's hydro-dynamic
theory* without presuming to give an opinion upon its
absolute truth, for even as a mere diagram it would
illustrate the subject better than a train of reasoning.

The hypotheses of his theory are these only : " 1st, All visible
and tangible substances consist of inert spherical atoms of con-
stant form and magnitude (for each kind) ; 2nd, All physical
force is either active pressure of the aether, supposed to be a
continuous elastic fluid having the property of pressing always
proportionally to its density, or passive resistance of the atoms
to such pressure due to their inertia and constancy of form "
(104). The existence and qualities of the atoms must be taken
as"ultimate facts, and out of the province of a priori investiga-
tion (105). Professor Challis thus uses the word force in the
sense of the antecedent pressure which produces motion, while,
as above said, others think it more convenient to apply it to
the motion itself (Grove), and Mayer to " what is expended."
But, practically, it comes to the same thing, for all the pheno-
mena by which we recognize force are traced by Challis to
movements of the aether or the atoms. Thus heat and light
are movements of the matter and aBther of a vibratory kind,
while electricity, galvanism, and magnetism are similar but of
a more complicated character. In these Challis does not differ
substantially from other authors. But with respect to the
passive forces, viz., the molecular attractions and repulsions
which it is impossible to conceive as produced by movements
of the atoms themselves, and which have been hitherto the
grand stumbling blocks to the full comprehension of the nature
of force as a whole, he holds that they are produced by undula-

* "Essay on the Mathematical Principles of Physics" (Cambridge,
1873).

OF THE PASSIVE FORCES. 209

tory movements of the aether of a translative character. This he
supports by mathematical reasonings which cannot be entered
on, but the gist of them is that the atoms are driven together
or asunder by waves, which, as it were, beat more on one side
than the other, and thus push and keep them together or
asunder by this perpetual impact. In this manner we may
imagine the attractive forces of chemical attraction, cohesion,
and gravitation, and the repulsive force of heat to be produced
by movements of something, though not of the atoms which
are here passive. The common statement that when a weight
is raised the force or energy required to raise it becomes poten-
tial, and is again transformed into actual energy when the
weight is let go and it falls to the earth, is a mere statement of
the fact, and so far from being an explanation, it almost univer-
sally induces the belief that some attractive power is accumu-
lated in the weight itself or the earth which pulls it back.
Whereas by the above hypotheses of translative sethereal waves,
the body is merely placed in a position in which, having dis-
tance to traverse, it can take on as actual movement in space,
the motions constituting the force of a given quantity of the
sethereal gravitation waves, which are thus extinguished (like
the luminous waves in the dark lines of the solar spectrum) in
the process of pushing the falling body and the earth together.
In this manner, whether the theory be true or false, we can
form an idea how something of the nature of motion can be
expended in the apparent attraction of gravitation. The above
two fundamental hypotheses may be disputed, and are dis-
puted, and people are not content to accept them as beyond
the province of speculation at all events. But there are no
alternative speculations on the aether which do not leave quite
as much to be postulated, and if we object to the hard, round,
spherical atoms, and prefer the idea ;of permanent vortex
motions in a frictionless fluid, we can suppose these acted on by
translative waves in the same way.

In visiting Manchester, long before seeing a similar
remark by Dr. Carpenter, I have often been struck by

14

210 FORCE NOTHING BUT M V2.

the singular advertisement to be seen here and there r
" To let, a room with POWEE." Power in what sense ?
Not surely the ability to spin or weave, or turn or
grind, or stamp or electroplate ? Certainly none of
these things, but only the force whereby any person
with the mental capacity and the materials needful
may do one or all of these things. Here, then, we
have, valued against a given weight of gold,, force in
its simplest aspect — that is, motion measured as m v 2
or mass into the square of the velocity — a wheel or
shaft of a certain size turning at a certain velocity.
In purchasing force, therefore, we purchase no power
of directing it towards any particular object. To do
that, we find we have no power except by taking ad-
vantage of the pre-existing properties of matter which
give it the capacity of taking on motion in a particular
way after its kind. In fact, the properties of different
kinds of matter may be defined as the capacity for
being moved each in its particular way ; while force
may be defined as the motion of matter, including the-
aether ; and it thus may be molar, molecular, or
sethereal. The indestructibility of force is thus a
corollary of the inertia of matter, for if matter cannot
start into movement of itself, neither can it stop of
itself, but only if its motion is transferred to other
matter or sether. The conception of a mass of matter
in motion from place to place, and the transference of its
motion to another mass by impact, involve no mental
difficulty requiring discussion. Nor does directing the
motion by taking advantage of the physical properties of
rigidity, &c., of matter in the form of machinery or
tools. At the same time, the impossibility of attribu-

FAEADAY SPEAKS OF PROPERTY AS FORCE. 211

ting anything directive or formative to mere force in
all mechanical construction is so plain, that to talk of
force turning a chess-man, stamping a die, weaving a
web, &c., by itself, would be simply ridiculous. If we
wish to convert our purchased velocity into heat, or
electricity, or magnetism, it is still plain that we can
only do so through the intervention of the pre-existing
properties of matter, and in the last we are tied down
to narrower limits of the means. In dealing with
molecular movements, or forces, we find that although
molecules will certainly not move without force, yet
they will only move in the way for which they are-
fitted to move by their inherent properties or qualities,
no matter how the force is furnished. A fluorescent
body exposed to the non-luminous, highly refrangible
rays of the spectrum, will take on the motion, cer-
tainly, but not at the same rate of vibration, and thus
give them out as visible light; and we have no
power by any manipulation of force to cause the said
body to act differently. In fact, neither can it help
itself; it is just as passive in its power of directing
motion. It is only when we come to chemical action
that any difficulty or ambiguity has arisen, and this is
simply from the loose way in which the word force
has been used to denote property as well as force, and
if we carefully distinguish between these, there is no-
real difficulty in the question. Unfortunately, even
deservedly high authorities have fostered error by in-
advertence in this respect. Faraday, for example,,
speaks of the conservation of chemical force, and in-
stances the unchangeableness of the inherent qualities,
which specifically distinguish oxygen from other sub-

14—2

212 PROPERTIES MAY EXIST WITHOUT FORCE.

stances, as a proof of conservation of force. It is
needless to say the word is here used in the sense of
property, but the effect is unfortunate, and has quite
misled Bence Jones, who, in spite of the views of
Newton, that gravity cannot belong to the essential,
inherent qualities or properties of matter, because it is
capable of diminution, classes weight with chemical
"force" (property), saying that the union between
matter and gravity is just as inseparable as the union
between matter and chemical "force" (property), and
that matter without weight is not matter at all. This
is erroneous, and misleading in every particular.
Matter without weight is not only conceivable, but it
is easy to calculate the position in space where matter
can have no appreciable weight at all. And it is per-
fectly easy to conceive, although no such state exists
as a reality, matter totally devoid of all force, and in
which it would retain all its inherent qualities, or pro-
perties, unimpaired. The conception of matter emptied
of all force is not more difficult than that of the abso-
lute zero of heat, which is a postulate in physical
science. The truth is, there is no such thing as
chemical force at all as an inherent property, any more
than weight as an inherent property of matter. What
is meant is, that matter has an inherent capacity for
being moved by the respective forces indicated by
these terms. In the case of gravitation, the particles
of all kinds of matter have the same capacity for
being pushed towards each other by the force of gravi-
tation, as illustrated in Professor Challis's theory.
Whereas, in chemical attraction, it is in virtue of a
specific property in each kind of matter (possibly mere

DISTINCTION OF PROPERTY FROM FORCE. 213

difference in size) that certain kinds have the capacity
for being pushed towards each other by the force of
chemical attraction. As I have said elsewhere,1* —

" Here also two distinct factors are involved, viz., the property
of chemical affinity on the one hand, and the force of chemical
attraction on the other, the product of these two being chemi-
cal combination. The act of chemical combination implies a
certain amount of motion, which, again, involves the expendi-
ture of something, and this something cannot be the inherent
property which constitutes the chemical relationship or affinity
between the combining bodies, because that property remains
undiminished and unchangeable. What is expended must,
therefore, here, as elsewhere, be force. The inherent property
in this case cannot, any more than in that of gravity, be in it-
self a power of attraction, but only determines the effect of the
acting force. This force is the same for all chemical combina-
tions, and is therefore called the force of chemical attraction,
just as we speak of the force of gravitation, but it is the pro-
perty of affinity which determines what particular bodies shall
combine with one another, using in the act of combination the
requisite amount of the common stock of force. No amount
of the force of chemical attraction will cause the combination
of bodies destitute of affinity for each other. To speak of the
force of chemical affinity already implies an hypothesis which
the foregoing considerations show to be erroneous. In strictly
accurate language, we should say every act of chemical com-
bination involves the existence of the property of chemical
affinity, and the expenditure of the force of chemical attrac-
tion. What the nature of this force of so-called attraction
may be, is not decided, but it probably is caused, like gravita-
tion, by pressure from without upon the particles of matter n

(p. 99) "When we thus separate distinctly the

ideas of property and force, and confine the latter to its strict
meaning in physics, we perceive the completely subordinate,
although still essential, part it plays. Force can have no power

* " Life, and the Equivalence of Force," p. 98 and p. 189.

214 SECONDARY PROPERTIES

in producing, or developing, or altering the character of chemical
affinity in itself. Nor has it any influence (unless for destruc-
tion) in chemical processes, except in furnishing ' that which
is expended in the production of motion,' and thus giving the
means of the display of the properties of the elements. Force
is the mainspring of the cosmical machine, but not the works.
It is in the properties of matter that lie the wonder and mystery
of the universe" (p. 189).

The cardinal point is thus to keep in mind the
absolute distinction between force and property. The
active forces with which we are familiar are few, are
transferable, transformable, and commensurable in all
forms, and, in the form of heat, capable of dissipation
as far as our world is concerned ; but as they are all
merely affections of matter, including the aether, it is
of course impossible they can exist per se. On the
other hand, the properties of matter, as insisted upon
by Newton, are peculiar, inherent, incapable of increase
or diminution, or of dissipation, and incommunicable :
matter is, therefore, perfectly conceivable as existing
without force, but the state of the universe would
then be chaos. There seems no room for confusion of
the two, so far, but there are also an infinity of
secondary, or acquired, states of matter, which are also
called properties, and it is in reference to these that
constant vigilance is needful, otherwise we fall into the
error induced by calling two different things by the
same name. These secondary properties are all deve-
loped by the union of force with matter, and cannot
exist without- force, whereas, as before said, the ulti-
mate inherent properties are essential, and quite con-
ceivable as void of all force. Among the secondary

IMPLY PRESENCE OF FORCE. 215

properties, solidity and fluidity are easily seen to de-
pend on a balance of the attractive force of cohesion
and the repulsive force of heat, and therefore it is
plain that the difference of inherent properties of
bodies in these respects is simply how much of the
force of heat the particles of each body require to
take on before their cohesive force is so far overcome
as to make their state of aggregation fluid. It is more
difficult to analyze the so-called property of weight,
and perceive that it is made up of the capacity of the
ultimate particles to be driven towards each other by
the force of gravitation, and of the presence of that
force. But it is in the development of new properties by
means of the force of chemical attraction that the most
complete examples of the properties acquired by the
union of force and matter are displayed. Every com-
bination of different elements gives rise to different
relations of the compound to the active and passive
forces, and to their affinities to other bodies, and this
leads up to the vast variety and complexity of the
compound bodies we already know ; while no know-
ledge of the chemical powers and properties of matter
we already possess enables us to place a limit, beyond
which new powers may not be developed by new com-
binations and conditions. Here, however, it is always
the inherent property or capacity of the substance to
"be affected by the force of chemical attraction, viz.,
affinity, which, as above said, is the determining cause,
and, no matter how complex the compound, that must
always depend on the property of the ultimate atoms
of which it is composed. The potentiality, therefore,
of all possible powers of compounds to be developed

216 FORCE HAS NO DETERMINING POWER.

by the union of the property of chemical affinity and
the force of chemical attraction must always be traced
back to the inherent properties of the ultimate ele-
ments. Therefore, although force is essential to all the
physical and chemical states of aggregation and com-
bination known to us, it is incapable of being the
directive or formative cause of any of them. The
spherical form of small masses of fluid is not caused
by any " force of sphericity" forming them into that
shape, but simply results from the adhesive attraction
of the molecules overbalancing their weight ; and the
shape of a crystal is not from any formative power of
"a force of crystallization," but simply from the
attractions and polarities of the molecules depending
on their specific properties coming into play on a given
diminution of the repulsion of heat. And so on
through the world of variety of chemical compounds,.
in no case is mere force, or " that which is expended
in the production of motion," the determining cause of
any form, shape, or specific affinity.* I may conclude-

* The foregoing views on the necessity of the radical distinction of
property and force being always kept in view, and the impossibility of
any directive power in mere force, were published in 1871. It is onlj
in biology that difficulties are apt to occur, and render such observa-
tions necessary ; accordingly the subject is seldom touched upon by
the mathematical physicists, but in July, 1872, Mr. James Croll wrote
a paper in the " Philosophical Magazine," entitled " What Determines
Molecular Motion ?" which has great interest for us here as bearing on-
the subject. Mr. Croll has since stated that he published similar views-
fifteen years ago, in his book on " Theism," which I have not seen : it
is now out of print. In answer to the above question, Mr. Croll en-
larges on the prevalent error of attributing everything to force, and
insists that far more depends on the determination of force than upon
its existence ; " and therefore, unless force be determined by force, the
most important element in physical causation is a something different
from force." This he reasons out, and concludes that " the action of
a force cannot be determined by a force, nor can motion be determined

DIAGRAM OF FORCE AND PROPERTY. 217"

by illustrating, with the diagram formerly given, the
above views of the subordinate nature of force in the
development of the secondary properties of matter,
and its dependence on the determining powers of the-
inherent properties of matter in all cases : —

The properties of matter Force, in all its forms,

according to its kind probably

Determining Powers. Motion.

Action, or Work.

The application of the foregoing to our subject is.
obvious, and it is unnecessary to go into detail in
showing that the expressions of physicists who speak
of force derived from the sun, or elsewhere, forming
and building organic or any other structures, are
merely figurative, and that all they really mean is that
the quantity of " that which is expended in the pro-
duction of motion," which is essential to the existence-
of all material compounds, protoplasm or other, is-
thence derived. In a passage to this effect, Tyndall
says plainly that "the energy is conditioned by its
atomic machinery, so as to result in the formation of,""
&c. This is entirely overlooked by Beale in com-
menting on the said passage, as if force per se was the
directing agency. I have no doubt that when TyndalL
comes to study the question for himself, and not to-
by motion :" nor can there exist any " structural" or " formative""
forces, nor " crystal-building" force, &c. ; nor can force be self- direct-
ing. In the formation of a crystal, all that the forces can do is simply
to pull ; but it is the specific property of the constituent particles
which directs the forces how and where to pull. "The production of
form and arrangement of parts by a force is what never is, or was, or-
can be effected."

218 BE ALE'S VITAL FORCE OR POWER.

take his physiology from text-books, which echo the
voice of the party which may be in fashion for the day,
he will then see that no atomic machinery could pos-
sibly so condition the forces as to grow and act like
living matter, except an atomic combination, utterly
distinct from all ordinary chemical compounds, such as
that now called protoplasm. He will then understand
Beale's merits and position better, and, at the same
time, I trust Beale will be brought to see that his
"vital power or force," which is certainly not a force,
and which he himself denies to be an immaterial
essence or principle, superadded to protoplasm, is as
superfluous as it is unintelligible.

Dr. Beale through all his numerous writings speaks
of life as a force or power, and in his third edition of
"Protoplasm," 1874, he thus states the question be-
tween the vitalists and non-vitalists : — " Let me first
state broadly the two antagonistic and incompatible
doctrines concerning the nature of everything that is
alive. The one which is undoubtedly just now the
most popular, is, that living matter and non-living
matter alike consist of the ordinary matter and forces
of our earth, and that the living and the non-living
should be included in the same category. The other
is, that in things living, in addition to inorganic
matter and inorganic forces, is what may be termed
vital force or power, which, unlike any ordinary force,
is separable from the matter with which it is tem-
porarily associated, and therefore is in its nature
essentially different from every form, or mode, or
mood of ordinary inorganic force" (p. 17). -In other
places he terms it a "separable living force " and

ON THE WORD POWER. 219

again, " a power, force, or property of a special kind ;"
and he protests against the ridicule with which, he
says, these opinions are received. I am one of the last
who would be disposed to ridicule any opinion coming
from such a source, but I think comment is allowable.
In the first place, the words life, force, and power are
•used in such a variety of senses, that, to anatyze
them all, would take too long, and lead to repetition,
so I may refer to the former part of this chapter, where
life is defined as an action, and therefore can be neither
a force nor a power : force, again, is, as above said,
always separable from matter in idea, and active forces
are so in reality, and Beale himself constantly argues
against the physico-chemical school that life cannot be
a force in the only proper physical sense of the word.
So he simply uses the word force, and also property,
as synonymous with power. Now the word power is
in common life used in a triple sense, meaning at one
time the ability to do a thing if the force were
furnished ; at another, simply the force necessary for
the work ; in a third, both together. In the sense of
force it has already been illustrated. Dr. Beale uses
it ambiguously, but often in the last sense, for he
attributes to living matter a power of spontaneous
movement, while at the same time he denies that it
can create force, and is thus inconsistent. But at any
rate it is always with him a something separable from
matter, yet not a force ; which can cause matter with
force to grow, develop, and form structures simul-
taneously in all their parts, which shall be harmonious
when complete, and parts of which structures shall be
of no use for perhaps years after they are formed, and

220 BEALE'S VITAL POWER A DEMIURGOS.

then spontaneously take on in perfection their pre-
ordained functions. Such a power, if separable from
matter, must be an entity, and not only one with
power, but intelligence — a demiurgos, in fact. At the
same time, Beale expressly cuts himself off from the
more consistent forms of the older vital principlists,
for he rejects the vegetative, sensitive, and rational
principles, which, being central, might be supposed
more capable of watching over the harmony of the
separate parts, and the unity of the individual. On
the contrary, Beale's vital power inhabits only the
individual separate molecules, and cannot be trans-
ferred to the smallest distance, nor pass from one piece
of matter to another, except by descent. He is thus-
in exactly the same, difficulty as the physiological
materialists were as to the process of building up of
the higher orders of individualities and constituting
species, before the theory of Darwin, for on this he
looks askance. Unless, indeed, he considers the com-
munication by descent a saving clause, and thus the
development of all parts from the ovum by growth
and subdivision gives the vital power that central har-
monizing influence ; but again, if so, what is it but the
old vital principle ? The supposition of such a power
is no help in the explanation of any phenomena, as it
stands in need of explanation just as much as they do,
and we fear it is nothing but one more example of
"the insuperable tendency of human mind to per-
sonify its abstractions."* Its position over against the

* Fletcher frequently brings forward this saying, quoting from
Barthez, -who gives us one of the best illustrations of the truth of it,.
for he was the inventor of the term " vital principle," and the meaning
attached to it.

