BIOLOGY

LIBRARY

G

PROTOPLASM;

ITS ORIGIN, VARIETIES,' AND
FUNCTIONS.

BY

JOHN W. HAYWARD, M.D.

Author ef several Works on Medicine, Sanitation, House-building and
Hospital Construction, &*c.

BRISTOL: JOHN WRIGHT & CO.

LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LTD
LIVERPOOL: THH LIVERPOOL BOOKSELLERS' CO., 70, LORD ST.

1902.

BIOLOGY

LIBRARY

G

JOHN WRIGHT AND CO.,
PUBLISHERS, BRISTOL.

PREFACE.

THE substance of this essay formed a paper
on " The origin and nature of Matter and
Force, and Life and Mind," read before the
Literary and Scientific Society of Birken-
head, November, 1901.

It is now published, with emendations
and additions, under the impression that it
will be of interest to scientific physicians
generally, as it contains some original views
on the origin, varieties, and functions of
protoplasm.

The author gratefully acknowledges his
indebtedness to the works lately published

113877

PREFACE.

on the recent progress of science ; in par-
ticular, those of Prof. DOLBEAR, the Rev.
Dr. DALLINGER, and Dr. SCHOFIELD : to
the latter, not only for much valuable infor-
mation, but also for permission to make use
of the illustration in his excellent treatise
on "The Unconscious Mind."

BlRKENHEAD,

April, 1902.

SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS.

Protoplasm the only living substance — Cells — Every
living cell protoplasm — First protoplasm — Protoplasm, how
made — Cell-nucleus the centre of elaboration — Vital activity
innate in cell-nucleus — Atoms and molecules — Origin and
nature of atoms — Atoms always in motion — Attraction and
repulsion — The Eternal Mind the source of matter and
motion — Motion the source of life and mind — Cause and
nature of chemical affinity and gravitation — Solution of the
mystery and riddle of the universe — Origin of protoplasm —
Spontaneous generation — No break in Nature's chain —
Complex nature of protoplasm — Different kinds of proto-
plasm— Life a result of the activity within protoplasm —
Mind a result of the activity within the grey nervous matter
— Different grades of mind and their causes — Conscious-
ness, memory, recollection, will, judgment, the soul.
Appendix, on "abiogenesis" — Special creations — Orderly
development of the world.

REFERENCES :—

THE CREATOR,

AND WHAT WE MAY KNOW OF THE METHOD OF

CREATION.

BY

THE REV. W. H. DALLINGER, LL.D., F.R.S.
LONDON : T. WOOLMER. 1887.

MATTER, ETHER, AND MOTION.

BY

A. E. DOLBEAR, PH.D.

LONDON : SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.
1899.

THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND.

BY

A. T. SCHOFIELD, M.D.

LONDON: HODDER & STOUGHTON.

THE DESCENT OF MAN.

BY

CHARLES DARWIN, M.A., F.R.S.

New Edition.
LONDON : JOHN MURRAY. 1901

PROTOPLASM.

ROTOPLASM being a living sub-
stance, the following questions
may be asked concerning it,
namely : As living substance,
how did it first become living ? Was it
created already alive, or did it become so by
the ordinary processes of evolution ? When
and how did it first appear on the not-living
earth ? How is it now being made ?

The members of the medical profession
do not need to be even reminded that proto-
plasm is a semi-fluid, tenacious, glairy
substance, in appearance, consistence, and
composition resembling white of egg ; or
that the late Professor Huxley named it
" the physical basis of life," because it is the

PROTOPLASM.

_ substance -in which -life is manifested, or
more properly the substance that manifests
life ; or that for the same reason Dr. Lionel
S. Beale named it " bioplasm," the living
substance. Nor will they object to the
statements that protoplasm is the only
living substance ; that there is no life on
the earth apart from protoplasm ; * that
all the organs and tissues of living bodies,
whether animal or vegetable, are in great
part composed of protoplasm, in the form
of so-called " cells " ; that many of these
cells are without cell-wall, being then merely
infinitesimal aggregations or clusters of
molecules of protoplasm, by Beale called
" bio-plasts " ; or that every living molecule
in living bodies is protoplasm ; or that
wherever there are molecules of protoplasm
there is life, probably in proportion to the
number of molecules : and they will admit
that only part of any living organism is
really protoplasm, is really alive ; that part

1 " Life," writes the Rev. Dr. Dallinger, " it is well known
has its phenomena inherent in, and strictly confined to,
a highly complex compound of fixed chemical constituents.
This compound, in its living state, is known as protoplasm.
It is clear, colourless, and, to our finest optical resources,
devoid of discoverable structure. There is no living thing
on earth but possesses its life in protoplasm, from the micro-
scopic fungus to man. — DALLINGER, p. 29.