NO SUCH THING AS VITAL FORCE. 221

theory of Fletcher will, I think, be made more plain
in reviewing, in the same sense as Dr. Beale, the
physico-chemical theories of a vital force supposed to
be correlative with the physical forces. Professor
Owen speaks of vital modes of force correlative with
physical and chemical modes of force, and conveys the
idea that otherwise inanimate matter — of the tissues,
for example — can show the phenomena of life when
under the influence of these forces, and cease to do so
when they are withdrawn, just as a piece of steel may
act as a magnet or not. This same idea, although not
so openly expressed, pervades the ordinary physico-
chemical school, who are not prepared to allow that
the proximate principles do not exist as such in the
protoplasm. But apart from the origin of these pecu-
liar forces, it is easy to show that nothing of the nature
of a force can possibly have the power attributed to
them. For, in the case of harmonic vibration, as when
a bell or stretched wire gives out the same note that is
sung or played, the force of the sound- vibration of the
air passes to the bell or wire, which is capable of vibra-
ting at the same rate. In this case the strength of the
voice sound is weakened by exactly the amount of
force transferred from the aerial vibrating particles to
the solid ones. Precisely the same happens when par-
ticular light vibrations are intercepted by harmonically
vibrating gaseous particles in the phenomenon of spec-
trum analysis. The same happens in the radiation of
heat, and numerous other examples. In all these there
is simply a transfer of force. But in magnetization of
iron by blows, or the development of heat or electricity
by friction, or in fluorization, there is also transformation

222 CHANGE OF COMPOSITION IN ALL VITAL ACTS.

of force, still, however, within the strict condition of
equivalence. In all these instances there is no change
of composition of the molecules — no chemical change.
The particles of the wire or bell, or magnet, or Huore-
scent body, are merely set in motion, and when the force
is withdrawn, they return unchanged to their former
state, and will serve the same purpose again- and again
according to their inherent inexhaustible properties.

Quite otherwise is it with the vital acts. No tissue
or organ can take on any vital action and cease to
manifest it as influenced by any equivalent transforma-
tion of force ; muscular contraction, apparently so con-
ditioned, is already excepted from vital action. In all
vital action force acts merely as a stimulus not at all
in equivalence to the result, and that result is deter-
mined solely by the pre-existing properties of the
organic compound — properties not possessed by albu-
men, fibrin, protein, or any chemical proximate principle.
A change of molecular composition also takes place in
every vital act, as above frequently insisted on, and
one that is wholly beyond the capacity of any force to
cause non-living matter to undergo. So the idea that
any possible form or mode of what we know as force
compelling albumen to take on the utterly peculiar
metabolic changes of the living matter is as impossible
as, and more absurd than, the notion of turning lead
into gold, by heating, or stamping, or by any force or
movement whatever. Even supposing it possible that
any peculiar force called vital could animate albumen,
the ordinary school who believe albumen to exist in
living matter, forget to tell us how this force originates
out of ordinary force. But it is needless to dilate on

EEVIVAL OF THE VITAL PRINCIPLE AS FORCE. 223

the inconsistencies of an hypothesis which is never
really expressed in intelligible terms, and from what
has been said of the want of directive or formative
powers in all force, Dr. Beale's arguments against the
school who uphold protein, animated by a peculiar
force correlative with heat and motion, as constituting
living matter, are in reality superfluous. It is more to-
the purpose to notice that those who assume to be
representatives of the material theory of life, and ridi-
cule Dr. Beale's separable vital powers, do really them-
selves revive the old vital principle under a new name
when they speak of a formative or constructive force
residing in living beings. Or if that is not their
meaning, they express themselves in a manner certain
to mislead. Of this I have already* given examples
taken from Dr. Carpenter's " Correlation of the Physical
and Vital Forces/'f where he speaks of " organizing
force," " constructive force," and "various forms of vital
force," which are said to be derived from external
heat and from food, all which terms and expressions
are quite inadmissible. Sir James PagetJ also speaks-
of a " formative or vital force by which the energy in
food is directed in transforming the matter of food."
This force in the adult is, he says, the same " which
actuated the formation of the original tissues in the
development of the germ and of the embryo " (46).
Again, he says that this " vital or formative force is in
constant operation," and "under its direction," forms
and dimensions are assumed which depend also on the

* " Life and Equivalence of Force," p. 190.

t "Quarterly Journal of Science," 1864.

j " Lectures on Surgical Pathology," 3rd edit., 1870.

MISUSE OF THE WORD FORCE.

composition of the pabulum, &c. We might, perhaps,
suppose that the word "force" was here used, like the
vis insita or nisus formativus of the older authors, to
express a power depending on the properties of the
organized matters, but, unfortunately, just at this point
is given a note with the whole citations of the doctrine
of the conservation 01 force from Mayer to Bence
Jones. It is therefore impossible but that the student
should be misled into supposing that something existed
correlative with physical force and called a force, but
credited with powers far beyond the capability of any
force and hitherto only ascribed to imaginary entities
like the vital principle. The most singular application
of the idea of vital force is that of Dr. Maudsley, who
•says :* —

" As there are different kinds of matter so there are different
modes of force in the universe ; and as we rise from the com-
mon physical matter in which physical laws hold sway up to
chemical matter and chemical forces, and from chemical matter
again up'to living matter and its modes of force, so do we rise
in the scale of life from the lowest kind of living matter with
its corresponding force or energy, through different kinds of his-
tological elements with their corresponding energies or functions,
up to the highest kind of living matter and corresponding mode
of force with which we are acquainted, viz., nerve element and
nerve force " (68). In illustrating this " upward transformation
of matter and correlative metamorphosis of force," he says,
" As one equivalent of chemical force corresponds to several
equivalents of inferior force, and one equivalent of vital force
to several equivalents of chemical force," &c. And again, " A
.single monad of the higher tissues would equal several monads
of the lower kinds of tissue or several equivalents of its force."

From what has been said, it is obvious I must totally

_* "Physiology and Pathology of Mind," 2nd edit.

VITAL FORCE A MISLEADING TERM. 225

dissent from the whole of this, and to give reasons in
full would be simple repetition. It would be interest-
ing to hear an example of the chemical force which is
equal to several equivalents of "inferior" force, an
expression which I cannot understand. Beyond that
the word " force " is simply used instead of property,
and the expression equivalent is out of place ; other-
wise, if the potential energy of the more highly
organized forms of protoplasm were really greater in
proportion there would be no difficulty in finding it
out and measuring it in heat units at death. Imagine
the tremendous energy shut up in the brain cells of a
man, to be discharged at the moment of death ! why
his skull would surely be blown to pieces ! Seriously,
there is no reason to suppose that the more complex
and highly organized protoplasm contains more poten-
tial energy than some of the tissues and secretions.
On the contrary, it is probable that the haemoglobin
and some other quaternary compounds are of higher
potential energy, and it is certain that fat is, and the
uncombined elements are higher than that. It is cer-
tainly not impossible that there may be some organic
compound of higher potential energy than the uncom-
bined elements, for such occurs in some chemical com-
pounds (e.g., carburet of sulphur and protoxide of
nitrogen) ; but none is known as far as I am aware.
To conclude this part of the subject ; the expression
vital force is false and misleading in every way, and in
respect to the characteristic powers of living matter,
the law of conservation and equivalence of energy has
no more direct bearing than in analytical chemistry.
In the constitution of the protoplasm force is, indeed,

15

226 WHERE BEALE AND FLETCHER DIFFER.

necessary, but not more so than to the simplest chemical
compound. Force is to life as the organ-blower to the-
musician — essential, indeed, but utterly subordinate.

There remain still a few words to be said on the
really slight difference which divides the protoplasmic
theory from that of Beale, but though slight at the
origin, yet just as two streams close to each other at
the watershed, soon diverge widely, the difference
leads to a total estrangement in their views of general
philosophy. Beale and Fletcher both believe that the
protoplasm is the sole seat of vitality, and both believe
that the ultimate elements composing it are not
chemically combined into the proximate principles we
find therein after death. With Fletcher this difference
of composition is simply taken as the cause of the
different properties of dead and living matter. But
with Beale that is not allowed to be sufficient, and a
" separable force or power " is postulated. This, he
admits, cannot be a force, nor does he allow it to be a
result of the properties of protoplasm, therefore it must
be an entity. When new living matter is formed from
pabulum, a portion of this separable force or power is
supposed to be transmitted from the pre-existing living
matter which has the faculty of creating an unlimited
quantity of it out of nothing, while at death it is again
annihilated, contrary to what obtains of ordinary
force, which may change its form, but cannot cease or
be annihilated (" Microscope," p. 324). Some forms of
vital power, however, are immortal, viz., that in the
gray matter of man's brain " may be freed from the
material and yet exist without cessation, extinction, or
annihilation." Putting aside for the present this.

QUALITIES NOT SUPERADDED ESSENCES. 227

reference to the soul of man which he has no warrant for
placing in the same category as mere life, which latter wo
possess in common with animals and plants and which
is certainly mortal, this revival of a spiritual principle
or essence of whose nature we can form no conception
and which explains nothing, is a very strange thing in
the present day. If we build a house we do not
require to add a separable force or power of edificiality,
nor if we make any chemical compound is any such,
thing additional necessary to give it its special qualities.
The living actions, says Dr. Beale, cannot be explained
by the properties of the matter of the protoplasm,
these are permanent endowments, while the vital pro-
perties are superadded temporarily, and when removed
cannot be restored. The properties of sugar or quinine-
may just as well be said to depend on the addition of
a power of saccharinity, or of bitterness and fluor-
escence, for these properties are no more permanent than
those of protoplasm. The moment these bodies are
decomposed, the said properties are gone. But, says
Dr. Beale, you can make these bodies again, and
in that case the said properties would be there again,,
and thus they may be said to be permanent, whereas
you never can make protoplasm again when once de-
stroyed. As a matter of fact, we cannot make sugar
or quinine again when once destroyed, and may never
be able to do so, and we may grant that we never shall
make protoplasm, but that does not alter the reasoning
that if these compounds are by any means put together,
they would manifest their specific properties, the one
dead and the other living. There is no break in the
reasoning. The truth is, that all Dr. Beale's reasonings.

15—2

228 VITALITY COINCIDENT WITH ORGANISM.

on this point are simply variations of one single argu-
ment, viz., the power of self-renewal from heterogeneous
material and of germinal development, are so contrary
to all the ordinary chemical powers of matter, that it
is impossible to conceive that any possible complexity
of molecular constitution, or state of affinity such as
here called metabolic, could produce such effects with-
out the addition of a superadded immaterial entity.
It would be easy to quote pages in support of the
statement that this is his position, but it would be
superfluous. The question is not susceptible of proof
by argument, and the material theory rests simply on
the fact that vitality is never found without proto-
plasm, and the latter never exists in its integrity
without vitality, and yields nothing but ordinary
matter on its destruction. If you assume a spiritual
principle in addition, whose existence is beyond proof
to the senses, you are bound to show why the same
should not be assumed as the cause of the special
qualities of ordinary chemical compounds. The differ-
ence between Fletcher and Beale is entirely on a
hypothetical point, which can never be brought to any
issue or submitted to the test of experiment, whereas
on all practical subjects they are agreed — both vitalists
in the sense that true living matter is a substance
existing in a state quite different from that of ordinary
chemical combination, reacting with ordinary matter
and force in a way entirely sui generis and incapable
of entering into any chemical combination without
destruction. The summary of the difference between
Fletcher and the physiological materialists on the one
hand, and Beale on the other, is simply that the one

BE ALE'S DENIAL OF VITALITY AS A PROPERTY. 229

party profess they do not know to what extent the
properties of matter may be developed — even to the
extent of producing the phenomena of life — while the
other, Beale and the vital- prineiplists, profess to know
with certainty that a new principle is required. Under
these circumstances, we read with surprise the con-
clusion of Beale 's chapter vii. of 3d edition of " Proto-
plasm." "Any one who will contemplate such an
arrangement of tissues as that which may be demon-
strated in a specimen like the one figured [tongue of
Hyla], will not rest satisfied with attributing it to the
' properties ' of the elements entering into the chemical
composition of the substances out of which it has been
made. The l property ' hypothesis accounts for abso-
lutely nothing. Its advocates are unable to explain
how one of the tissues has grown into the form it
ultimately takes, how it acquired its structure, or how
it came into relation with adjacent textures. No
wonder the disciples of 'property' philosophy pride
themselves upon the interest they take in the broad
general features, and try to make the public believe
that they have reason to look down upon minute
details and contemptuously disregard the facts demon-
strated by those who study the structure of the bodies
of living beings.

' The simple fool is he who knows that he'does not know,
The compound fool is he who does not know that he does
not know.' "

I apprehend that Fletcher belongs not to the second
category, though he need not be ashamed to be classed
with the many wise, and good, and great who confess
to the first.

230 CONSCIOUSNESS AND FORCE HAVE

Relation of Consciousness to Force. — " Thought,"
says Fletcher,"* "is not, any more than life, anything
substantial, but an abstract term by which are signi-
fied certain phenomena peculiar to the higher orders
of living beings, and necessarily resulting from one
property of their organism, viz., the faculty of thinking
in action" (p. 92). " The alleged proof advanced by
Malebranche that ideas must be substantial, since they
have distinct properties, is quite untenable. Ideas
have no properties. They are nothing but a mode of
existence of the thinking organ, acted upon by its
proper stimulus, and no more substantial than com-
bustion or motion, which are, in like manner, modes of
existence of the thing burning or the thing in motion"
(p. 113). " We know matter, it is said, only by its
properties, extension, impenetrability, &c. ; and we
know mind also only by its properties, reason and
passion; and where the two sets of properties are so
decidedly dissimilar, they must indicate, it is 'argued,
different entities. Thought, therefore, may be attached
to matter, but it cannot be a mode of being of matter,
since matter in no case betrays those indications by
which we recognize mind. In no other case, certainly,
for in no other case is the organization of matter such
as to be susceptible of this mode of being "f (p. 92).
Such are the opinions of Fletcher on the much-vexed

* " Rudiments of Physiology," Part III.

t " If thought is to be called a function of matter, it must be ac-
knowledged to be a function -wholly peculiar and unlike any other"
(" As Regards Protoplasm," 2nd edit., p. 46). Well, why not ? The
spiritualists tacitly assume that merely to state the proposition is to
prove thought to be the function of an inconceivable something called
spirit, of which they, as men of science, know nothing, and can know
nothing.

NO MECHANICAL EQUIVALENCE. 231

question of the relation of mind to matter, and I ap-
prehend they are in harmony with what is expressed,
but not better expressed, by the majority of philoso-
phical thinkers of this day. I do not propose to enter
on the vast and intricate question of the nature of
mind, but merely to comment on the relation of one of
its phenomena, viz., Consciousness, to force. We may
pass by a large number of truly mental phenomena as
not being necessarily attended with consciousness, and
in these the relation of the transformation of Energy,
or the doing of work, is probably the same as obtains
in ordinary vital or metabolic action, viz., the ingo of
force through stimuli and pabulum exactly balances
the outgo in the form of heat, mechanical movement,
and the potential energy still remaining in the living
matter, or its products, while nothing is counted for
the peculiar properties given by the state of organism.
All the discharges of the reflex and coinmissural
stimuli which are essential to bring into play the
numerous elements of the very simplest act of thought,
whether conscious or not, and the forcing the atoms
into new positions, implied probably by memory, and
all expression of thought and emotion, whether by
voluntary or involuntary movement, or by sympathetic
stimulation, have to do with work obviously enough.
But it is with consciousness that the true difficulty
lies. Is it allowable to suppose that with each act of
consciousness there is a consumption of a given amount
of energy and reappearance of it again, as heat, or
other mode of force, on the cessation of consciousness ?
Can we admit the propriety of Mr. Huxley's expres-
sion, " the mechanical equivalent of consciousness ?" I

232 CONSCIOUSNESS NOT WORK

apprehend not ; and it seems to me that the parallel
mode of expression would be the " mechanical equiva-
lent of fire," not of heat. The pursuit of this analogy
may lead us up to the point where mind and energy
can be seen to diverge. To the ancients, with whom
fire was an element, the analogy between it and life
was always deemed close, and their ideas survive even
to this day in the popular and poetical terms applied
to life. But with the rise of modern science the
notions of a special substance, called fire, or of any
occult qualities connected with combustion, have been
dissipated. The phenomena are presumed to be ac-
counted for when we describe the new compounds
formed during the chemical combination of the com-
bustible and oxygen, and measure the active force
evolved as heat and light. Nothing is counted for any
perception by the elements themselves of the mutual
influence of their affinities. There is nothing to cor-
respond to fire. It has no existence except as a word
describing phenomena whose causes and consequents
are otherwise sufficiently accounted for. Combustion
may stand for the type of all strictly chemical and
physical processes in the world : in none of them, as-
far as we know, is there any phenomenon like per-
ception by themselves of the action taking place
between the different elements. When we advance to
the infinitely more complicated molecular state of
living matter, we still find in the whole functions of
organic life the same relations of matter and force.
The involutions of the self-renewing protoplasm, and
its subdivision, growth, and development, the deposition
of tissue and secretion, and all the functions in animals

BUT AN INCIDENTAL PHENOMENON. 233

depending on involuntary motion and organic sym-
pathy, fully account for all the matter and force,
entering in as pabulum, stimuli, and conditions, in the
form of results (granting, of course, that the mere
fashion of molecular arrangement can account for
properties so different from common chemical ones),
without any consciousness of perception. Even when
we rise to the reflex actions closely connected with
sensation, the central nerve cells of the spinal cord
may be so organized that harmonized groups of mus-
cular movements may be performed on the application
of a stimulus without any consciousness. And beyond
that even, as above said, certain processes of thought
may take place without consciousness. In all these
cases the transformation of force as work done in dis-
charge of nerve force, in nutrition and secretion, in
growth of new protoplasm, and in forcing atoms into
new positions in the molecular organization of existing
protoplasm, is an essential and integral link in every
process. But now we come upon a totally new
phenomenon. In the most highly-organized matter,
viz., the gray matter of the sensorium, not only do the
stimuli cause the same metabolic, or vito-chemical
molecular changes as in other nerve protoplasm, but
now, for the first time in the long history of the deve-
lopment of new properties by the complexity of mole-
cular constitution, we meet with that of conscious
perception of those very molecular reactions. It is,
therefore, not a link in the chain of material trans-
formations, but an incidental phenomenon manifested
in certain changes, whose causes and results are other-
wise fully accounted for. It seems to be a property

234 CONSCIOUSNESS IS PASSIVE.

only perceptibly manifested when a certain degree of
activity of metabolic change is going on in its peculiar
kind of nerve protoplasm, which, like all other, is
liable to a plus and minus of degrees of activity,
according to the degree of stimulation, and in propor-
tion to these it appears susceptible of exhaustion and
fatigue from action and regeneration during rest. The
phenomenon of Consciousness may be likened to a
loud sound, or a brilliant light accompanying the
working of a steam-engine, but for which no deduction
is to be made from work done. To carry out the
analogy, however, the sound and light would need to
be inaudible and invisible, except to the machine
itself, and then we see that no force can be expended
on it. So with consciousness : it is a purely passive
phenomenon, and has no power of making its existence
known except through transformation of pre-existing
force residing in the protoplasm and pabulum, of whose
reaction it is itself an incidental phenomenon. It is,
therefore, not work, and does not consist in transforma-
tion of force, and cannot be said in any sense to have
u mechanical equivalent, inasmuch as it is not con-
vertible into any mode of force.* Consciousness thus

* It may be likened to the action of a mirror in reflecting the rays
of light, or to a pillar supporting a statue, or to a vessel inclosing a
gas at a higher pressure than without. In all these the inexhaustible
properties of matter are alone in play, but if the light were absorbed,
•or the pillar yielded, or the vessel burst, expenditure of force would
take place, and work be done. If, therefore, any disappearance of
force took place during consciousness, unaccounted for by the heat,
•work, and products of cerebral action, and reappeared again as heat, or
other force on its cessation, then we might speak of consciousness in
connection witk the word work. As it is, no such, consumption of
force is proved to take place, and therefore consciousness must belong
to the properties of matter, not to force, although it can only be mani-
fested during a certain extremely complex series of metabolic changes,
for which, however, force is essential as a subordinate factor.

THOUGHT A FUNCTION OF MATTER. 235

belongs to the properties, not the forces, of matter, if
to matter at all, and is equally out of the province of
d priori investigation with the qualities of the sether
and the atoms which must be postulated as the neces-
sary foundations of all scientific inquiry. Already, on
certain simple hypotheses of the aether and atoms, an
intelligible theory of the whole physical world is being
built up, and glimpses are seen of similar explanations
of chemical action. The vital and mental modes of
being of matter are not yet intelligible on any
hypothesis of the nature of the atoms, but we have
the same grounds of experience for putting them into
the category material as we have for the chemical
functions of atoms.

If experience so teaches, we must postulate that the
Almighty created matter and force so constituted that
by their reaction they were capable of producing the
whole phenomena, not only of physics, chemistry, and
life, but even of mind ; and if He pleased so to do, who
shall gainsay Him ? It is for us to investigate and
understand His works, as far as our faculties enable
us, and not to criticize or place limits to His power.
The arguments that the brain is not merely the sub-
stratum whereon some unknown entity may rest, have
been reviewed again lately by Claude Bernard, who
concludes almost in the words of Cabanis : " The brain
is the organ of the mind in the same sense as the heart
is the organ of the circulation, or the larynx is the
organ of the voice" (385).* At the same time, he
makes no pretension to understand how it acts in
thought and consciousness. It is needless to recapitu-
late these arguments, as they are accessible through

* "Revue des Deux Mondes," Mare, 1872.

236 MIND KNOWN TO US ONLY AS

most works on physiology. They are strengthened,
also, by facts long known, on which the scientific part
of phrenology is founded, as well as by the more recent
experiments showing the localization of different
faculties in the brain. They are also illustrated by
the observations of the eminent mathematical physicist
Professor Tait, although, certainly, these were made
for a different purpose. When asked " to face the
question, where to draw the line between that which
is physical and that which is utterly beyond physics,
again our answer is, experience alone can tell us, for
experience is our only possible guide/' He defines
the proper field of physics " as concerned solely with
matter and energy and the phenomena depending
upon these ;" and adds, " All our reasonings in physics
must, so far as we know, be based upon the assump-
tion, founded on experience, that in the universe,
whatever be the epoch or the locality, under exactly
similar circumstances exactly similar results will be
obtained " (" Brit. Assoc.," 1872, p. 7). I submit that
experience shows this to obtain of the animated world
also, for throughout the whole of it, both plant and
animal, a similar structure and composition produce
exactly similar results, both bodily and mental ; ex-
cept as regards the immortal soul of man, and there all
knowledge from experience is wanting. I will go
farther, and say, that if a Frankenstein could construct
some animal — say a dog or an elephant — particle for
particle, exactly the material counterpart of some
existing one, it would have exactly the same, not only
bodily appearance and powers, but also mental powers,
including memory and acquired habits. All experi-

A FUNCTION OF MATERIAL BEINGS. 237

ence teaches us that countless myriads of generations
of the lower animals, made up of certain complex
material compounds, live, and move, and display con-
scious thought in their day, and then as individuals,
perish utterly, like a rain-drop, a crystal, or a salt,
whose elements are dispersed; while their specific
powers depend as much on the matter they are com-
posed of as these simpler powers of a stone or an acid.
Who shall gainsay this ? Not, certainly, the physical
philosopher, who has no experience except with matter,
and knows nothing, and can know nothing, from ex-
perience of the existence of spirits. When, therefore,
Professor Tait applies the term " pernicious nonsense
of the materialist" to the deduction that volition and
consciousness depend on modes of being of matter, he
either commits the mistake exposed by Fletcher at the
beginning of this section, viz., that because inorganic
compounds of matter do not show life or mind, there-
fore no other mode of combination such as protoplasm
can; or else he falls into the common error of con-
founding the immortal soul granted to man alone,
with the life and mind of mere animals. This ques-
tion will be touched on more specially in the last
chapter of this work.

We must not disguise the fact that the view of con-
sciousness as an incidental and passive phenomenon,
still further increases, in a physiological sense, the
difficulty of comprehending freedom of the will, for
how can the pleasing nature or the reverse of a feeling
take effect on the next step in the chain of actions
culminating in the discharge of nerve force to produce
voluntary or involuntary action ? Here Dr. Beale's

238 THE WILL CANNOT CEEATE FORCE.

hypothesis of " vital force or power " gives us 110 help,
for as we have seen, it is not a force, and he affirms it
is not an entity ; and, moreover, whether or not, it
cannot originate any force to express itself. For he
upholds the doctrine of the conservation of energy, and
denies that the said vital power can create force, and
declares that every expression of thought, including of
course reflex central stimulation, requires the death of
bioplasm and evolution of pre-existing energy. No
physicist, as far as I am aware, meets this except
J. Herschel, who plainly gives to the will of animals
the power of creating energy, although the quantity
may be very small each time. If so this is capable of
proof, for the food of an animal should yield more work
or heat when consumed by it, than when its potential
energy is used in any other way. No such proof has
been given, so no other physicist has admitted an ex-
ception to the law of conservation of energy, merely to
get over a physiological difficulty. However, although
no solution of the difficulty is yet offered by physiolo-
gists, yet we must remember we do not know why the
perception of one stimulus should be pleasing or the
reverse. That no doubt lies in the nature of the mole-
cular change set up by it, but of the nature of that
change nothing is known except by its effects, which,
however, are -equally perceptible in vital action un-
attended with consciousness. Therefore the cause of
avoidance of things causing disagreeable feelings may
lie in the vital action of which consciousness is the
passive perception, and thus no greater difficulty is
opposed to freedom of choice than is already given by
the non-existence of spontaneous action without

LEIBNITZ'S MONADOLOGIE.

stimuli. Consciousness is thus here stated to be quite
inexplicable by all that is otherwise known of the
reactions of matter and force, and therefore referred to
a new manifestation of the properties of matter in the
peculiar and complex compound in which it is shown,
while the potentiality of it must, of course, have ex-
isted in the elements going to form that compound.*

* Leibnitz, in his " Monadologie," traces back the germs of con-
sciousness to the ultimate atoms of matter, which he holds to be indi-
visible and possessing different qualities or properties, which consist
essentially in perception; and that the higher living beings are made
up of myriads of monads, each with a sort of perception of its own,
only of lower intensity than belonged to the central monad predominant
in a group and called the soul, or mind, or spirit. If these speculations
give us no explanation of the difficulty in. any scientific sense, yet they
show us how the greatest minds have striven to bridge over the gulf
between mind and matter without the arbitrary supposition of an im-
material substance added to matter. The remarks of Fletcher on this
point are as follows : " The mode of existence in which perception in.
its most circumscribed and simplest form, as displayed by inorganic
matter, consists, is exalted in irritation to another mode of existence,
in which the character of the perception is altogether changed ; one
step farther and the perception becomes such as to be, not, indeed,
directly acknowledged by any outward manifestations, but to be
for the first time more or less distinctly recognized by the per-
cipient itself. The creature exercising it is not yet mentally in-
dividualized ; it is not yet rendered distinctly aware of its own
existence as a result of this mode of existence ; but it is approaching
such a sense of individuality— such an apprehension of its own being
and attributes. If it be denied that any mode of being like perception
can develop consciousness, it may be reasonably asked, how do we
know that ? Nay, how do we know, on the other hand, that every
mode of being does not develop this condition in a degree more or less
proportioned to its more or less exalted character ? We are accustomed
to think of consciousness only as connected with thought, and that
highest degree of consciousness which constitutes thought in ourselves
under ordinary circumstances, absorbs all minor degrees, and is, as it
were, identified with our collective existence. ' We think, therefore,
we are.' But what right have we to assert that no other degree of
consciousness can exist, or be certain that that degree of consciousness
which attends sensation, or even that extreme degree of it which con-
stitutes thought, cannot result from any mode of being of either the
whole or a part of our body, because no such consciousness- results
from any other mode of being ? How do we know this ? As indi-
vidualized by the exercise of thought, we cannot appreciate any minor-

24*0 PHYSIOLOGICAL MATERIALISM.

This is substantially the view taken by most of the
physiological materialists, although from the ways they
express themselves, the relation of the phenomenon to
force is ambiguous. Thus Mr. Huxley makes the
mental dependent on the physical change, calling the
former psychosis, and the latter neurosis ; but, as we
have seen, he speaks of the mechanical equivalent of
consciousness. Fechner, Bain, and Lewes speak of
them as two different sides of the same phenomenon —
as of the convex and concave side of a curve. Mauds-
ley, we have seen, speaks of higher kinds of energy
involved in central operations in a way, we have en-
deavoured to show, is inconsistent with the nature of
physical force. He says, also, there is a fallacy in the
axiom of Cabanis, because " it is plain that the
tangible results of the brain's activity, the waste mat-
ters which pass into the blood for assimilation by
tissues of a lower kind, and for ultimate excretion
from the body, might not less rightly be called the
secretion of the brain, and be compared to the bile,
than the intangible energy revealed in the mental
phenomena" (p. 42). This, taken in connection with
the views Maudsley has just expressed respecting the
higher kinds of energy above spoken of, leave us in
doubt whether he does not look upon mind as in some
way correlated with physical force, in which case the

-degree of consciousness, either in ourselves or other beings ; but some
•degree of this state, appreciable by the beings or part of the beings, in
•which it takes place, is perhaps so far from never resulting from any,
that it always results from every mode of existence. There is no real
violence done, then, by the apparently abrupt introduction, as a result
of a certain mode of being, even of that degree of consciousness which
constitutes thought, and, still less, of that minor degree which con-
stitutes sensation" (iii. p. 11).

CABANIS AND MAUDSLEY. 241

fallacy can hardly be said to lie with. Cabanis, whose
expression is : " In order to have a just idea of thought,
it is proper to consider the brain as an organ speci-
fically adapted to produce it, in the same way as the
stomach and intestines are adapted to produce diges-
tion." There is here no such fallacy as Dr. Maudsley
speaks of, and it is free from the ambiguity respecting
force. In fact, it is identical with the conclusion not only
of Claude Bernard, but of Dr. Maudsley himself, as ex-
pressed at page 44, thus — " Nevertheless, it must be
distinctly laid down that mental action is as surely
dependent on the nervous structure as the function of
the liver confessedly is on the hepatic structure — that
is the fundamental upon which the fabric of a mental
science must rest." Professor Bain, whom we may
count the highest authority, rejects the supposition of
a spiritual substance between the material and the im-
material shores of mental phenomena. Indeed, this
once so common notion (of an immaterial entity) ap-
pears to rest on the idea that, as we know much about
ordinary matter, all of which is totally dissimilar from
mind, it is difficult to imagine that as belonging in any
way to matter ; while, as we know absolutely nothing
about spiritual substances, it is easy to clothe them
with any powers we like.* But the language of Pro-

* This is illustrated by the expressions of Mr. Ponton (" The Be-
ginning,") who adopts substantially Dr. Beale's "vital power or force,"
under the name of " somewhats," or " organizers." He says it is not
necessary to have two kinds of " somewhats," one for giving mental
power, and the other for organizing the lower bodily parts. Then, at
page 314, he says — " The circumstance that volition is exercised con-
sciously, and organizing power unconsciously, is not enough to warrant
our regarding these two as being exerted by wholly distinct essences."
He had just said that it was idle to attribute mental phenomena to
material elements ; but he has no difficulty in attributing various dis-

16

242 SPIRIT INCONCEIVABLE TO TJS.

fessor Bain is also ambiguous, for although he says,.
" We have every reason for believing that there is an

tinct powers to " essences." To be sure he knows a great deal about
material elements, but, alas ! what does he, or any one else, know
about essences ? And yet how easily he settles how much each par-
ticular essence can do! Many persons — not, of course, including the
above-named — confound immaterial with spiritual. All force and
action, every event or process, including life and mind, are, of course^
immaterial in one sense, although dependent on matter. A spirit is
supposed to be a substance capable of existence per se, but without the
inherent properties of matter, and is therefore spoken of as an imma-
terial substance. The word immaterial has here a different sense.
But of such an immaterial substance the human mind can form no true
conception. For I hold as irrefragable the aphorism of Aristotle,
" Nihil est in intellectu quod non fuit prius in sensu ;" especially as
rendered by Fletcher — viz., the human mind can conceive nothing, the
elements of which were not first perceived through the senses. For
instance, we can imagine golden mountains, mermaids, flying fiery
dragons, and all kinds of non-existent things ; but gold, women, fishr
fire, wings, and serpents were all already known to us through the
senses. In like manner all sensation depends on changes in protoplasm
produced by stimuli, which are either the incorporation of matter it-
self, or they are force, which is an affection of matter. We have thus
no knowledge of the external world at all, except as matter and
force, and therefore our minds can form no conception, properly so
called, of anything except what pertains to matter and force, or their
actions. The truth of this is seen at once by the incongruity and
absurdity of all attempts to picture to ourselves the nature of spirits,
which all result in merely some fanciful combinations or omissions of
the properties and forces of matter which we are familiar with in their
gross and concrete state. Witness the notion of the likeness of a spirit
to an attenuated gas or vapour, which has descended from the child-
hood of the world — a very unfortunate illustration to pitch upon,
seeing that a gas is the thing we know with the most absolute certainty
never to be possessed of life, or even form. Or take a more refined idea.
"Conceive," says the author of the classical Beligio Medici, "conceive
light invisible and that is spirit " (xxxiii.). Since the true nature of
the invisible rays of light is known, can anything show more strongly
the futility of the efforts of the human mind to form any conception,
worthy of the name, of immaterial substance ? Nor can we obtain any
knowledge of the nature of powers, entities, in telligences, and personalities
existingindependently of matter and force, by means of natural science,for
that is concerned solely with the invariable phenomena of matter and
force cognizable to us from sensation and experience. But it is surely
a shallow philosophy which would deny the possible existence of other
modes of being than those conceivable' to human beings ; or even that
human beings might attain to a knowledge of the existence of suck

BAIN ON FORCE AND MIND. 243

unbroken material succession, side by side with all our
mental processes," yet he says in the same paper, " The
brain is a system of myriads of connecting threads,
actuated, or made alive, with a current of influence

other modes of being by revelation or by the evidence of the senses
testifying to certain facts -which indicated a reversal of the otherwise
invariable laws of matter and force. Such facts would be supernatural,
or miraculous, but would be none the less credible because human,
beings would still be incapable of conceiving the nature of the beings
exercising those miraculous powers. However, the belief in the
spiritual world does not necessarily countenance the notion of spiritual
substances taking part in the ordinary operations of life and mind in
the material world any more than in those of gravitation or chemical
action, for the same law of equivalence of force holds good in the or-
ganic as in the inorganic kingdom. And no spirit could have any in-
fluence on mind or life, any more than on so-called brute matter, except
by expenditure of force. Now this implies the expenditure of what
a spirit cannot possibly possess if force is an affection of matter. If,
therefore, a spirit can have any influence whatever on material beings,
either occasional and exceptional, or continual as a substantial mind,
it must have the power of creating, out of nothing, a measurable, in-
destructible something, which we know as force. Such a power has
hitherto been ascribed to the Almighty alone. Doubtless at His plea-
sure He could endow subordinate spiritual beings with such a power,
but all exercise of it would be to its supernatural and miraculous, and
every alleged instance of it would require the strongest proof. No
conception of the human mind of a spiritual or immaterial substance
is at all more congruous or respectable than the vulgar notions of
those mere creations of the fancy, ghosts, fairies, imps, genii, and
the like. The slightest rap of spirits imagined by the so-called
spiritualists, who in our day are, no doubt, the intellectual descend-
ants of the believers in magic and witchcraft, would be as great a
miracle as any recorded in Scripture. And, in short, the smallest
influence exerted by any spirit on material objects or creatures, even
the slight stimulus needful to excite a spectral illusion, would be a
creation of force, and therefore supernatural. Whatever may have
been the case in past ages, we have no warrant for the belief that such
supernatural power is now given to subordinate immaterial beings to
act on the material world, Or its inhabitants. Science, strictly so called,
affords no evidence of the existence of immaterial substances, beings,,
or intelligences, and for her such exist not. On this subject, there-
fore, appeal to science is vain. Let us be satisfied to receive in their
widest sense the words of the inspired writer, " Eye hath not seen, nor.
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things," not
only alluded to, but as equally applicable to all things pertaining ta
the nature of the spiritual world.