HOW PROTOPLASM IS MADE. 9

has been alive but, having served the pur-
poses of life, it has passed from the living
to the not-living state, from protoplasm
to cellulose ; that part has not yet arrived
at the living state, has not been elaborated
up to the complex condition of living matter,
has not been made into protoplasm.

The first protoplasm that ever existed
must have been that of plants ; of the
lowest plants, the protopyhtes, as the first
living matter, made by Nature herself.
And here it probably differs very little from
the highest of the not-living organic com-
pounds, the proteid chemical ferments,
being only a little further developed in
complexity of structure and activities.

Protoplasm is now made by animals as
well as by plants : both make it out of
their food ; when made by animals it is
also called " sarcode." The way in which
it is made will perhaps be most easily under-
stood by reference to the process as it takes
place in the higher animals. It is there
made by the cells of the already existing
protoplasm : they make it out of their
aliment, the blood. The blood is made out
of the food, by the digestive organs.

The blood, after having been elaborated
up to nearly but not quite the composition

io HOW PROTOPLASM IS MADE.

of protoplasm, is carried by the blood-
vessels to the innermost recesses of the body,
and there brought into contact with the
living cells of the organs and tissues : these
appropriate it as pabulum, and raise it to
the same degree of development as them-
selves, that is to protoplasm, make it into
protoplasm, into living matter ; not by
communicating to it any living principle,
any " principle of life," but by putting the
finishing touches to its development ; that
is, to the number or arrangement of its
molecules and to its peculiar activities —
starting the balance-wheel of the chrono-
meter, so to say.

The foregoing is the usual way in which
protoplasm is now made, and by most
biologists it is considered to be the only way ;
that is, that protoplasm, whether of animals
or plants, is made only by existing proto-
plasm, as a continuation of itself, as its
hereditary successor.

It is by the living cells of the organs and
tissues that the blood is elaborated into
protoplasm ; the molecules of the blood
plasm are drawn into the interior, towards
the centre of the cell, and there and thence
developed outwards through the granules
and nucleus to the body-substance of the

CENTRE OF ELABORATION- 11

cell. During this process they receive the
last touch that completes their formation
into protoplasm. Anterior to the nucleus
they have not yet become perfect proto-
plasm, and at the cell-wall they have ceased
to be protoplasm — have become cellulose.

The cell-nucleus is the centre of attraction
and elaboration, the seat of innate vital
activity, the vital point, the punctum saliens.
Whether there is here one of the " primordial
germs" of Darwin,2 a "physiological unit"
of Spencer ; a single specialised molecule ;
a single endowed atom, or a speck of life
or spirit, we will not even conjecture. It
is undoubtedly the point of vital activity,
and here certainly resides the primum
mobile ; by Haeckel, called the " cell soul."

Vital activity is not communicated, to
the cell by or from its environment, the
pabulum ; it is innate in the cell itself,
just as physical activity is innate in the
molecule of not-living matter. The special
kind of activity — vegetable, animal, mus-
cular, nervous, etc., results from the

2 PRIMORDIAL GERMS — " The whole line of human ex-
perience, interpreted in the light of modern scientific
knowledge, compels the conclusion that the primordial
germs in which life on earth began, arose by the operation
of natural creative laws."— DALLINGER, p. 403 [Italics,

12 COMPLEXITY OF PROTOPLASM.

peculiar kind of the constituent molecules,
or from their special groupings. The group-
ings result from and depend upon the
innate specificity of the molecules. Vital
activity is to a certain extent modifiable
by environment, as Darwin has demon-
strated. Environment does sometimes even
seem to possess an originating power, but
this is only in appearance : it has no such
power, it really acts only as a modifying
influence, and mainly as a stimulus to the
innate cell activity.3 Throughout the
whole of the universe the source of move-
ment seems to be within — in the atoms and
molecules of all in the earth, and in the
solar and other systems.