16—2

244 LEWES ON CONSCIOUSNESS.

called the nerve force ; and this nerve force is a member
of the group of correlated forces." And again, that
force maintains " nervous power," or a certain flow of
influence circulating through the nerves, which circula-
tion of influence besides ..." has for its distinguishing
concomitant the Mind" Again, " The extension of the
correlation of force to mind, if at all competent, must
be made through the nerve force, a genuine member of
the correlated group."* It is difficult to guard our-
selves against the idea that these expressions mean
that mind is dependent on a mere physical vibration
of matter ; also the expression, made alive by any
force, is inadmissible. The same ambiguity is to be
found in the latest expressions of Mr. Lewes, with the
additional difficulty that we cannot tell whether the
author puts them forward as an explanation or a mere
analogy.

" The great problem of psychology, as a section of biology,
is, in pursuance of this conception, to develop all the psychical
phenomena from one fundamental process in one vital tissue.

" The tissue is the nervous : the process is a grouping of
neural units."

" A neural unit is a tremor. Several units are grouped into
& higher unity, or. neural process, which is a fusion of tremors,
as a sound is a fusion of aerial pulses ; and each process may
in turn be grouped with others, and thus, from this grouping of
groups, all the varieties emerge. What on the physiological
side is simply a neural process, is on the psychological side a
sentient process. We may liken Sentience to Combustion, and
then the neural units will stand for the oscillating molecules.
Sentience may manifest itself under the form of consciousness,
or under that of sub-consciousness— which may be compared

* Bain on " Correlation of Force Bearing on Mind." — Cf Macnaillan's
Magazine," vol. xvi., p. 372.

NO VIBRATION CAN EEPRESENT LIFE. 245

to combustion manifesting itself in flame and in heat" (pp.
135-6).*

And again, at page 119, consciousness is denned as "a suc-
cession of neural tremors variously combining into neural
groups." " Consciousness may be pictured as the mass of sta-
tionary waves formed out of the individual waves of neural
tremors" (p. 150).

If he means the pattern of the waves on the water,
and not their motion, this would agree with my
analogy with fire ; but if the motion of the oscillation
is meant, I cannot admit the truth of the analogy, for
all tremors, however complicated, in which the mole-
cules return to the same state at their cessation, are
merely physical force, and, as such, have no relation to
life or consciousness, except that of a stimulus to excite
the metabolic changes in which life consists.

* Lewes's " Problems of Life and Mind," i.

CHAPTER XI.

THE protoplasmic theory of life was brought before
the general public in this country a few years ago, by
Mr. Huxley, but it was not properly appreciated or
understood, for some reasons which it is incumbent on
us to consider now. The anatomical unity of the living
matter, as stated in Mr. Huxley's lecture at Edinburgh,
in 1868, was objected to by his critic, the eminent
metaphysician Dr. Stirling, as only made out by keep-
ing out of sight essential physiological differences, for
if all life is identified in protoplasm, so also you must
differentiate all life in protoplasms ; and instead of all
kinds of protoplasm being interchangeable, as he
asserts was said by Huxley, there must be infinite
difference in power, form, and substance, among differ-
ent kinds of living matter. This is hardly warranted
by Huxley's words, and the diversity of the several
kinds of living matter is an essential part of the doc-
trine, not only of Fletcher and Beale, as we have seen,
but also of Hackel, who says :* " In short, all the im-
measurable variety in the most diverse properties of

* "aenereUeMorpli.,"i. 277.

247

organic bodies perceptible to the senses, which excite
and delight our perceptions, is to be traced back to the
alike infinitely numerous and delicate differences in
the atomic constitution of the albumen-compounds
which constitute the plasma of the plastids." The
word albumen here will be noticed presently; but, in
the meantime, it is obvious that the whole difficulty
may turn on the use of the word same or identical,
without sufficiently precise definition. With Fletcher
there is no ambiguity when he speaks merely of the
anatomical unity and of a similarity of molecular com-
position distinct from all chemical compounds, while
capable of infinite diversity within its own region.
But in Huxley's language, owing probably to being
spoken in a lecture, there are some omissions that
cause an ambiguity, which has misled Dr. Stirling, and
others. For example, these expressions implying the
sameness of the nature of protoplasm : —

" A single physical basis of life," and, through its
unity, " the whole living world," is pervaded by " a
threefold unity, viz., a unity of power or faculty, a
unity of form, and a unity of substantial composition."
4< Protoplasm simple, or nucleated, is the formal basis
of life. It is the clay of the potter which, bake it, -
paint it as he will, remains clay, separated by artifice,
and not by nature, from the commonest brick or sun-
dried clod."

With such passages as these, we can hardly wonder
that readers might go away with the idea that the
-sameness of protoplasm was meant by Huxley, although
further reflection would have shown that such an
idea is incompatible with the protoplasmic theory

248 HUXLEY MISUNDERSTOOD.

altogether. Nevertheless, Dr. Stirling so understood
him, and also Professor Gamgee thus speaks : " Looking
upon protoplasm as a definite chemical principle, Pro-
fessor Huxley argues for its identity in all plants and
animals, and speaks of living and dead protoplasm."*
Dr. Beale also is chargeable with ambiguity from an
opposite cause, and has, no doubt, helped to confuse
the mind of the public, for he lays great stress on the
small difference of chemical constitution betwen dif-
ferent kinds of protoplasm, while he exalts the differ-
ence of power or faculty they possess in favour of
the supposed vital principle as the cause of all vital
faculty. Dr. Stirling himself brings forward proofs
that different varieties of protoplasm do differ in fact,
and may easily be conceived to differ even though the
same elements are present, just as isomeric bodies do.
It is very remarkable, therefore, that he does not see
that his whole tract is directed not really against the
protoplasmic theory, but against, partly, a misappre-
hension of Huxley's meaning, and partly what is really
an error on the part of Huxley, viz., the giving the
name of protoplasm, not only to different kinds of
formed material such as tissues in the living body, but
also actually to dead matter, and the going so far as.
to confound pabulum with protoplasm. After follow-
ing Fletcher and Beale in speaking of the consumption
of protoplasm at each vital act, Huxley, comparing it
to the shrinking of the Peau de Chagrin, in Balzac's
tale, says that even as he speaks his Peau de Chagrin
has been wasting, but he will presently recruit it from
mutton-protoplasm. He then goes on : —

* " On Force and Matter," p. 16.

HUXLEY'S EXPRESSIONS INCORRECT. 249-

" A singular inward laboratory which I possess will dissolve
a certain portion of the modified protoplasm ; the solution so
formed will pass into my veins, and the subtle influences to
which it will then be subjected will convert the dead protoplasm
into living protoplasm, and transubstantiate sheep into man."
Farther on he remarks — " Hence it appears to me a matter of
no great moment what plant or what animal I lay under con-
tribution for protoplasm, and the fact speaks volumes for the
general identity of that substance in all living beings. I share
this catholicity of assimilation with other animals, all of which,
so far as we know, could thrive equally well on the protoplasm
of any of their fellows, or of any plant ; but here the assimi-
lative powers of the animal would cease. A solution of smell-
ing-salts in water, with an infinitesimal proportion of some
other saline matters, contains all the elementary bodies which
enter into the composition of protoplasm ; but, as I need hardly
say, a hogshead of that fluid would not keep a hungry man
from starving, nor would it save any animal whatever from a
like fate. An animal cannot make protoplasm, but must take
it ready-made from some other animal, or some plant — the ani-
mal's highest feat of constructive chemistry being to convert
dead protoplasm into that living matter of life which is appro-
priate to itself."

These expressions would be partially applicable on
Buffon's hypothesis of organic molecules pervading all
living things, and forming the different organisms by
being set up in different moulds, while they are scat-
tered, but not individually destroyed, at death. But
Huxley repudiates that hypothesis, and the passage
stands in its apparent inconsistency. Can we, there-
fore, wonder that Mr. Thornton should write thus in
the Contemporary Revieiv, in 1872, in a paper entitled
" Huxleyism ?"

After saying that a thing cannot exist without its
properties, and instancing water, he goes on : —

250. THORNTON ON HUXLEY.

f " The habits of exhibiting these phenomena in conjunction
with certain other habits, make up the aquosity or wateriness
of water. They are part of water's nature, and, in the absence
of any one of these, water would not be its own self, and would
not exist. But in no such sense whatever is the life or vitality
whereby what we are accustomed to call animated are distin-
guished from inanimate objects, essential to the existence of
the species of matter termed matter of life, or protoplasm.
Take from water its aquosity, and water ceases to be water ;
but you may take away vitality from protoplasm, and yet leave
protoplasm as much protoplasm as before. Vitality, therefore,
evidently bears to protoplasm a quite different relation from
that which aquosity bears to water. Protoplasm can do per-
fectly well without the one, but water cannot for a moment dis-
pense with the other. Protoplasm, whether living or lifeless, is
equally itself ; but unaqueous water is unmitigated gibberish.
But if protoplasm, although deprived of its vitality, still re-
mains protoplasm, vitality plainly is not indispensable to pro-
toplasm— is not, therefore, a property of protoplasm" (p. 671).

The truth being, that the so-called " dead protoplasm,"
and " ready-made protoplasm," is no protoplasm at all,
but merely the chemical remains of what was once
protoplasm either immediately at death, or before it
was converted into tissue long anterior to the death of
the animal or plant : and no\# it is nothing but pabu-
lum, and there is no difference between it and the
smelling-salts with the other salines, except that some
living organisms can assimilate the latter, while others
cannot, owing no doubt to difference in the molecular
constitution of tbeir respective protoplasms.

The expressions referring life to chemical changes
have also been found ambiguous, such as — " If the
properties of water may be properly said to result
from the nature and disposition of its component

THE AQUOSITY AEGUMENT. 251

molecules, I can find no intelligible ground for refusing
to say that the properties of protoplasm result from
the nature and disposition of its molecules. When
hydrogen and oxygen are mixed in certain proportions,
and an electric spark is passed through them, they dis-
appear, and a quantity of water, equal in weight to
the sum of their weights, appears in their place. Is
the case in any way changed when carbonic acid and
ammonia disappear, and in their place, under the in-
fluence of pre-existing protoplasm, an equivalent
weight of the matter of life makes its appearance ?"

These sentences accord with Fletcher's view, and, as
far as they go, represent it properly ; but Dr. Stirling
and Dr. Beale object that this necessarily implies that
the process of making protoplasm is within the com-
pass of ordinary chemical manipulation, and also call
attention to the fact that water may be formed from
its elements in many ways without the intervention
of pre-existing water, whereas no particle of living
matter can be made except by, and through, already
existing living matter which grows at the expense of
the pabulum, instead of being .destroyed and forming
a third new substance with it, as in all chemical
actions. This last is quite true, and constitutes the
absolute distinction between protoplasm and all other
material compounds, but does not prove that it is not
simply a material compound. And in respect to the
first part of the above sentence, it is simply not true,
for there are many existing chemical compounds which
we cannot make, far less one so far out of all ordinary
chemical nature. It is not necessary for the material
theory that there must exist a natural process whereby

U52 HUXLEY FOLLOWS HACKEL.

the first examples of living matter were formed.
There may exist such a process, or there may not ± as
yet none such is known to exist, or even to have
existed. Fletcher is content to receive the doctrine of
the inspired record, that it was fashioned from the
" dust of the ground," by a power just as miraculous.
as would be involved in the creation of a spiritual
substance called life. It is thus, I think, evident that
Dr. Stirling's otherwise very clever and interesting
tract, " As Regards Protoplasm," is really not directed
against the true protoplasm theory as long ago ex-
pounded by Fletcher, but only against certain omis-
sions and ambiguities in Mr. Huxley's mode of pre-
senting it to the public.

It may be interesting to trace back a little farther
the source of these ambiguities, as I think it will
thereby be made plain that unless we frankly admit
Fletcher's doctrine of the non-existence of the so-
called proximate principles — albumen, gelatin, fibrin,
&c. — in the living matter, we cannot maintain the
theory of vitality as a property of protoplasm. Now
Mr. Huxley makes no pretension to originality in ex-
pounding the protoplasm theory — in fact, he distinctly
disavows that. But instead of going back to Fletcher,
who first put it forward as an hypothesis, or to Beale,
who discovered it in its complete form, he takes
Hackel as his guide. Let us see how far Hackel is
qualified to be a safe and unprejudiced guide. Here,
however unwillingly, we are compelled to touch on
doctrines of general philosophy which trench upon
revealed religion. The fact is that Hackel is a
Pantheist, or what we are accustomed to look upon as

HACKEL'S MONISM. 253

an Atheist of the positive kind, although he objects
to the appellation atheist, and "hurls back the severe
reproach" upon the stupid and ignorant people who
apply it to him, declaring that his Monism, or Pan-
theism, is the only pure Monotheism.* Not to dispute
about words, it is enough to say that he holds that
" all matter is eternal :" creation of something out of
nothing is unthinkable, and the creation by an external
power of organic forms, even the simplest, out of
already existing matter, is untenable (i. 171). He
denies the existence of a Personal God, or Creator;
with him " God is the universal Causal Law ;" " He
can never act arbitrarily or freely — i.e., God is Neces-
sity :" " God is the source of all force and all matter."
He says, " Monism involves the unity of God in the
totality of nature," while the ordinary idea of God in-
volves " Amphitheism," and, in addition, in the belief
of the majority of people " there exist a number of
other Gods, such as the Devil, Angels, and Saints, who
are either worshipped or feared, and thus their amphi-
theism is stamped as a very Polytheism" (ii. 451). As
the natural result of these principles, he denies all
possibility of miraculous intervention, all revelation
and all religion founded on a presumed supernatural
revelation. But in defence of the purity and eleva-
tion of his principles, he says*)" — " For us all nature is
animated — i.e., penetrated with Divine Spirit, with
law, and with necessity. We know no matter without
this Divine Spirit, and no spirit without matter." . . .
" While we recognize the unity of the whole of nature

* " G-enerelle Morphologic," ii. p. 449.

t " Natiirliche Schopfungs G-eschichte," 2nd edit., p. xxix.

254 HACKEL'S

and the Divine Spirit everywhere acting therein, we
lose, it is true, the hypothesis of a Personal Creator,
but we gain instead of it the undoubtedly far more
elevated and perfect idea of a divine spirit penetrating
and filling the universe. According to our conviction,
this idea (consistently carried out !) is alone able to
reconcile the still existing opposition between Realism
and Idealism, Materialism and Spiritualism, and to
fuse them together in the far higher conception of
Monism."* And if people will call him a pantheist

* There is a vague grandeur about this sentence -which is imposing
at first sight, but, on closer inspection, there is little real meaning in
it. For what does he mean by spirit and spiritual ? In explanation
lie quotes from Goethe, " Matter can never exist and be active without
spirit, nor spirit without matter." Now this appeal is quite useless, as
the true nature of force was not known to Gfoethe, and the meaning
of his " spirit" is probably a vague compound of what is really force,
and of an allusion to the immateriality of every action, including life
and mind. Hackel also appeals to the authority of August Schleicher
(" Die Darwinische Theorie und die Sprachwissenschaft," 1863), from
whom he quotes a sentence containing these words — " There exists no-
matter without spirit (without the necessity determining it), but just
as little does there exist spirit without matter — or rather, there exists
neither spirit nor matter in the ordinary sense, but only one, which is
both at the same time. To brand this view, which rests on observa-
tion, with the epithet materialism, is just as perverse as it would be to
impeach it as spiritualism." Here, we perceive, by that little paren-
thesis, that " spirit" means simply the inherent properties of matter.
Truly, there is nothing new under the sun ; but who would have
thought of a revival of the " essences" of the ancients as a way for the
modern German Pantheists to get out of the reproach of materialism ?
Hackel's own use of the word spirit (Greist) in other places is equally
fatal to the apparent meaning of the above paragraph. For instance,
the expression, " We know no matter without this Divine Spirit, and na
spirit without matter," he explains away in the " Grenerelle Mor-
phologie " (bk. ii. 449) thus : " We know a spiritless matter— i.e.,
matter without force — just as little as an immaterial spirit — i.e., a force
without matter." His idea of " spirit" is, therefore, simply " force,"
and he comments on the incongruity and absurdity into which people
fall when they attempt to imagine an "immaterial force," such as
spirit, soul, vital principle, creative force, and so forth, for, in fact,
what they picture to themselves is, after all, something material, such
as gas, imponderable matter like heat, or light, or the eether, &c. And

PANTHEISM. 255-

and heretic, he consoles himself with the thought that
he suffers in company with G. Bruno, Spinoza, Lessing,
and Goethe.