Protoplasm is well exhibited in the amoeba,
and in the living cells of the tissues of
animals and plants, where it can be seen
by the aid of the microscope. It is an
extremely complex organic body, with
immensely complex activities ; perhaps,
indeed, it is the most complex substance
known, and possessed of the most complex
activities. It is in fact alive. It can be

3 " Protoplasm/' writes Professor Dolbear, " organizes
itself into cells and tissues in the same sense as atoms
organize themselves into molecules, and molecules into
crystals." — DOLBEAR, p. 281.

FIRST PROTOPLASM. 13

killed by excessive heat or cold, though
not by long keeping or moderate drying.
By these latter its vitality is only made
dormant, and may be revived by moisture
and warmth. It cannot be analysed ; any
attempt to do so acts like a touch to a house
of cards. The chemist is left to examine
the constituent elements that have fallen
back from the living state, and re-arranged
themselves into the not-living, the non-
protoplasmic condition. Only living matter
can be1 protoplasm : there may be dormant,
but there cannot be dead protoplasm.

In all probability the first protoplasm
was made by means of successive com-
binations and re-combination of not-living
matter, by the ordinary processes of nature.4

4 " Manifestly, then, there was a time in the past history
of the globe, when its matter was without life, and therefore
there must have been a time, perhaps at a point of intense
activity in the not-living matter of the globe, when it
became endowed with the properties of life." — DALLINGER,
p. 32. [Would not 'acquired' be more appropriate here ?
4 Endowed ' implies an external influence, an endower,
which does not seem to be Dr. Dallinger's meaning. —
J.W.H.]

" Every process of nature that ever man has investigated
throughout all space and all time, results from perfect and
unalterable method which we call a ' law ' of nature. Then
why should the primal process, by which not-living matter
became, once for all, living, be brought about by any other
means than the pre-ordained action of competent natural
laws ? " — DALLINGER, p. 39.

I4 FORMS OF MATTER.

As, however, there are two theories of
the primal origin of protoplasm ; first, that
it was specially created already alive ;
second, that it was developed by the ordinary
processes of evolution ; let us examine the
subject for ourselves : for this purpose it
will be well to inquire into the origin and
nature of matter itself and its various
forms.

THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF MATTER AND
ITS VARIOUS FORMS.

It has of course been long known that
the earth is a ball of matter, in different
forms — metals, earths, solids, fluids, gases ;
that these are each made up of very small
particles, called " molecules " ; extremely
minute, much too minute indeed to be
detected by our most powerful microscope ;
and that even these molecules themselves
are made up of still more minute particles
called " atoms."

Molecules are the smallest particles of
the special forms of matter, and they are
made up of atoms of the primitive matter.

Many scientists hold that atoms are
probably hard, solid particles, which do not
cohere together ; do not even touch one
another. They suppose that each atom is

A TOMS.

surrounded by a still more subtle substance,
which they have named " ether." Some,
however, maintain that the ether is itself
the all-pervading primitive material sub-
stance, and that the atoms were formed out
of it, and are not solid particles, but centres
of movement, infinitesimal whirlpools in
the ether.5 And others are of opinion that
the atoms are elastic spheres filled with
ether. (Hovenden.)

In the fluid state of substances it is sup-
posed that the hard atoms are able to move
about freely in the ether ; that in solids
they are attracted or pressed closely to-
gether ; whilst in gases they are separated
to considerable distances from one another.
As vortices in the ether it is supposed that
in liquids they are separate from one
another ; in solids they are in a state of
contraction and pressed into one another ;
and in gases they are expanded as well as
separate. As elastic spheres it is supposed
that in liquids they are in a state of separa-
tion from one another, simply filled with
ether ; in solids that they are infolded,

5 " What knowledge we do have, and the inferences that
may properly be drawn from it, all tend to convince that
matter and ether are most intimately related to each other,
and that some such theory as the vortex-ring theory of
matter must be true." — DOLBEAR, p. 42. (See note to p. 21 .)

1 6 MOTION WITHIN ATOMS.

invaginated into one another with the ether
pressed out ; whilst in gases they are
expanded with ether, and that in proportion
to the ether absorbed. (Hovenden.)