Far be it from me to insinuate anything to the
prejudice of those who have from one cause or another
shaken their minds loose from the dogmas of the
Christian religion, and to question their conscientious-
ness and love of truth. On the contrary, they are to
be honoured in having the courage to express what
are, no doubt, their sincere convictions. But with
these doctrines, which he presses forward in an enthu-
siastic and almost fanatical spirit, we cannot but see
that Ha'ckel must prejudge the question of the origin
of living matter. He accepts the self- existence of
matter and force from eternity, and our first know-
ledge of them is in the form of the " gasiform chaos"
of Laplace. Then, as living matter could not exist
in our globe till after it was sufficiently cooled down

he ridicules the idea of a Personal Creator as an immaterial being or
spirit, which last is commonly thought of as a kind of gas or sether
(i. p. 173). Nor will the above paragraph in the text look any better
if we translate the word " Geist" as mind, instead of spirit. The word
" divine" would therefore apply to a kind of infinite mind, bearing a
similar relation to the interactions of the matter and force of the uni-
verse as our minds do to our brains. But this mind, according to
Hackel's own showing, could not do anything, or have the slightest in-
fluence on the phenomena or events of the universe, nor would it ap~
patently be conscious — truly not a sublime idea of God ! But even,
this is not consistent with his own showing elsewhere, for he denies
the existence of thought anywhere except as the attribute of the
matter of the brains of the higher vertebrates, and combining with
this the common idea of mind and spirit in the being of God, he says,
" We thus reach the paradoxical conception of a gasiform vertebrate —
a contradictio in adjecto" (i. 174). I hardly think we can be accused
of injustice if we regard this Monismus or Pantheism as indistin-
guishable from Atheism.

256 HACKEL AMBIGUOUS ON ALBUMEN.

to contain liquid water, it must have had a beginning.
It is, therefore, of the last importance for his doctrines
that primitive generation of living from inorganic
matter (Archigony) should be proved possible by
natural causes. This is a necessity shared by all
schools of philosophy which deny the possibility of
miraculous interference at any stage of the world's
history, and a strong bias is given to reduce to a
minimum, and if possible obliterate, the radical dis-
tinction between dead and living matter, and to show
how one may pass by insensible degrees into the other.
"We all know how the presence of a strong wish or
prepossession of any kind warps the mind, and in-
sensibly perverts the reasoning powers. This is con-
spicuously shown in the present instance, where, by
constantly speaking of the living matter as albuminous
.and the like, Hackel has come to persuade himself
that the gulf between the organic and inorganic king-
doms is not so great after all. At any rate, he has
succeeded in throwing a veil of ambiguity over the
-subject, which has produced the misconception of the
protoplasmic theory above noticed. In proof of this,
I may give a few examples. Speaking of the ovum,
he calls it " a little lump of albumen, in which another
albuminous body is enclosed — the nucleus."* " The
nucleus, we can imagine, may arise from purely
physical causes by condensation of the innermost
central particles of albumen " (p. 306). The Monera
are " simple individualized lumps of albumen.''^ These
expressions are constantly used, and he speaks also of

* " Nat. Schopfungs G-eschiclite," 367.
t " Gren. Morphologic," i. 182.

HACKEL'S PLASMAGONY. 257

viable [lebensfahig] plasma, that is to say, any quater-
nary compound like albumen which is ready to indi-
vidualize itself and become living. This corresponds
to the organizable matter of many physiologists, and
all believers in spontaneous generation. It is needless
to say that the term organizable is utterly unwar-
ranted by any facts. The very use of such an ex-
pression involves an hypothesis, which is immediately
converted into an assumption and argued upon, while
it is forgotten that there, is not a shadow of proof that
albumen is any nearer living matter than carbonic
acid or ammonia, and that all we really know is that
it is a pabulum more easily assimilated than the
binary compounds by certain organisms, although it is
decomposed in the process. This is certainly not being,
organized in the sense used above. However, for
Hackel it is not difficult to imagine [Autogoriy] that
in the primeval world, under such different conditions
of heat and moisture, &c., ternary and quaternary
compounds were formed constituting the " Urschleim"
(primordial slime or mucilage). In this " viable
plasma," Plasmagony takes place thus: "The first
organic atom group, perhaps an albumen molecule/'
attracts other similar atoms in the mother-liquor, like
the nucleus crystal. Thus the " little . granule of
albumen" grows and forms itself into a structureless
Moner (" Gen. Morph.," i. 181). Thus the constant
tendency is to identify the living matter with the
proximate principles we find after death, and to keep
in the background and glide gently over the vast and
irreconcilable difference between growth and develop-
ment, and all possible functions of any kind of merely

17

258 HERBERT SPENCER'S AUTOGONY.

chemical combination. No doubt, to objections that
the living matter must surely be different from albu-
men, Hackel will reply, with Huxley — of course it is !
and will quote passages where he calls it albumenoid,
or albumen-like, or, as in the passage here given at p.
247, attributes to the plastids an infinite variety of
atomic constitution. But the passages I have quoted
above are nevertheless ambiguous and certain to mis-
lead others, and, I maintain, show a confusion in the
mind of the author himself, which must affect all
materialists who do not follow Fletcher's theory of the
metabolic state (see p. 182). Finally, however, Hackel
is compelled to admit that "Autogony (and also plasma-
gony — the other form of Archigony) remains a pure
hypothesis, because we take for granted a natural pro-
cess, the transition of lifeless matter into living matter,
which has never yet received an empirical foundation
by trustworthy observation" (" Gen. Morph.," ii. 292).
I do not know what Mr. Herbert Spencer's religious
opinions are, but he, like Hackel, is a follower of Oken
and Lamark in believing in the evolution of living
from inorganic matter by natural processes. That is
to say, while he brushes away with a kind of scorn
what is usually called spontaneous generation, viz.,
the evolution of " creatures having quite specific
structures in a few hours without antecedents calcu-
lated to determine their specific forms," in fermenting
and putrefying fluids : yet he holds that the process
did take place in the primeval world, and might
possibly even now take place just as Hackel describes
above, by gradual steps. There never was a " first
organism/' but a gradual formation of more and more

BUTYRATE OF DIMETHYLAMIX. 259

complicated chemical products, till finally " organizable
protoplasm" was reached. This expression, of course,
I regard as even more objectionable than Hackel's
viable plasma, and, in fact, is either absurdly tauto-
logical, or meaningless. He gives as a specimen of the
mode in which " organizable protoplasm" may have
been reached in the laboratory of nature, an analysis
of the process by which a complex substance, the
bubyrate of dimethylamin, can be made in the labora-
tory of the chemist. Mr. Spencer describes this pro-
cess in a somewhat general way, giving the series of
products obtained by successive substitutions and re-
actions ; but as this hardly exhibits the nature of the
process in its true light, Mr. Edward Davies, Chemist
of the Royal Institution of Liverpool, has gone over
the matter in full detail. I give the description in
detail, because although the extreme difference be-
tween living matter and the proximate principles
which are the products of its death, has been insisted
upon over and over again ; yet nothing can give an
adequate idea of that except reiteration of details : —

" The following is a sketch of the simplest process known to
chemists for obtaining butyrate of dimethylamin by the use of
inorganic materials alone : —

" Firstly, we pass bisulphide of carbon and sulphuretted
hydrogen over copper at a red heat, and get light carburetted
hydrogen. This is then treated with chlorine, to give chloride
of methyl, and this, with caustic potash, furnishes methyl-
alcohol. Iodide of methyl is made by distilling phosphorus,
iodine, and methyl-alcohol together. The iodide of methyl is
heated with ammonia in a sealed tube, when iodide of dimethy-
lamin is formed with other products. The iodide of dimethy-
lamin, distilled with caustic potash, gives dimethylamin.

17—2

260 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIVING AND DEAD MATTER.

" The butyric acid is made by combining carbon and hydrogen
directly, by forming the electric light between carbon points in
an atmosphere of hydrogen, thus making acetylene. The
acetylene is absorbed by ammoniacal solution of cuprous
chloride to form cuproso- vinyl oxide. This compound, heated
with zinc and dilute ammonia, yields ethene, or heavy car-
buretted hydrogen. This, absorbed by strong sulphuric acid,
gives vinyl -sulphuric acid, which, diluted with water and dis-
tilled, gives ethyl-alcohol. Alcohol is converted into iodide of
ethyl (in the same way as iodide of methyl is formed), which is
heated with zinc in a sealed tube, when quartane, or C4 H10 is
formed. Chlorine converts this into quartyl-chloride, C4 H9 Cl.
This is heated with potassium-acetate and strong acetic acid,
which forms quartyl- acetate, and this, treated with barium
hydrate, yields butyl-alcohol. The acetic acid used in this re-
action can be made by oxidizing ethyl-alcohol by platinum
black. The butyl- alcohol, by oxidation with platinum black,
gives butyric acid. The butyric acid has now to be mixed with
the dimethylamin, to give the butyrate required" (MS. Letter).

Thus we have an enormously complicated process,
requiring numerous changes of temperature and a
carefully- watched and designed succession of processes
in an order which, if interrupted or left to chance,
would spoil the whole. Does any one really feel that
his comprehension of the formation of complicated
products by chance at the bottom of the sea, .or in the
neighbourhood of volcanoes in the primeval world, is
really helped by looking into these details ? Surely
the contrary ! And when you have got this substance,
you are as far on your way to albumen as a man
ascending a small hill would be on his way to the
moon. And when' you have got albumen, you are
still as far from living matter as in the moon you
wpuld be from the fixed stars, for all we have yet had

THE REAL EVOLUTION THEORY. 261

proved. Mr. H. Spencer trusts chiefly, like the rest,
to minimizing the distinction between the living matter
and albumen and protein, thus hoping " to bridge over
the interval" between them. The consequence of this
is, that he speaks of albumen as taking part in truly
vital processes, and in reality does not draw a line
distinctly between those physical and chemical pro-
cesses occurring in living bodies and the truly vital
ones. He speaks of the commencement of living matter
with portions of protoplasm " less distinguishable from
a mere fragment of albumen than even the protogenes
of Hackel" (" Biology," 481) ; and again, that the said
protogenes is " distinguishable from a fragment of
albumen only by its finely granular character" ("Psy-
chology," 137). With such expressions, how can the
public be otherwise than bewildered, and remain
unable to understand and appreciate the protoplasmic
theory ? We can understand now how Mr. Huxley,
when expounding the doctrine of these teachers,
should fail to convey a clear idea, more especially in
oral teaching, and probably pressed for time. I have
no reason to suppose further, that he sympathizes with
Hackel's religious opinions ; but he would be naturally
unwilling to enter on such a subject in that place.

The above ambiguities and obscurities on the part
of Mr. H. Spencer are evidently due to his over-
mastering desire to bring in the hypothesis of evolution
from inorganic matter. Nevertheless, he was obliged
to fall back upon the theory of physiological units, as
we have seen (p. 182).

But we have a right to protest against the too
common practice of naming Oken, Lamark, Herbert

262 SPONTANEOUS GENERATION OF

Spencer, Hackel, and others, in the same category
•with Darwin, as " evolutionists." The four first-
named hold the purely speculative opinion of the
origin of living from inorganic matter by natural pro-
cesses. No such processes can be proved to exist now,
nor is there any evidence that they ever did exist,
which does not beg the question at issue. Evolution,
in such a sense, is therefore a pure speculation, derived
from other sources than biology, and has no title to be
placed on a level with the legitimate theory of Darwin,
who, like a true philosopher, founds his explanation of
the origin of species on natural processes, viz., varia-
tion, heredity, and natural selection, which do exist as
a matter of fact. Where these end, he stops and
refers the origin of life itself to the miraculous inter-
ference of the Creator, who " breathed the breath of
life" into certain primitive stem-forms of beings.

It is hardly necessary to say that the so-called
spontaneous generation of the putrefactive infusoria,
which has lately attracted so much attention, may be
put in the same category with primeval plasmagony,
as indisposing its adherents to admit the strong dis-
tinction between albumen and protoplasm. To discuss
this would require a volume, so I may merely state
that I have followed closely all the published evidence
on both sides, and have contributed some original ob-
servations. As far as my opinion may have any value,
I may state that, as the question stands at present,, the
whole, evidence in its favour rests on the appearance
of bacteria in solutions which have been exposed to
a heat sufficient to kill all visible adult bacteria, while
it is assumed that any presumed invisible germs of

BACTERIA NOT PROVED. 263

that creature must also be killed by the same agency.
To this it is replied that, 1st, Owing to various cir-
cumstances, especially the presence of solid particles
in the solutions, the heat really did not penetrate to
all the individuals in the time during which it was
applied ; and 2nd, It was shown by the observations
and experiments of Mr. Dallinger and myself* that, in
the case of several mona,ds found in putrefying solu-
tion having the same title to be called spontaneous
products as bacteria, besides their mode of multiplica-
tion by fission, they were propagated by extremely
minute germs, which were seen to grow to the adult
form after exposure of the slide to a heat which was
fatal to any adult living creature. I hold, therefore,
that, although the question is not yet fully settled, the
adherents of spontaneous generation of putrefactive
infusoria have entirely failed to establish their posi-
tion.

Nevertheless, I admit that the recent investigations
of the subject, especially by Dr. Bastian, in his " Be-
ginnings of Life," are worthy of all praise, and it is
consistent with sound philosophy that the question
should be submitted to experiment. It was not a
matter to be cried down, as some have wished to do,
but it is a subject in which repeated experiment was
necessary, and is still necessary.

Nor do I agree with those who condemn the whole
object of the investigation as impious. Those who
suggest that it is so should remember that Needham,
who revived the doctrine in the last century, was a
Catholic priest, and was, nevertheless, free from any
* "M. Microscop. J.," 1873-4.J

264 THE THEORY NOT ATHEISTIC.

imputation of heresy. The truth is, it is no more
necessarily an atheistic doctrine than the reference of
physical phenomena to their natural causes, nor in
biology than the theory of the origin of species. It
does not necessarily deny creation or design, but it
merely pushes the visible interference of the Creator's
hand a stage farther back. The whole course of
science is an illustration of the substitution of natural
processes for the immediate interference of the
Almighty as the cause of the phenomena of nature.
In the present instance no natural process has been
discovered which can explain the origin of living
i, latter, and we may depend upon it that if such be
discovered, it will not tend to diminish in the least the
enormous gulf that exists between the actual living
matter and that which is not living.

CHAPTER XII.

ON SO-CALLED MATERIALISM.

WHEN we take to pieces the materials of a house, and
scatter them, the individuality of that house is lost for
ever, or remains only as a memory or a history. In
like manner if we decompose, or even evaporate a
drop of water, its individuality is lost. But with both
these, if the materials were preserved, the house or
drop might be set up again as before. But with the
organic creation, if the life of the individual consists
in the arrangement of its particles alone, destroy that,
and you destroy it for ever, for had you even the com-
ponent particles, to the last atom in the exact pro-
portion, you could never set them together again and
reproduce the individual. On the protoplasmic theory
of life death is death for ever, as far as science alone
can teach us. And for some, who will accept no
teaching but the teachings of science, death is death
for ever, of body, mind, and soul, for man as well as
for all the rest of the animated creation. And thus
the materialist theory of life and mind comes to have
a meaning which excites emotions of the deepest
horror and aversion. We must not allow our natural

266 HACKEL'S MATERIALISM.

feelings to overpower our judgment, so as to hinder us
from looking at this question steadily in the face ;
when we may perceive that the word materialism does
not necessarily bear all the meaning that is usually
put upon it. There is materialism and materialism.
With Hackel it bears the extreme- signification of the
denial of the immortal soul of man as well as of a
spiritual principle of mere life, and when he is re-
proached with materialism he disclaims it in the
ethical and aesthetic sense, viz., as a low tone of mind
which is set upon money and material possessions, the
gratification of personal wants ministering to bodily
comfort, to luxury, vanity, and other objects of vulgar
ambition, in preference to the more spiritual states
desiring intellectual, artistic, and the higher moral ob-
jects involving self-sacrifice. And he points to the
fact that as a rule philosophers of his stamp are men
of higher intellectual and moral aim, and of more
virtuous lives, than many professedly religious persons.*
This is, no doubt, the fact, and probably it is all that

* " Hence," says he, speaking of the low ethical materialism, " you
will seek it in vain among sucli materialists and philosophers whose
highest delight is the mental enjoyment of nature, and whose highest
object is the recognition of her laws. For this materialism you must
look in the palaces of the princes of the Church, and in the conduct
of all those hypocrites who, under the outward mask of pious honour-
ing of Grod, strive solely for hierarchical tyranny and the making ma-
terial gain out of their fellow-men. Dead to the infinite nobility of
the so-called ' brute matter,' and the splendid phenomenal world
springing out of it ; insensible to the inexhaustible charms of nature
as they are ignorant of her laws, they brand as heresy the whole of
natural science, and as sinful materialism the culture springing from it,
while they themselves revel in the most repulsive form of the latter. Not
only the whole history of the popes, with their endless chain of terrible
crimes, but also the repulsive ethical code of the orthodox in all
forms of religion furnish sufficient proofs on this point" (" Natiirliche
Schopfunggesch.," p. 33).

HUXLEY'S EVASION OF THE QUESTION. 267

is to be said on his side of the subject, and it is at any
rate plain and straightforward. But the treatment of
the subject by Mr. Huxley is perplexing in the ex-
treme. After setting forth the inevitable materialism
of the protoplasmic theory in the plainest manner, he
suddenly halts and declares that he is no materialist,
but, on the contrary, he believes that materialism in-
volves a grave philosophical error. In explanation, he
gives several pages of metapl^sical reasoning on
Hume's doctrine of causation and Berkeley's idealism,
which, it does not require Dr. Stirling's trenchant
criticism — common sense is quite sufficient — to show
us, leaves this matter exactly where it was. The ques-
tion is simply evaded. Perhaps Professor Huxley's
motive for this may be the natural aversion felt by
men of taste for bringing their religious opinions before
a mixed audience, and also that he is mindful of the
counsel of Bacon : — " If we were disposed to survey
the realm of sacred or inspired theology, we must quit
this small vessel of human reason and put ourselves
on board the ship of the Church, which alone possesses
the divine needle for justly shaping the course. Nor
will the stars of philosophy, that have hitherto princi-
pally lent their light, be of further service to us ; and
therefore it were not improper to be silent upon the
subject."