Scientists are then not at one as to what
the primitive matter was, nor as to the
nature of the atoms. What the original
matter was is perhaps of less importance
to science than what and whence the atoms,
because it is by the atoms and their unions
and combinations that all the materials
and phenomena of nature are produced.
One thing about the atoms is certain,
namely, that they are always in motion,
are centres of motion, the centres of all
cosmic activities, that they are endowed
with innate power of self-movement, 6

6 " The primal atoms with their inalienable motion." —
DALLINGER, p. 48.

" Movement is an innate and original property of matter."

— HyECKEL.

If a steel magnet of one inch length were cut into two
half-inches, one end of each half would manifest attraction
and the other repulsion ; so if each half-inch were cut into
two, the ends of each quarter-inch would similarly manifest
attraction and repulsion ; and so again, if each quarter-
inch were bisected, the ends of each eighth would manifest
similar attraction and repulsion : and so would the ends
of each particle were the bisection carried as far as sight
could follow. Nor would this attraction and repulsion
cease were sub-division carried as far as the particles could
be detected by the microscope ; and if carried to the very
atoms, each would necessarily possess similar attraction and
repulsion.

MOTION WITHIN ATOMS. 17

instinctive motion, which shows itself
especially as attraction and repulsion, as if
they were minute magnets. 7 It is this
innate power that makes them move freely
about amongst one another, and forces
them to be in constant movement, never
to be at rest even in the most compact
substance, but always in motion, attracting
and repelling each other with great force,
with force so great that it has earned for
itself such names as " The bombardment of
atoms," " The rhythmic swing of the atoms,"
" The eternal dance of the atoms," " The
polarity of the atoms," " The life of the
atoms," and similar designations ; and with

7 " How atoms may be magnets and exhibit polarity,
may be imagined by considering the phenomena of vortex
rings." — DOLBEAR, p. 203.

" The evidence that the atoms are such magnets does not
rest upon the necessity of the conception for the hypo-
thesis; but upon much confirmatory experiment that has
led physicists to the conclusion that they are such ....
for all that is implied in the above is that whatever their
form and substance they are magnets." — DOLBEAR, p. 255.

" The vibrations of the atomic magnet are rapid because
it is small ; the waves it produces are changes in its mag-
netic field in the ether, so that one may trace back in this
manner the phenomena of light, of heat? and electricity
to the mechanical structure of atoms ; and it is mechanically
intelligible too, and, like the preceding accounts of proper-
ties, it appears, that magnetic and electric qualities are due
to the peculiar kinds of motion embodied in the atoms" —
DOLBEAR, p. 345.

2

1 8 SOURCE OF LIFE AND MIND.

such velocity that " six million molecules in
a thimbleful of gas manage to give
8,000,000,000 shocks on either side in the
course of a second." (L. Buchner.)

I wish to call special attention to this
primaeval motion with which the Creator
has originally endowed the atoms of matter,
and to lay particular stress on it, because I
believe here is the great " Secret of Nature,"
the source of all Motion and all Force, and of
Life and Mind. Let me repeat : I believe
that the motion innate in the atoms of
primitive matter, is the source of all motion
and all force, and of life and mind.

I believe the atomic matter of the universe
was primarily one and single, and is now
only named differently under various
conditions — atomic, molecular, massive,
etc. ; and I believe so-called force or energy
is one, differently named under different
manifestations — atomic, molecular (chemi-
cal affinity), massive (gravitation), physical,
electrical, vital, etc. But force or energy
is not a real or separate existence, any
more than is motion, or heat, or light, or
electricity. All the so-called " forces " are
" modes of motion," motion of matter ;
and motion is the result of the innate
attractions and repulsions in matter, in

SOURCE OF MOTION. 19

the molecules and atoms. Chemical
affinity is a result of attractions amongst
molecules and atoms ; and gravitation a
result of attractions amongst masses.8

The expression " matter and motion/'
or " matter and force," is misleading. It
is true there is motion, and that there could
not be motion without matter ; but it
is equally true that there could be matter
without motion, that is, if motion were
not innate in matter. Neither is the
formula " matter affected by motion " any
more satisfactory, because it implies the
separate existence of motion — motion
acting on matter. Now, motion as a
separate existence is an absurdity : there
is no such thing.9 The most satisfactory
formula is " matter in motion " : this is
in conformity with the fact that the atoms
have innate motion — that motion is innate
in matter.

8 " One thing seems certain, if the vortex-ring theory oi
matter be true, or anything like it, then ' gravity ' must
follow from the structure ; for in the absence of any evi-
dence of the existence of gravitation in the ether, no one is
at liberty to postulate it there for the sake of the definition
of matter. It must be looked for as due to the particular
kind of motion that constitutes the atom." — DOLBEAR,
P- 349-

9 " Pure motion, motion by itself, is impossible to thought."
— DALLINGER, p. 23.

[So also is separate ' force.'— J.W. H.]

20 MYSTERY AND RIDDLE OF UNIVERSE.

Though all scientists acknowledge that
the atoms have innate motion, the import-
ance of this fact appears not to have been
yet fully recognized, nor its main-spring,
its primum mobile character, thoroughly
realised.

The fact that the atoms have innate
motion explains much hitherto considered
to be inexplicable, and does away with
the chief " difficulty of science." It clears
up the " mystery " and solves the " riddle "
of the Universe ! I repeat : the fact that
motion is innate in the atoms of primitive
matter removes the chief difficulty of
science ; clears up the mystery, and solves
the riddle of the Universe. * °

These may appear very bold and sweeping
statements ; but to me such conclusions
are logical, legitimate, and unavoidable.

The force by which the molecules and
atoms hold themselves together, and that
is displayed by their rushing into other

1 ° " Given this ' first beginning - of the cosmogonic
movement; it is easy, on mechanical principles, to deduce
and mathematically establish the further phenomena of
the formation of the cosmic bodies, the separation of the
planets^ and so forth. .... In our opinion, this second
' world-enigma J is solved by the recognition that move-
ment is an innate and original property of substance." —
" Riddle of the Universe," p. 246.

ORIGINAL FORM OF MATTER. 21

combinations when an unstable compound
is forcibly broken up, is sometimes pro-
digious, as in the case of gunpowder and
dynamite.

Modern study of electricity and magnet-
ism, and of the X- and cathode rays, has
confirmed scientists in the belief that the
ultimate or original matter of the universe
was not the atomic condition of the material
bodies with which we are acquainted ;
but a single, uniform, non-atomic, very
subtle substance, filling all space ; and in
which it has been conjectured there
occurred in the unfathomable past innumer-
able " centres of condensation " or motion
in the shape of infinitesimal whirlpools
or vortices : and that perhaps in this way
were made the atoms of the matter out of
which have been formed not only the stars
and planets and the solar system, but also
the various kinds of matter discoverable
in the earth. To the present writer it
seems very probable that primitive matter
was dual — the non-atomic ether, and the
atomic substance. 1 1

1 1 " Lastly, if the atom itself be a vortex-ringj as ex-
plained in the chapter on the ether, it follows that in the
absence of such form of motion there would be no atom —
no matter : the substance out of which the ring was con-

22 ORIGINAL CONDITION OF MATTER,

Some philosophers have even maintained
that originally all was " spirit " ; that
there was and perhaps is no such stuff as
" matter."

Now, whether matter was originally
spirit and eternal, or whether it was called
into existence by a pre-existing spirit-power,
and its innate motion is potential life or
spirit, it is not necessary for us to fry to
determine or wise for us to dogmatise on.
It is sufficient for all scientific purposes
to admit that universal ether became
differentiated into matter with innate
motion as we now find it : by what steps
or stages ; whether by way of the " protyle "
of Sir W. Crookes, or the " cosmic haze "
or " nebulous matter " of other physicists,
and by what power, we need not inquire.

stituted would exist, but without any of the characteristics
that we assign to matter in any of its forms. .... Such
an atom is a particular form of motion of the ether in the
ether y in the same sense as what is called light is a form of
motion of the ether in the ether. One is an undulation,
the other a vortex. One we call an ether wave, the other
a vortex Thus, one after another of the proper-
ties of matter are found to be resolvable into ether motions,
ether being the primal, and matter only one of its mani-
festations."— DOLBEAR, p. 350.

" The phases of this evolution consist in a periodic change
of consistency, of which the first outcome is the primary
division into mass and ether." — H^iCKELy p. 248, " Riddle
of the Universe." (See p. 21.)