The same repugnance was felt by Fletcher, but he
felt also that we are reminded by a far older and wiser
authority than Bacon, that if there is a time to be
silent there is also a time to speak, and that it became
his duty to speak plainly. Accordingly he does not
hesitate to say it is materialism, absolute, blank mate-

268 THE PROTOPLASMIC THEORY IS MATERIALISM,

rialism in the ordinary common-sense meaning of the
term without any metaphysical subterfuge in the
background, as applied to the scientific doctrine of
life and mind of animals and of man, in as far as these
attributes are common to him and them. But what of
this ? Is it not the veriest truism, and the mere ex-
pression of the fact of mortality common to all living
beings, including man ? " For when the breath of
man goeth forth, he shall turn again to his earth, and
all his thoughts perish" (Ps. cxlvi.). What further diffi-
culty is thrown into the conception of the resurrection
of the body when we have always known that the
elements are utterly dispersed and used over and over
again in numberless different organized individuals ?
The miracle of resurrection stands exactly as it was,
whether we attribute mortal animal life to a spirit — •
to us incomprehensible — or to a collocation of material
atoms. It is true that the materialism of the proto-
plasmic theory has been used as an argument by those
who on other grounds are disposed to reject all super-
natural interference and revelation ; but then such
persons will seize on every fact and doctrine in natural
science which may be made to appear to serve their
purpose. No better example of this can be found
than that of Voltaire, who, ignorant of the develop-
ment that geology was about to undergo, attempted to
explain away the significance of the shells on Alpine
mountains by their having fallen from the hats of pil-
grims, when their presence was adduced by equally
ignorant religious partisans as evidence of the deluge.
In allusion to these perversions of the foregoing theories
of life and rnind, Fletcher says —

BUT NOT THEREFORE INFIDELITY. 269

" It is lamentable that the last, and certainly most
philosophical view of the question, should have been
allowed by the intemperance of some of its partisans
to involve influences which have rendered the word
materialism hateful to all pious men, and gained for its
advocates the title of philosophers, at the expense of
one which should have been much dearer to them"
(iii. p. 95).

And the grand principle by which the legitimate
and scientific meaning of materialism is separated from
the unwarrantable use of the word as synonymous
with religious infidelity, is simply the strict separation
of the ideas of life and mind from that of the immortal
soul, and the humble acknowledgment of our sole
dependence on miraculous revelation for all our know-
ledge of what appertains to the future life of man. I
cannot do better than quote the whole passage from
Fletcher in explanation of these views : —

" JSfor is this view of the matter, as is sometimes
vaguely supposed, in any degree hostile to, or incon-
sistent with, the purest and loftiest religion. The
hackneyed arguments against this opinion, founded
upon its supposed immoral tendency and impiety,
appear to proceed upon the principle, certainly erro-
neous, that the mind and soul are identical. Who, that
has watched for five minutes the action of a dog, can
be so blinded as to deny that he possesses attention,
imagination, abstraction, judgment, desire, grief — in
short, all the intellectual faculties and passions, in the
display of which thought consists, but who will
attribute to him an immortal soul ? The existence of
such a substance, attached during life to the body of

270 FLETCHER'S DISTINCTION OF

responsible man, and surviving him to all eternity, we
are at once intuitively led and explicitly taught to be-
lieve ; but it is a question of morality and faith, not
of physics and demonstration, and to be determined
not by its susceptibility of proof, but at once by its
verisimilitude, and by our confidence in the authority
on which it rests. Who that has contrasted, as every
one does, and must do, the chaotical condition of the
moral world in this state of our existence, with the
harmonized operation of the physical, if we believe
that they are equally directed by the same Almighty
hand, can avoid believing (and the belief is, therefore,
and has always been, almost universal) j that this
Almighty hand has set apart His own time for recti-
fying this inconsistency ; and when, in addition to this
intuitive persuasion, we have the assurances of revela-
tion to the same effect, what need have we to look to
physical philosophy to shake our confidence in its
truth ?

" The two subjects seem to be utterly unconnected.
' I have no hope of a future existence,' observes the
late talented Regius Professor in the University of
Cambridge, ' except that which is grounded on the
truth of Christianity ;' and it was well remarked
lately, ' that if man be not satisfied to place his hopes
of immortality in a Divine gift, he must confess that
the difference between his own claims and those of
many other animals is in degree only, and that degree
in some instances a very small one.' That the soul is
something absolutely distinct from mind, which is
nothing — or, at least, nothing substantial — cannot be
doubted ; but what the nature of the soul is, it will

MIND AND THE IMMORTAL SOUL. 271

be time enough to begin to investigate when we can
conceive the nature, distinct from the properties, of the
least of the particles entering into the composition of
one of the filaments of the down upon a blade of
grass ; though even when we have succeeded in per-
fectly comprehending this, and much more than this,
what right have we to presume that nothing can
exist which is beyond the sphere of our compre-
hension ? The nature of the soul is probably such as
man in his present state has neither words to describe
nor faculties to understand. His efforts to do so, like
the attempts of one born blind to conceive and describe
the nature of light, are perhaps as unreasonable in
their object, as they have hitherto been unsuccessful
in their result ; and, for aught we know, a true sixth
sense (for who shall say that every possible form of
sense has been in man exhausted ?), with all the new
ideas which would thus rise, may still be necessary
before it can be comprehended and expressed. What
would be the consequence of a further insight—
whether it would assist us in our duties, or divert us
from the performance of them, is very uncertain.
The withering arid impious inference, therefore, which
has sometimes been drawn of the mortality of the soul
from that of mind, is as totally unwarrantable on the
one hand as the whining and canting exception which
has been so commonly taken to the mortality of the
mind, from the supposed necessity of that inference.
We cannot conceive, it is said, the nature of the soul
distinct from the mind. God alone knows how little
the most profound of us, big with the conceit of pene-
trating into the sublimest mysteries of His greatest

272 MIND MORTAL— SOUL IMMORTAL,

works, really and truly knows of the most familiar
features of the least of them ; and God, it is to be
hoped, will pardon as well as pity (for He made man
daring as well as imbecile) at once the rash flippancy
with which the firmest and best persuasions of natural
reason and the most sacred doctrines of Revelation
have been braved, because they have appeared to be
incompatible with philosophy, and the bigoted blind-
ness with which the most evident deductions of phi-
losophy have been spurned, because they appeared to
be opposed to natural reason and revelation. As often,
then, as it shall be said that mind, or the faculty of
thinking, is a property of living matter, as much as
irritability or sensibility are properties of it — that it
is born with the body, is developed with the body,
decays with the body, and dies with the body — it is
understood to be the mind only, not the soul. The
soul is certainly something not material indeed, but
substantial — a divine gift to the highest alone of God's
creatures, responsible for all the actions of the mind,
but as totally distinct from it as one thing can be from
another — or rather, as something is from nothing "
(iii. 93, 94).

Further comment is superfluous on this point, but I
may add that Fletcher's opinions were in favour of the
physical rather than the teleological view' of the nature
of things. He did not reject altogether the appeal to
final causes, but held, that although all things were
created with fore-knowledge and purpose by the
Almighty, yet His will was carried out by the inter-
action of ordinary matter and force in blind obedience
to the properties originally impressed upon them, both

NATURAL THEOLOGY NO SCIENCE. 273

in the inorganic and organic worlds, and not by any
intermediate agencies specially appointed for the par-
ticular end.

By the absolute distinction of the soul from the
mere life and mind of man, those trained in the school
of Fletcher have been able to follow with equanimity
the complete change that has taken place of late,
especially in this country, in the abandonment of tele-
ological views even in biology. The difficulty of
accounting for the origin of species and the millionfold
examples of exquisite adaptation of structure and func-
tion to the apparently designed purpose displayed in the
organic kingdoms, had long been the stronghold of the
argument from design, but since the theory of Darwin
the whole doctrine has received so rude a shock that
it may be said the time is come when so-called natural
theology must be banished from the sciences. Darwin's
theory is a theory properly so called, and not an hypo-
thesis. It does not rest on any new postulate as to
the powers of organized matter not already known to
us by sensation and experience. On the contrary, it is
founded on facts already established, viz., heredity
and adaptation. It is, therefore, not wonderful that
it should have been so rapidly accepted by all philoso-
phers as the efficient cause of the origin of species and
the building up of persons, or individualities of the
higher orders, from independent vital units or plastids
of lower orders of individuality.* No doubt there are

* That the unity and personality of the animal body is due to a
spirit, or anima, proper to each individual will hardly be maintained by
any one now. It will not be said that an anima proper to each consti-
tutes its personality, and that this anima secretes its bile through its
liver, or circulates its blood by means of its heart. On the contrary, it

18

274? THE ARGUMENT FROM DESIGN

a great number of instances in which it cannot yet be
shown to be the sufficient cause. But these are merely
difficulties in the application of the theory, and although
the anti-Darwinians rest their reputation as philoso-
phers on these difficulties, yet it is impossible for us to
rest our belief in the being and attributes of God on
such a foundation as the residuum of unexplained
phenomena in the world of biological science at any
particular time, and which is diminishing daily by the
progress of knowledge. We must therefore abandon
at once the argument of design furnished by the
organic world as anything superior to, or differing in
principle from, that furnished by the inorganic, and
the teleological significance of the former must be
reduced to no greater, but also to no less, than that of
the latter. For long the expansion of water on freezing
was brought forward as an instance of beneficent
design, being an apparent exception to the general law
of contraction of all bodies by cold, for the purpose of
preventing lakes and rivers from freezing to the
bottom, whereby a large part of the globe would
have been rendered uninhabitable for man. But since
it has been found that bismuth, iron, and several other

will be readily admitted that each individual is composed of a number
of vital units specifically different, built up in harmony by certain laws
of germinal development, and maintained in harmonious action by the
ties of a common circulation and nervous system. It is otherwise, how-
ever, with the Mind, and, as yet, few are prepared to admit that the
unity and consciousness of personal identity of each animal can be pro-
duced without a single essence or immaterial principle, -which, it is
said, works through or by the separate cerebral faculties. Nevertheless,
however little we can, as yet, understand or explain how this unity is
produced by the harmonious working of an extremely complicated con-
geries of separate parts, yet we must admit that it is the fact ; for thia
sense of unity and personal identity may be impaired, or even lost, like
Other mental faculties, by disease and decrepitude.

PRESUMPTUOUS RATHER THAN REVERENT. 275

substances expand on solidifying, the argument from
ice has lost its significance as a special exception.

In like manner, in the organic world, the very
existence of parasites exquisitely contrived to prey
upon, and often destroy, even the highest of organized
beings, deprives the argument for design of mucli of
its significance, but the following circumstance reduces
it almost ad absurdum, namely : it is found that two
species of tape-worm could not run through their
cycles of generation, except by abiding for one phase
of them in the human body, which is the only one in
the whole creation fitted for them, and without which
the said tape- worms would cease to exist. Are we to
infer, says Dr. Cobbold, that man, who is so exception-
ally adapted for the purpose, was contrived for the
sake of the worm ? In like manner, the same diffi-
culties and inconsistencies may be found to run
through the whole argument from final causes. It would
appear that, in spite of the well-meant endeavours of
many estimable persons, it savours more of presump-
tion than reverence on the part of finite human
creatures with such a limited sphere of knowledge, to
attempt to climb to the throne of Omnipotence by the
ladder of inductive reasoning, and to discover the
design and purpose of the Almighty ; or to find out
His nature and attributes by the only kind of reason-
ing which human beings are capable of, viz., that
founded on sensation and experience. On the con-
trary, the more knowledge extends, the farther we are
obliged to put back the inference of the direct inter-
ference of a personal Creator, and the less are we able
in analogy with our own nature to argue the being-

18—2

276 EELATION OF NATURAL THEOLOGY

and attributes of God from the evidence of specific
design and purpose. In this sense, also, we may accept
the declaration of God as a jealous God, for He has
shrouded the direct working of His hand in darkness
impenetrable to the eye of science.

It is true there still remain two points on which
the evidence of science contradicts the assumption
that no change has ensued in the world's history
beyond what can be traced to existing causes. The
law of dissipation of energy — leading to the inference
that as the present state of our solar system must
have an end, so it must also have had a beginning —
and the origin of life on our planet are' held to demon-
strate the interference at some time of an external
power other than those of existing matter and force,
of which we are co gnizant by sensation and experience.
But it is not impossible that even these may be
brought within the province of natural causes, so I
for one am quite willing to go at once to the extreme,
and abandon all pretension to discover from science
alone, not only the attributes, but the very existence
of God at all, and to rest my whole belief on revela-
tion. Without revelation natural theology has hitherto
with peoples always led to Polytheism, and with philo-
sophers and men. of science to Atheism or Pantheism.
Once the knowledge of a single personal Creator has
been received through revelation (in fact Christian
writers on natural theology all start from a foregone
conclusion to that effect, whether consciously or not),
our position towards the invariable laws of nature and
to final causes becomes clearer. And we feel that com-
mon sense shows no difficulty in the way of the belief in

TO REVEALED RELIGION. 277

miracles ; surely the power which made all things may
again, at any time, create or annihilate force or matter
and interfere with natural laws at His pleasure !*
With respect to final causes we may still, surely, in
harmony with our own ideas, admire the glory, the
.beauty, the beneficence, and the exquisite fitness of
things displayed in the universe, although we cannot
trace the direct working of the hand of the Creator in
the details of the organic world, any more than in the
revolution of the planets, nor the shaping of each coast-
line or mountain-chain .-[• Not that I admit that the

* " Operating by intervening laws has exclusive reference to us, and
is not absolutely necessary. It is evident if the proposed physical
theory be true, that the laws are constant only so long as the
qualities of the aether and of the atoms on which they wholly depend
are constant ; and as we have concluded that these qualities were
made such as they are by an immediate exercise of power, by power
similarly exercised, they might be changed in any manner, and even,
annihilated. In fact there have been well attested occurrences in the
world, which can be accounted for only as being caused by power thus
operating. They have been called miracles, wonders, apparently on
account of their infrequency ; but, essentially, they are only repetitions
of creative acts of the same kind as those whereby the elements of the
world were originally called into existence. Of course, according to
these principles, the possibility of miracle's cannot be disproved by
physical science" (Challis, "The Mathematical Principles of Physics,"
p. 106).

t " By being conscious that strength and skill are required for making
anything, we can understand that these qualities were necessary for
the creation of the world, and, consequently, that it might have been
created, among other purposes, for that of demonstrating the power
and wisdom of the Creator" (p. 105).

- " It is only by slow degrees and other prolonged intellectual labour,
that human intelligence has in some measure succeeded in deriving
the laws from the original conditions ; whereas, by the Supreme Intel-
ligence, all such consequences must have been intuitively seen when
the conditions were first imposed. Thus the theoretical study of
physics is specially adapted to exalt and give distinctness to our con-
ceptions, both of the wisdom and the power of the Creator. On the
principle of final causes it may be asserted that, together with many
other purposes, this was contemplated in giving to the aether and the
atoms their specific qualities. If I thought otherwise I should not be
able to consider as justifiable the devotion of many years of my life to
physical researches " (Challis, p. 106).

278 NATURAL THEOLOGY EXPLAINS NO DIFFICULTIES.

origin of species by natural laws instead of direct
creation, relieves us of the difficulty of the origin and
existence of evi] and suffering in the animal creation,
including man. On the contrary, to the believer in an
all-powerful, all-wise, and all-good Creator, these
difficulties remain exactly the same as before, not less,
but also not greater. And on the whole, we may look
upon the microscope, and the telescope, and the pro-
gress of knowledge generally, to have simply widened
the field of knowledge, but not altered the relations of
science to the real doctrines of revealed religion.
Whoever is disposed to cavil at these doctrines, need
not go to the more recondite truths of science for illus-
trations. He does not require to search out the cause
of the marvellous adaptation of animal species to their
habitation and purpose by the cruel and pitiless law of
survival of the fittest. He has but to open his eyes
and look around and he will see thousands of examples
of the same difficulties in daily life. Does not the
rain fall equally on the just and the unjust ? does not
the stone crush and the fire burn the martyr equally
with the criminal ? does not the wicked flourish while
the good may suffer wrong; and so on through every
phase of human life ? If to the end of time these
difficulties will perplex the mind of believers, still
there remains the hope that in a future state of ex-
istence, beside redress of the balance of wrong and
suffering in this world, the purpose of God in causing
immortal beings to pass under the hard necessities of
fixed natural laws during the first stage of their
existence, will be made manifest and reconciled
with His benevolence and omnipotence. But to the

SCIENCE THE FINAL ARBITER. 279

merely natural theologian, the existence of ugly and
noxious creatures, whose purpose is destructive of the
beauty and well-being of the rest of the animal king-
dom, is fatal to the discovery d posteriori of a single
infinitely wise, good, and powerful God, after the
manner of a scientific problem. And, accordingly, the
outcome of natural theologies has hitherto been a
plurality of gods, not infinitely powerful, and at war
with one another; or else blank Atheism, which
escapes inconsistency by abolishing all plan and all
creation whatever. Theologians and preachers of
revealed religion, who think to excogitate the nature
and attributes of God by their own reason and from
the evidence furnished by science, may with profit
take warning from the grim irony of Hackel,* and go
back to what God has revealed of Himself, as the sole
source of all our knowledge of His nature.

For myself, I am content to believe in no God,
angel, or spirit, or the immortal soul of man, except as
made known to us through the miraculous specific
revelation contained in our Scriptures. At the same
time, these beings are of a nature to us wholly incom-
prehensible and inconceivable. The cardinal doctrines
of revealed religion are thus dogmas, not resting on
any proofs derived from observation or science at all.f
These dogmas are also mysteries, not only incapable of
scientific proof or disproof, but also above and beyond
the comprehension of the human intellect. Are we,

* " The priests say, ' Q-od created man in his image.' It should
rather be ' Man creates God in his image,' or as the poet expresses
it, ' man paints himself in his Gods' " (« Gen. Morph.," i. p. 174).

t In the language of the man of genius and statesman, Mr.
Disraeli, "Where knowledge ends religion begins."