ORIGIN OF FORMS OF MATTER. 23

Therefore, in seeking the origin and
nature of the various forms now existing
of matter, we may begin at the atomic
stage ; we may take the atoms as the
starting point. And we will take it for
granted that these atoms have innate
attraction and repulsion, affections so to
say, the " loves and hates of the atoms "
as they have been called, which I believe
betoken the potency, incipiency, and
promise of life and mind. The atoms
themselves may perhaps be destitute of
sensation and without intelligence, but
they may possess the potency and promise
of both. Attraction and repulsion, it is
granted they have ; and these may possibly
be susceptibe of development into both
sensation and intelligence, as they are
into motion and force, heat, light, elec-
tricity, and magnetism.

To begin with, then, let us follow the
chemists in supposing that two of the
atoms of the original matter became attract-
ed to one another, and that they united
and formed a molecule of one of the simple
substances which chemists call " elements,"
viz.j hydrogen. Hydrogen, then, is sup-
posed to be made up of binary atoms of
primitive matter ; and these must, of

24 FORMS OF MATTER.

course, possess a motion made up of a
combination and modification of the special
motions of the two atoms — a tertium quid
motion, so to say. Chemists also believe
that four of the atoms combined to form
a molecule of phosphorus, which of course
must also possess quadruple activities ; and
that six atoms combined to form a molecule
of sulphur, which in like manner must
possess six-fold activities ; and so on for
the formation of the other elementary
substances, each having its own special
activities, its own attractions and repul-
sions, its own polarities.

Hence arose the mutual attractions,
repulsions, and elective affinities, sometimes
very strong, amongst the chemical elements,
that caused one element to attract and
unite with some elements and repel others,
thus forming the various compound bodies
known to chemists ; for instance, molecules
of hydrogen united with molecules of
oxygen and formed water ; molecules of
oxygen united with molecules of potas-
sium and made potassium oxide, and
with molecules of ferrum made ferrous
oxide ; single molecules of oxygen united
with single molecules of carbon and made
carbon monoxide; single molecules of

FORMS OF PROTOPLASM. 25

carbon united with double molecules of
oxygen and made carbon dioxide, that is
carbonic acid ; and so on with the other
elementary bodies, forming other complex
bodies : these combined with each other,
and with each other again, and again and
again, through a long series of combina-
tions and re-combinations in an apparently
interminable chain of developments and
complexities, from the original primitive
matter up through the various complex
inorganic bodies and the not-living albu-
minoids ; so that eventually there was
formed that extremely complex substance
called protoplasm, with its immensely
complex activities, which in this case are
called "vital"— vital "force," vital" energy." 1 2
The atoms in the molecules of the con-
stituent elements of protoplasm necessarily

1 2 " It has not occurred to me that any one uses the
term ' vital force ' in any other way than as a convenient
method of expressing the sum total of the physical and
chemical activities of organisms." — Prof. E. L. Mark;
DOLBEAR, p. 359-

" The hypothesis of a ' vital principle ' is now as com-
pletely discarded as the hypothesis of phlogiston in chemistry.
No biologist with a reputation to lose would for a moment
think of defending it." — John Fiske. DoLBEARj p. 358.

" A vital element, i.e., an element peculiar to organisms^
no more exists than does a vital force working independently
of natural and material processes." — Claus and Sedgwick.
DoLBEARj p. 158.

26 FORMATION OF PROTOPLASM.

retained their innate motions, and these
were of course combined and modified
by the immense number of combinations
and re-combinations through which they
had to pass in their long progress up to
those of the immensely complex body
called protoplasm. l 3

In such processes as these Nature works
so slowly and with such infinitesimal
quantities that we cannot see, cannot even
imagine, the processes and quantities ;
she has no need for the chemist's laboratory
or his retorts and balances ; and she does
not permit the microscopist to see these
processes under his microscope. Chemists

13 Writing on the actions of chemical proteids and
ferments, Mr. Herbert E. Davies, analytical chemist and
microscopist, states : " All evidence goes to show that these
changes are what are called hydrolytic changes, that is to
say the proteid molecule takes up a molecule of water, and
splits up in so doing into two molecules of new substance,
and these molecules each take another molecule of water,
and in so doing split up into two further molecules, and

so on This building-up operation may be supposed

to occur indefinitely ; more and more complex molecules
being formed, with increasing complexity of function. . . . :
At some stage in the increasing complexity we begin to get
a range of functions, the ferment actions ; akin to vital
action, but simpler." — Presidential Address : Liverpool
Microscopical Society, 1901, by Herbert E. Davies, M.A.
(Cantab.), B.Sc., (Lond.), F.I.C.

This has been very conclusively displayed by Mr. Herbert
Spencer, in his Principles of Biology, see p. 482., Vol. I.

ORIGIN OF PROTOPLASM. 27

have never yet made protoplasm ; nor
have they ever made any of the so-called
chemical elements out of primitive matter,
but Nature has ; otherwise whence
came they originally ? Chemists have
never made protoplasm out of not-living
matter ; but Nature has ; or whence
came it originally ? Whether she is now
making the elements in the interior of
the earth we do not know ; but we do
know she is still making protoplasm on
the earth's surface. Originally she made
it out of not-living matter, which process
we in our ignorance call " spontaneous
generation " * 4 : now she makes it by
means of germs, that is, she leaves it to
the means she has provided for its continuous
production ; and which we find is the
orderly plan of evolution from protophytes
through a gradually ascending orderly
series of plant life up to the highest plant,
and from the amoeba through a gradually
ascending orderly series of animal life up
to man — " evolution," as demonstrated by
Darwin, Wallace, and others. The universe
is an orderly evolution — atomic matter,
worlds, minerals and metals, plants and
animals, and then man.

14 See Appendix.

28 BEGINNINGS OF PROTOPLASM.

In the same way as the worlds came
into existence, so did protoplasm and man ;
all in pre-ordained time and succession,
and by pre-ordained means, nothing needing
special interposition. And as there may
still be worlds being formed out of nebulous
matter in the depths of space, so may
metals still be in the process of formation
in the interior of the earth, as protoplasm
is on the earth's surface. * 5

In all probability protoplasm started in
infinitesimal specks, single molecules, in
the first instance — the " primordial germs "
of Darwin, the " physiological units " of
Spencer. 1 6 And it may have started not
in one region only of the earth, but perhaps
in many localities ; in the depths of Nature's
laboratories, where there were suitable
conditions as to moisture, warmth, sun-
shine, or absence of sunshine ; and may
even now be starting in the same way,
under similar conditions. 1 ?

is " The mind and will of the inscrutable Creator prevised
and pre-ordered the whole series of conditions which, by
their immutable action, inter-action, and rhythmic occur-
rence as 'laws' evolved the universe." — DALLINGER, p. 41.

1 6 See note to p; 1 1 .

1 7 " Is it not conceivable that infinite resource, infinite
wisdom, infinite prevision and power, could in a manner,
which this illustration only suggests, have caused the
non-vital universe to become in some parts vital ? " —
DALLINGER, p. 42.

NO BREAK IN NATURES CHAIN. 29

Now, if the foregoing is anything like
what really did occur during the long
series of Nature's evolutionary operations
in the vast ages through which the earth
has passed, it does seem quite probable
that protoplasm was truly one of the
products of evolution : that it was evolved
like all the other parts of the world out of
the primitive matter of the universe, in
the ordinary way of evolution, and was
not created specially, as so many biologists
maintain ; that there was here no break
in Nature's chain ; not a break-down and
start afresh in the scheme of evolving the
earth and its inhabitants out of chaos ;
but that protoplasm first appeared on the
earth when some of the matter of the earth
had been made sufficiently complex for
the purpose. * 8 Indeed, this is what was
to be expected : what ought always to have
been expected : to expect anything less ;
to suppose that protoplasm had to be

1 8 Some opponents ot this opinion, though they maintain
the special creation of protoplasm and of man, object to
this being looked upon us a break in the course of evolution.

" Because life — living matter — does not now arise directly
from that which is not life, does it follow that the creative
method was discontinuous ? that the primordial creative
laws willed into operation ' in the beginning '- were only
competent to evolve the inorganic and not-living ? "-
DALLINGER, p, 40. (See p. 27).

30 LIVING AND NOT LIVING MATTER.

specially created, would be to accuse Nature
of bungling. Nature makes no such
mistakes, her chain extends without a
break from eternity to everlasting, by
continuous infinitesimal links up through
the whole of the universe ; through not-
living matter, living matter, life and
mind, onwards, perhaps as an inconceivable
circle, without either beginning or end.

There is, indeed, no sharp and distinct
line marking off living from not-living
matter, as is still the orthodox belief of
biologists, any more than there is marking
off inorganic from organic, or animal from
vegetable matter, or vertebrate from
invertebrate animals ; or there is between
the infant, the boy and the man, or between
the sexually immature and mature ; all
are (indistinct) grades in development or
evolution.