280 SAMUEL BKOWN ON THE

then, to accept blindfold all that has been taught in
each age in the name of orthodox religion ? By no
means, for I am content to accept the rule laid down
by many great and good men, that, although we are
bound to receive many things above and beyond our
reason, we are never called upon to believe anything
contrary to reason and the evidence of the senses.
And as it is impossible that what is truly the word of
God can conflict with the works of God or the teach-
ings of natural science, so, in the interpretation of the
Scriptures, science must be the final arbiter as to the
meaning, for all true science is founded on sensation
and experience. Who would be satisfied with the
judgment of a person wholly ignorant of history who
presumed to interpret prophecy ? And how does this
differ from permitting persons ignorant of science to
interpret Scripture where it appears out of harmony
with the facts of nature ? The accepted interpretation
of doubtful passages of Scripture was fixed by men
like ourselves, perhaps not better morally, and certainly
immensely less qualified by knowledge of the laws and
phenomena of nature.

One cardinal point in dealing with the question of
materialism in this chapter has been the complete aban-
donment of the argument from design as even a colla-
teral support of revelation. My opinions on this sub-
ject were chiefly derived from the conversation and the
written works of that man of genius, Samuel Brown,
whom, in his too short life, I had the happiness to count
among my friends. I think, therefore, that I cannot do
better than conclude this work by giving, in his own
words, a statement of the argument which was published

ARGUMENT FROM DESIGN. 281

in the palmy days of Bridgewater-treatise-dom, before
the Darwinian theory was promulgated. Dr. S. Brown
takes as an illustration of the argument from design the
law of diffusion of gases and the manifold useful pur-
poses which it serves in the economy of nature, and
proceeds as follows :*

" A bubble rises from the bottom of a solitary pool,
basking in the sun among the hills: clothed about
with a slender fibre of rainbow-hue, the bonny bell
floats like a thing of light over the mantling ripple of
its little sea, till the tiny craft is broken on the flower-
bud of a water-lily ; and away fly its crew of dancing
atoms hither, thither, and everywhither !

" ' A timid breath at first, a transient touch ;
How soon it swells from little into much V

" What a wondrous combination of means and ends ;
how remote the instrumentality employed from the
effects produced; and how worthy of a God! Sup-
pose, then, a million instances like this ; recall to mind
the curious cases you have read in Paley and the
Bridgewaters : find many more in the records of
science, for every page is full of them ; search out the
undiscovered multitudes of similar examples in the
open book of nature, which is a written strain of the
loftiest music from beginning to end : and you have
the data which the natural theologians endeavour to
generalize. The survey of these crowding facts, like
that of every other class of observations, suggests the
inexhaustible inquiry of research, How are they to be

* "Lay Sermons on the Theory of Christianity," No. II. The
argument of design equal to nothing ; or Nieuentytt and Paley versus
David Hume and St. Paul. By Fidian Analysis. Edinburgh, 1842,
Blackwood. This and S. Brown's collected works are now out of priut.

282 HUME ON THE

understood ? What is their meaning ? Where is the
theory ? The method of inquisition is the same here
as elsewhere : Is there any similar class of facts of
which we know the explanation ? Yes ! there is one.
In the works of human art, the mechanism of a watch,
the construction of a steam-engine, in every product
of art, there are adaptations of one result to another,
completely resembling those which are found in the
world which art attempts to imitate and control. In
truth, all art consists in the institution of such mutual
relations and such production of effects by fitly-chosen
means. Now the explanation of this set of facts is
ready beforehand — Art is the product of a designing
mind, and the designer is man. Accordingly the sub-
stance of the Paleyan argument is this : The facts of
adaptation discovered in nature are radically like the
facts of adaptation instituted in art, and the inference
is that they resemble them in origin as well as result-
ing character — Nature is the product of a designing
mind, and the designer is God. This is the argument
of design, and it is essentially cumulative in its power,
for the greater the number, and more striking the kind
of evidences of design that can be gathered around it,
the stronger does it appear to become. I have some
strictures to make upon it, with the sincere hope of
convincing you that, without a previous or simul-
taneous act of faith, or intuitive belief, conscious, or
unconscious, it is wholly inadequate to the purposes
for which it was constructed.

" The first is this : — If there be any genuine analogy
between man, the designer of the works of art, and the
inferred designer of the works of nature, it must be
complete, and extensible in the inference to all the

ARGUMENT FROM DESIGN. 283

essential characteristics of the known designer, man.
How, then, does man design ? By reducing discovered
truth to his own uses, and making combinations of
natural forms and qualities. He knows the expansive
force of steam, as well as the law of latent heat, and
makes a steam-engine : he creates nothing. So that
the Deity, inferred from evidences of design, does, for
all that the argument of analogy makes out, discover
truth, apply it to his own uses, and make combinations
of forms and qualities. He knows the repulsive force
of matter, as well as the law of gravitation, and makes
a solar system : He creates nothing.

"This is Hume's analysis, though otherwise ex-
pressed, and very differently intentioned ; and its force
is irresistible. Hume is the best analyst, as a mere
analyst, that Britain has been able to produce. A sin-
cere, and not uncharitable man, he detested the
plausible, and never rested till he stripped it bare, and
hooted it out of presence. If he had believed in
God by faith, I had only need have reiterated his voice ;
as it is, you see how searching and indisputable his
analysis is, so far as it extends.

" All that the boasted argument a posteriori, as it is
called, for the existence of a God, even tends to esta-
blish is the existence of a designer, not that that de-
signer is the Supreme, whom i-icience ' falsely so called'
is thus ambitious of demonstrating like any other
theorem. ..... But allow that the inferred designer

really spoke the worlds into existence, and He alone,
still that creative designer may not be God after all,
for Divinity, if proved at all, must be proved to be
almighty in power, inexhaustible in wisdom, and
boundless in love ; but the universe cannot be proved

284 NATURAL THEOLOGY OF THE

to be anywise infinite in the literal sense of infinitude :
it is only indefinitely vast, its magnitude compared
with true immensity being a trifle, for all our tele-
scopes can disclose, and the attributes of its inferred
Creator may be less than infinite in kind and degree.
Whatever is less than infinitude is infinitely less.
This is not God. Are evidences of goodness, wisdom,
and power of no worth then, and manifestations only
an unmeaning pageantry \ Is it to no purpose that we
see :

" ' All things with each other blending ]

All on each in turn depending :

Heavenly ministers descending : *

And again to heaven uptending ;

Floating, mingling, interweaving ;

Rising, sinking, and receiving

Each from each, while each is giving

On to each, and each relieving

Each, the pails of gold, the living

Current through the air is heaving :

Breathing blessings, see them bending

Balanced worlds from change defending,

While everywhere diffused is harmony unending.'

Has this mazy universe of melody no significance
beyond its own unfathomable beauty ? Heaven for-
bid ! Once know God otherwise than by discovery,
once believe His Being upon the same foundation as
you believe the existence of the world without your
own personality, and the truth of self-evident propo-
sitions, all of which are incapable alike of proof and
refutation. Once apprehend Him as the Incomprehen-
sible One, ' in whom we live, and move, and have our
being,' and then the world, and all the worlds, are the
sublimest commentary and illustration of His tran-
scending attributes, being, in truth, His uttered word,

PSALMIST AND THE PEOPHETS. 28 a

still vibrating under the concave of immensity; and the
science of final causes becomes the noblest of man's
terrestrial pursuits. This is the method of the book
of Job and the Psalms of David, in both of which the
Divine Majesty is tacitly understood as being, of
course, the Jehovah, or one independent reality, and
His attributes are only illuminated by the con-
templation of His handiworks. ' Praise ye the Lord
from the heavens. Praise ye Him, sun and moon :
praise Him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye
heavens of heavens, and ye waters above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the Lord ; for He com-
manded, and they were created.'* In reality this is the
history of every man's process of thought, with whom
the argument a posteriori has seemed to himself to
have been potential. Not the argument of design, but
the argument of design together with unconscious faith
in Godhood, has taught men in all ages to behold the
Creator in His works. In fine, the same must be said
of the natural theologians themselves. They have
failed to analyze their own process of conviction for
one thing ; they have been unable to see through their
false argument, considered as a mere analytical argu-
ment, for another ; and then they have always taken
the existence of the world without for granted, while
they have tried to prove the Being of God forsooth,

* " Canst thou by searching find out God ?" (Job xi. 7).

" Through faith we understand that the worlds were formed by the
word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things
which do appear " (Heb. xi. 3).

' ' For every house is builded by some man ; but he that built all
tilings is God " (Heb. iii. 4).

"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made ; and all the host
of them by the breath of his mouth " (Psalm xxxvi. 6).

" For this they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of God,
the heavens were of old " (2 Peter iii. 5).

286 NATURAL THEOLOGY NO TRUE

although the two propositions are alike insusceptible
both of faithless demonstration and sincere denial.
The first writer of note, who stated the argument of
design as a formal proof, was the Dutch mathematician
Nieuentytt, in whose ' Religious Philosopher ' is to be
found the original of that classical analogy of a watch,
which was afterwards expounded by Howe, and then
illustrated and enforced with so much perspicacity and
elegance by Dr. Paley. The last was the first to urge
it with such effect as to secure it a standing in the
world. His 'Natural Theology' is read by every-
body, and is a text-book at the universities. It has
gone through many editions, even a cheap one for the
people, and is a standard work. It has lately been
presented anew, under the united auspices of Lord
Brougham and Sir Charles Bell. Lastly, the late Earl
of Bridgewater has bequeathed the world eight well-
paid treatises, all emulous (of demonstrating Him 'who
is past finding out.' I would not drive counter to such
authorities, if I were not convinced that the cause of
Christianity has suffered from these attempts to afford
it external aid. Their direct tendency is to rob the
religion of faith of its essential character ; and this of
'design ' encourages those who reject our most holy faith
in the implied conclusion that either God must be to
be found in nature by research, or not exist at all.
Hence come insincere Atheism, idolatrous scientific
theism, and worthless half belief in God. These are
my motives and defence. . . . Faith and analysis have
to work together on this momentous theme as on every
other ; the former to give assurance of divinity, and
the latter to show what Godhead cannot be, and even,
in some little degree, what Jehovah must at least be.

SUPPORT OF REVEALED RELIGION. 287

"All idolatry, from the rudest worship of imperson-
ated physical powers among our Saxon forefathers to
the Christianized anthropomorphism (or way of think-
ing about Deity as a mere somewhat infinite human
being) and the scientific theism of the present day, is
the product of a lifeless faith in Godhood, and an
adequate analysis of His works. This is what is in-
veighed against by the fidian analyst, St. Paul. Nay !
so far from being inconsistent with the Scripture, the
sole aim of this sermon is to inculcate the inspired
declaration of the gifted apostle to the nations, that
'It is through faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by God' David Hume is right, and so i
St. Paul ; and the pauline, or rather the divine, trutl
is incalculably the greater, containing the other to-
gether with as much more as the way 01 God tran-
scends the thought of man. That ' The worlds were
framed by God ' is a surpassing mystery. A mystery
and therein surpassing. Known to be an object of
delight by the fullest assurance of belief, and attested
by the broad signature of the sciences, though it needed
no other than the King of Heaven and earth's ; but
infinitely and for ever beyond created comprehension !
The worlds, what are they singing there, in mystic
choir, in the bosom of that holy sky on which words,
' the winged wheels of thought/ are far too feeble to
discourse ? What have they been made of, and how,
and when, and where ? Shall they last for aye, float-
ing in the unimaginable sether of immensity, on the
noiseless surge of which they were launched in the
beginning ? Or are they, in some billion of cycles,
say thousands of years, perhaps a few short centuries,
or another month from to-day, or even one fleeting

288 SCIENCE TO SIGHT — RELIGION TO FAITH.

hour from this last look upon their solemn splendour ;
are they to pass away at the silent and unutterable
hest of the eternal King of Glory ? And the King of
Glory, who is this ? — Ah ! they have toyed too lirMly
with the Creative Attribute, who have though, to
climb up to its awful sanctuary, where it dwelleth
evermore in the omnific word of Godhood, by piling
stone upon stone in endless erection of a faithless
science of final causation and a great first Cause.
Why Jehovah is not the infinite source, but the source
of the infinite source ; not the first cause, but the cause
of the first cause of all things ; and even that in an
altogether metaphorical mode. In fine, raised up on a
basis of unconscious scepticism, this kind of natural
theology is a seemly superstructure ; but it hangs on
the air, wavers uncertainly in every wind of doctrine,
and is ready to vanish at the first sound of a bolder
infidelity, leaving no trace behind. But the same
phantasmagorial temple of design, with its magnificent
proportions, shapely columns, rare devices, and choicest
ornaments, becomes a grand reality, the instant that
man, as its anointed priest, proclaims through the
resounding aisles that FAITH, ONLY FAITH, is THE

EVIDENCE OF THINGS UNSEEN."

THE END.

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Illustrated with Hand-coloured Plates and Wood-cuts, for
the use of Practitioners and Students.

By PROSSER JAMES, M.D., M.R.C.P.,
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London Hospital, Physician to the Royal Hospital for
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By the same Author, is.,

The Progress of Medicine. A Lecture delivered at the
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Overwork and Premature Mental Decay : its Treatment.
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London.

By C. H. F. ROUTH, M.D., M.R.C.P. London,
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By the same Author, price 35. 6d.,

On Fibrous Tumours of the Womb : Points connected
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the Lettsomian Lectures delivered before the Medical
Society of London.

Also, by the same Author, price, \s.
Lectures on Diseases of Women and Children.

Also, price \s.,
On Uterine Deviations.

6 Publications by Hailliere, Tindall, and Cox.

The Text-Book of (113) Anatomical Plates, designed under
the direction of Professor MASSE, with Descriptive Text.

By E. BELLAMY, F.R.C.S.,

Senior Assistant Surgeon to Charing Cross Hospital.
Second edition, plain, 2is. ; hand-coloured, 42^.
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In preparation, price 42^.
The Text Book of Operative Surgery. From the French of

Professors CLAUDE BERNARD & HUETTE.
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By GEORGE BROWN, M.R.C.S.,
Gold Medalist, Charing Cross Hospital, is.

Elements of the General and Minute Anatomy of Man

and the Mammalia. From Original Researches.

By Professor GERBER, University of Bern, and

Professor GEORGE GULLIVER, F.R.S.
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The Pathological Anatomy of the Human Body. Trans-
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Anatomy of the External Forms of Man : designed for
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Muscular Anatomy of the Horse.

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Publications by JBailliere, Tindall, and Cox. 7

Cholera : how to Prevent and Resist it.

Ey Professor VON PETTENKOFER,

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THOMAS WHITESIDE HIME, A.B., M.B.,
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Diarrhoea and Cholera : their Successful Treatment.

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Causes of Cholera : its Treatment.

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Deafness : its Causes and Treatment, with Anatomy and
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Hearing; the Diseases incidental to its Structure, and
their Treatment.

By JOHN P. PENNEFATHER, M.K.Q.C.P., L.R.C.S., &c,
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Ear, &c. Illustrated, 5^.

Diagnostics of Aural Disease. Second Edition, with a
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The Philosophy of Voice. An Essay upon the Physio-
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Experimental Researches on the Causes and Nature of
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A Treatise on Pharmacy, designed as a Text-book for Stu-
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By EDWARD PARRISH,

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The Specific Action of Drugs. An Index to their Thera-
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By the same Author •, is.,

Sterility : its Causes and Treatment Being a Paper read be-
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On Change of Climate in the Treatment of Chronic
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By THOMAS MORE MADDEN, M.D., M.R.I.A.,
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Third Edition, 5^.

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By the same Author. Third Edition, $s.,
The Spas and their Use. A Medical Handbook of
the Principal Watering Places on the Continent resorted to
in the Treatment of Chronic Diseases, especially Gout,
Rheumatism, and Dyspepsia, with Notices of Spa Life,
and Incidents of Travel.

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ing."— British Medical Journal.

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The Lancet.

By the same Author, Second Edition, Price is.t
The Diseases of 'Women connected with Chronic
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and treatment.

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On Uterine Hydatidiform Disease, or Cystic
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Typhoid Fever : its Treatment.

By WILLIAM BAYES, M.D., L.R.C.P. is.

African, West Indian, and other Fevers and Diseases.
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How to Prevent Small Pox.

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Short Lectures on Experimental Chemistry. Introduc-
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By J. EMERSON REYNOLDS, F.C.S., M.R.C.P.,
Professor of Chemistry, Royal College of Surgeons, Pro-
fessor of Analytical Chemistry, and Keeper of the
Minerals, Royal Dublin Society. 3^. 6d.

Notes on the Pharmacoposial Preparations. Specially
arranged for the use of Students preparing for Examina-
tions, and as a Note-book for General Practitioners.
By HANDSEL GRIFFITHS, Ph.D., L.R.C.P., &c.,
Librarian to the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland.
2S. 6d.

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Medica and the Pharmacopoeia; the Notes are faithful." — The Lancet.

"From the many excellences of the work, we can confidently recom-
mend it as a most valuable help for those who are preparing for medical
examinations. " — Student? Journal.

By the same Author, third edition, \s. 6ct.y

Posological Tables : Being a Classified Chart of Doses ;
showing at a glance the Dose of every Officinal Substance
and Preparation. For the use of Practitioners and Students.

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boon to students and practitioners. " — Hospital Gazette.

" The Local Government Board might advantageously consider the pro-
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of which would weigh little 'against the benefit which such ready informa-
tion would be to the Poor Law service." — Medical Press and Circular.

Also by the same Atithor, is. 6d.,

A System of Botanical Analysis, applied to the Diagnosis
of British Natural Orders, for the Use of Beginners.

"Backed by such high authority as Professors Bentley, Henslow, and
other eminent botanists, we can safely introduce it to the notice of our
readers." — Students' Journal.

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his system of botanica analysis." — Pharmaceutical Journal.

Practical Observations on the Harrogate Mineral Waters.

By A. S. MYRTLE, M.D., L.R.C.S.E.
Third Edition, 2S. 6d.

Publications by Baittiere* Tindall, and Cox. 1 1

Chemistry in its Application to the Arts and Manufac-
tures. A Text-Book by RICHARDSON and WATTS.
Vol. I. : Parts I and 2. — Fuel and its Applications. 433 Engravings,
and 4 Plates . . . £i i6s.

Part 3. — Acids, Alkalies, Salts, Soap, Soda, Chlorine and its
Bleaching Compounds, Iodine, Bromine, Alkalimetry,
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and Applications . . . £i 13^.

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Part 5. — Prussiate of Potash, Oxalic Acid, Tartaric Acid,
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Parts 3, 4, and 5 separately, forming a complete

Practical Treatise on Acids, Alkalies, and Salts : their Manu-
facture and Application. In three vols., £4 IQS.

Collenette's Chemical Tables : Oxides, Sulphides, and

Chlorides, with Blank Forms for Adaptation to other
Compounds. Arranged for the use of Teachers and
Students, by Professor COLLENETTE. 6d.

" We have great pleasure in recommending this little work to all who are
interested in having the study of chemistry simplified and methodically
treated." — Chemical News.

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tion."— Chemist and Druggist.

Chemistry in its Relation to Physiology and Medicine.

By GEORGE E. DAY, M.A. Cantab., M.D., F.R.S.,
late Professor of Medicine in the University of St. An-
drews. IOS.

A Practical Text-Book of Inorganic Chemistry, including
the Preparation of Substances, and their Qualitative and
Quantitative Analyses, with Organic Analyses.

By I). CAMPBELL,

late Demonstrator of Practical Chemistry in University
College. 5>r. 6d.

Rudiments of Chemistry, with Illustrations of the Chemistry
of Daily Life. Fourth Edition, with 130 Woodcuts.

By D. B. REID, M.D., F.R.S., F.R.C.P. Edin. 2s. 6d.
The Chemical and Physiological Balance of Organic
Nature : an Essay, i vol., i2mo.

By Professors DUMAS and BOUSSINGAULT. 4*.

1 2 Publications by Bailliere, Tindall, and Cox.

Elements of Chemistry ; including the application of the
Science in the Arts.

By T. GRAHAM, F.R.S.,

late Master of the Mint. Second Edition, revised and
enlarged. Illustrated with Woodcuts. 2 vols., 8vo. £2.
Vol. II. Edited by H. WATTS, M.C.S. Separately, £i.

Practical Treatise on the Use of the Microscope.

By J. QUECKETT.

Illustrated with n Steel Plates and 300 Wood Engrav-
ings. Third Edition, £i is.

Lectures on Histology : Elementary Tissues of Plants and
Animals. On the Structure of the Skeletons of Plants
and Invertebrate Animals. 2 vols., 8vo. Illustrated by
340 Woodcuts. By the same Author. £i Ss. 6d.

Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany. 8vo. Illustrated
with 127 Engravings. By Rev. M. J. BERKELEY. j£i.

A Practical Treatise on Coal, Petroleum, and other Dis-
tilled Oils. Illustrated with 42 Figures, and a View on
Oil Creek, in Pennsylvania. 8vo.

By A. GESNER. los. 6d.

Practical Mineralogy; or, a Compendium of the Dis-
tinguishing Characters of Minerals, by which the Name
of any Species may be speedily ascertained. 8vo., with
13 Engravings, showing 270 Specimens.
By E. J. CHAPMAN. 7.$-.

Schleiden's Plants : a Biography, in a Series of Fourteen
Popular Lectures on Botany.

• Edited by Professor HENFREY.

Second Edition, 8vo., with 7 Coloured Plates and 16
Woodcuts. 15^.

The Architecture of the Heavens.

By J. P. NICHOL,

Professor of Astronomy in the University of Glasgow
Ninth Edition, entirely revised and greatly enlarged.
Illustrated with 23 Steel Engravings and numerous Wood-
cuts. i6s.

Publications by Bailliere, Tindall, and Cox. 13

The Protoplasmic Theory of Life. Containing the Latest
Researches on the subject.

By JOHN DRYSDALE, M.D., F.R.M.S.,
President of the Liverpool Microscopical Society. 5^.
" Subjects beyond the pale of precise knowledge are treated of in a
manner which will quite repay perusal." — Nature.

By the same Author ', ]
.Life and the Equivalence of Force.

Part I. Historical Notice of the Discovery of the Law of

Equivalence of Force. is.

Part II. Nature of Force and Life : containing the Har-
mony of Fletcher and Beale. is. 6d.
"The book is well worth perusal." — Westminster Review.
" We cannot part from this work without praising the calm and excellent
spirit in which the subject is handled." — The Examiner.

Practical Lessons in the Nature and Treatment of the

Affections produced by the Contagious Diseases; with
Chapters on Syphilitic Inoculation, Infantile Syphilis, and
the Results of the Contagious Diseases Acts. Sixty co-
loured and plain Illustrations.

By JOHN MORGAN, M.D., F.R.C.S.,
Professor of Anatomy in the Royal College of Surgeons,
Lecturer on Clinical Surgery, Physician to the Lock
Hospitals, Dublin. Second thousand. Paper wrapper,
5.$-. ; cloth, 6s.

"Contains much that is original and of practical importance." — The
Lancet.

" This is a most instructive work, and reflects great credit on Dr. Mor-
gan."— The Medical Press and Circular.

By the same Author. Illustrated, price i s.
On the Cure of Bent Knee, and the immediate Treatment
of Stiff-joints by extension.

Also, Second Thousand, Price. 2s.

The Dangers of Chloroform and the Safety and Efficiency
of Ether as an Agent in securing the Avoidance of Pain
in Surgical Operations.

The Dental Profession. A Letter by a Dental Surgeon,
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, on the abuse
of the profession. Price is.

14 Publications by Bailiiere, Tindall, and Cox.

Responsibility and Disease : an Essay upon moot-points in-
Medical Jurisprudence, about which Medical Men should
not fail to be well instructed.

By J. H. BALFOUR BROWNE. Barrister-at-Law,
Author of " The Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity," &c. 2s~

Diseases of the Prostrate Gland.

BY j: STANNUS HUGHES, M.D., F.R.C.S.,
Professor of Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons, Vice-
President of the Dublin Pathological Society. Revised-
Edition, 3J-.
Syphilis : Its Nature and Treatment.

By CHARLES R. DRYSDALE, M.D., F.R.C.S.,
Physician to the Metropolitan Free Hospital ; late Secre-
tary Harveian Medical Society's Committee for the Pre-
vention of Venereal Diseases. Second Edition, 4*. 6d.
"We bespeak a cordial welcome to this new work, which contains in a
moderate compass the conclusions of an industrious, painstaking syphilo-
grapher." — Medical Press and Circular.

By the same Author,

Alpine Heights and Climate in Consumption, is.
Medicine as a Profession for Women, is.
The Population Difficulty. 6d.

Functional Derangements and Debilities of the Gene-
rative System : their Nature and Treatment.

ByF. B. COURTENAY, M.R.C.S. Eighth Edition, 3.$-.
On Certain Forms of Hypochondriasis, and Debilities

peculiar to Man. Translated from the German of DR.

PICKFORD,

By F. B. COURTENAY, M.R.C.S.

Eighth Edition, price $s.
Modern Hydropathy : with Practical Remarks upon Baths,

in Acute and Chronic Diseases.

By JAMES WILLIAMS, M.D., M.R.C.S. Fifth Edition.

limp cloth, 2s.

Practical G-uide to the Baths of. Aix in Savoy.
By the Baron DESPINE, Physician. 2s.
Horses : their national Treatment, and the Causes of

their Premature Decay. By Amateur. 5^.

An Abridgment of the above, is.

Publications by Bailltire, Tindall, and Cox. 1 5

Via Medica : a Treatise on the Laws and Customs of the
Medical Profession, in relation especially to Principals and
Assistants; with Suggestions and Advice to Pupils on
Preliminary Education.

- By J. BAXTER LANGLEY, LL.D., M.R.C.S., F.L.S.
Fourth Edition, $r.

Engineering Precedents for Steam Machinery : embracing
the Performances of Steamships, Experiments with Pro-
pelling Instruments, Condensers, Boilers, &c., accom-
panied by Analyses of the same ; the whole being original
matter, and arranged in the most practical and useful man-
ner for Engineers. 2 vols., 8vo. With Plates and Tables.

By B. E. ISHERWOOD,
Chief Engineer United States Navy. 1 5^.

Dictionary of Technical Terms used in Iron Ship-building,

Steam-engines, &c. In English, French, and Latin.

By GIORGIO TABERNA. 3.$-.

On Mental Capacity in Relation to Insanity, Crime, and
Modern Society.

By CHRISTOPHER SMITH, M.D. Price~3,r. 6d.

1 6 Publications by Bailliere, Tindall, and Cox.

WORKS BY DR. ROTH,

1. The Prevention and Cure of many Chronic Diseases

by Movements. With Ninety Engravings. los.

2. The Handbook of the Movement-Cure. With One

Hundred and Fifty-five Original Engravings. IDS.

3. Contributions to the Hygienic Treatment of Par-
alysis, and of Paralytic Deformities. With Thirty-Eight
Engravings. Illustrated by Numerous Cases. 3^. 6d.

4. The Prevention of Spinal Deformities, especially of
Lateral Curvature ; with Notes. 3^. 6d.

5. On Paralysis in Infancy, Childhood, and Youth.
With Forty-five Engravings. 3^. 6d.

6. A Short Sketch of Rational Medical Gymnastics, or
the Movement-Cure. With Thirty-eight Engravings, is.

7. Table, showing a few Injurious Positions, and some

Deformities of the Spine, produced partly by bad positions,
and tight lacing. With Forty-six Engravings. 6d.

8. A Table of a Few Gymnastic Exercises without
Apparatus. With Thirty-three Wood Engravings. 6d.

9. Gymnastic Exercises on Apparatus, according to the
Ratiorial System of LING. With Eighty Illustrations, is.

10. The Gymnastic Exercises of Ling. Arranged by Dr.

Rothstein ; translated by Dr. Roth. Second Edition.
2S. 6d.

11. The Russian Bath: with some Suggestions regarding
Public Health. Second Edition, ij-.

12. On the Causes of the Great Mortality of Children,
and the Means of Diminishing them. $d.

1 3. On the Importance of Rational Gymnastics as a Branch

of National Education : a Letter to Lord Granville. is.

14. On Scientific Physical Training and Rational Gym-
nastics ; a Lecture, is.

15. Exercises or Movements, according to LING'S System:
With Forty-two Illustrations. Fourth Edition, is.

1 6. Two Tables of Gymnastic Exercises without Appa-
ratus ; with Explanations, is.

17. A Plea for the Compulsory Teaching of Physical

Education, is.

Publications by Bailliere, Tindall, and Cox. 1 7

Practical Guide for the Young Mother. Translated
from the French of Dr. BROCHARD, late Director-General
of Nurseries and Creches in France, Edited with Notes
and Hints for the English Mother.

Crown 8z^., 2S.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

FIRST PART.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION OF THE INFANT.

Chapter I. Precautions which a pregnant woman should take.

,, II. Preparation of the baby-clothes and cradle.

,, III. Care of the mother during and after labour.

,, IV. First cares of the Infant.

„ V. Of the Importance of Diet in the newly-born Infant.

,, VI. Maternal Suckling.

,, VII. Hired Wet-nursing, Choice of a Nurse, Nurses at

Home, Married Women, Maiden Mothers,
Nurses in the Country.

VIII. Diet of the Nurse.

IX. Change of Nurse.

X. Weaning.

XI. Maternal Suckling and Bringing-up by the Bottle.

XII. Food of the Infant after Weaning,

XIII. Clothing.

XIV. Toilet, Lotions, Baths, Frictions.

XV. Cleansing of the Head, Crusts in the Hair, Dressing

of the Hair.
XVI. Sleep.

XVII. Exercise, Walking, Promenade.
XVIII. Atmosphere — its Action on the Infant.
XIX. Dentition.

XX. Milk Crusts.
XXI. Worms in the Intestines.
XXII. Vaccination.

XXIII. Care to be taken of the Infant in case of disease, be
fore the Doctor comes.

SECOND PART.

MORAL EDUCATION OF THE INFANT. — Development of the
Senses, Development of the Intellectual Faculties, Habits, Imitation,
Language, Passions.

CONCLUSION. — The Ignorance of Mothers and of Nurses is for
France a Powerful Cause of Depopulation.

APPENDIX.— Of Maternal Love.

1 8 Publications by Bailliere, Tindall, and Ccx.

MISCELLANEOUS.

THE CRY OF ITALY AGAINST THE ROMISH
CHURCH.

The Religion of Home described by a Roman. 8s.

Translated, with Introduction and Notes,

By WILLIAM HOWITT,

Author of " The History of Priestcraft," " Homes and
Haunts of British Poets," &c., &c.

" Should be read by all."— Standard.

" The object is to prove the emptiness of Roman Ecclesiastical Religion,
and the moral unfitness of many of its chief professors to act as religious
teachers. A closing chapter upon^Catholicism in Spain, and the influence
of the priesthood on political affairs in that country, is of special interest at
the present moment." — The Mail {Evening Edition of The Times}.

"Mr. Howitt has seen Old Giant Pope at home, and marked for himself
the monster's baleful influence. To his testimony we can add our own
corroborating witness, and so, we believe, can every sojourner in Italy.
Written with great vigour and vivacity." — Mr.Spurgeon in the "Sword and
Trowel."

"The value of the work lies in its contemporary character." — Literary
Churchman.

" A scathing and unflinching revelation of the iniquities inseparable from
the Papal system."— The Rock.

" This is a book which we hope will excite much public attention." —
Evangelical Magazine.

"The book bristles with facts which ought to startle and arouse." —
Surrey Congregational Magazine.

' ' For a real view of the blessings of Popery we must study its growth,
and development, and influence in its own real home. The book before us-
enables us to understand something of what it is and what it has done. " —
Literary World.

" There Is no probability of controverting such a work as this, and if it
were generally read throughout England, we believe it would give Popery a
deadly wound in this country." — Protestant Opinion.

"This is in every sense a seasonable book, and deserves a wide circu-
lation."— Watchman.

"The book remains an exhaustive and telling indictment against the
whole pontifical system." — The Examiner \

Publications by Bailliere, Tindall, and Cox. 19

Cheerful Words : Volumes of Sermons, specially adapted
for delivery before Inmates of Asylums, Unions,
Workhouses, Hospitals, Gaols, Penitentiaries, and
other Public Institutions. Composed by distinguished
Dignitaries of the Church, and Clergymen. Edited by
WM. HYSLOP, Proprietor of the Stretton House Private
Asylum for Gentlemen, Church Stretton, Shropshire.
First and Second Series, price $s. each.

Hymnologia Christiana Latina ; or, a Century of Psalms
and Hymns and Spiritual Songs. By Various Authors,
from LUTHER to HEBER. Translated into Latin Verse by
the Rev. RICHARD BINGHAM, M.A. 5^.

"There are something under a hundred and twenty versions in this
elegant little volume, many of them of considerable length. It is valuable,
merely as an evidence of that elaborate cultivation, that perfect polish of
classical scholarship, which it is very good for the world at large that some
men should possess." — Literary Churchman.

A Physician's Sermon to Young Men. By WILLIAM
PRATT, M.A., M.D., &c. is.

"The delicate topic is handled wisely, judiciously, and religiously, as
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BIBLIOTHEQUE

DE

PHILOSOPHIE CONTEMPORAINE.

IN VOLUMES 2s. 6d. EACH.

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Auber, Ed. — Philosophic de la medecine.

Barot, Odysse. — Lettres sur la philosophic des histoires.

Beauquier. — Philosophic de la musique.

Beaussire. — Antecedents de I'Hegelianisme dans la philos. frang.

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Bersot, Ernest. — Libre philosophic.

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Bouillier (Francisque). — Du plaisir et de la douleur.

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Boutmy, E. — Philosophic de 1'architecture en Grece.

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Coignet, G. — La morale independante.
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Histoire du credo.

Dumont. — Heckel et la Theorie de 1'Evolution en Allemagne.

Faivre. — De la variabilite des especes.

Fontanes. — Le christianisme moderne. Etude sur Lessing.

Fonvielle, ^W. — L' astronomic modeme.

Franck, Ad. — Philosophic du droit penal.

Philosophic du droit ecclesiastique.

La philosophic mystique en France aux viiie siecle.

Gamier, Ad.— De la morale dans 1'antiquite.
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Janet, Paul. — Le materialisme contemporain.

La crise philosophique. MM. Taine, Renan, Vacherot, Littre.

Le cerveau et la pensee.

Philosophic de la revolution frangaise.

Laugel, Auguste.— Les problemes de la nature.

Les problemes de la vie.

Les problemes de Tame.

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Laugel, Augusts.— La voix, Poreille, et la musique.

L'optique et les arts.

Laveleye, Em. de. — Les formes de gouvernement.

Leblais. — Materialisme et spiritualisme, preface par M. E. Littre.

Lemoine, Albert.— Le vitalisme et 1'animisme de Stahl.

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Letourneau. — Physiologic des passions.
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Max-Muller. — La Science des Religions.

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Milsand. — L'esthetique anglaise, etude sur John Ruskin.

Moleschott, J. — La circulation de la vie.

Odysse-Barot. — Philosophic de 1'histoire.

Remusat, Charles de. — Philosophic religieuse.

Reville, A. — Histoire du dogme de la divinite de Jesus- Christ.

Ribot. — Philosophic de Schopenhauer.

Saigey. — La physique moderne.

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Critique et histoire de la philosophic.

Schoebel. — Philosophic de la raison pure.

Selden, Gamille. — La musique en Allemagne. Mendelssohn.

Spencer, Herbert. — Classification des sciences.

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Philosophie de 1'art.

Philosophie de 1'art en Italic.

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Teste, Louis. — L'Espagne contemporaine, journal d'un voyageur.
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