Man finds himself a being marvellously
constructed of matter, in a material universe
apparently evolved from atoms endowed
with an innate motion that forced them
to construct the universe. As a reasoning
creature he is driven to be not satisfied
with the knowledge that the atoms have
innate motion, but must inquire after
the origin of this mysterious power in the

COMPLEXITY OF PROTOPLASM. 31

atoms. In this inquiry he meets with
evidences, everywhere present, of an
eternal, omniscient, omnipotent source,
and is compelled to believe that in the
beginning — if there ever was a beginning —
this eternal mind willed or gave the com-
mand : " Let there be matter ; let there
be atoms ; and let the atoms have the
property that will make them attract and
repel each other, different atoms having
different attractions, so that by their
different attachments and combinations
they may produce an infinity of varied
motions, and an infinity of varied bodies
and varied qualities of bodies, so that
matter may gradually evolve by slow and
imperceptible steps up from simple to
complex, and from complex to living ;
through plants to animals, up to man."19
As already stated, protoplasm is the
most complex substance known ; and it
is necessary that it should be so, for it has
to serve the most complex of purposes,
viz., the purposes of life, of all kinds of

19"Can there be any splendour of the Infinite Mind more
ineffable and effulgent than the evidence in His works
that in the beginning He determined the potency and
prevision of all the life, and the adaptations^ that ever
emerged or can emerge." — DALLINGER, p. 57* (See p. 27.)

32 COMPOSITION OF PROTOPLASM.

life from the lowest plant to the highest
animal life. On its first coming into
existence it probably differed but little
from the highest of the not-living organic
bodies, the proteid ferments, because it
had to exhibit only the very lowest kind,
the first dawnings of life. Perhaps it
was by one of the molecules of one of these
ferments attracting one or more molecules
of some other highly complex body, or by
other favourable circumstances, deter-
mined by the original designer, causing
a slight re-arrangement in the constituent
elements, that the first molecule of proto-
plasm was made. It is, indeed, 'very
probable that something like this really
did occur.

Besides, inasmuch as protoplasm has
to serve the purposes of all grades of life,
from the lowest to the highest, it must
of course vary in its powers, and therefore
in its composition and quality : it must
vary with the life phenomena it has to
exhibit ; it cannot be of fixed chemical
composition. The quality of the proto-
plasm of animals must differ from that
of plants, must be of a higher type, because
it has to exhibit higher life phenomena.
The protoplasm of the nerves of animals

FORMS OF PROTOPLASM. 33

must be of a higher type than that of the
muscles, because it has to serve the higher
function of sensation ; that of the organs
of the senses must be of a higher type
than that of the nerves, because it has to
serve the higher functions of smell, hearing,
sight, etc. ; and that of the organ of the
mind — the grey matter of the cerebral
hemispheres — must be of a still higher,
indeed of the highest, type, because it has
to serve the very highest of life phenomena,
viz., those of conscious mind. These
differences depend, in all probability, on
differences in the number or arrangement
of the component molecules : they are,
however, much too subtle for our detection.
Nature works here with such infinitesimal
quantities and inconceivable arrangements
that we cannot even imagine them.

The brain and the nerves are composed
of two kinds of substance, the white and
the grey : the white is made up of fibres,
the grey of cells. The surface of the brain
hemispheres is almost wholly grey matter —
almost wholly cells and their connections.

So much for the origin and nature of
the various forms of matter. This brings
us to the question of

3

34 LIFE.

THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF LIFE.

What is life ? Is it an entity separable
from the body ? Is it a " force," or " mode
of motion " ? Or is it an evidence of the
presence of protoplasm ? Is there any
difference between vegetable and animal
life ? What is death ?

From what has been advanced on the
functions of protoplasm, the reader will
be prepared to learn that I agree with those
biologists who view " life " as the phenomena
resulting from chemical changes going
on in protoplasm ; as the phenomena
evidencing that these changes are going
on.20 Let me repeat : Life is the sum
of the phenomena resulting from chemical
changes going on in the protoplasm of
the body. Life is not a force or energy ;
all the natural so-called forces are convertible
into one another, and are re-convertible :
life cannot be converted into any force ;
it can only continue or cease : it ceases
as the light of a match ceases, when the
substance of the match is burned away.
Nor is life a mode of motion : it is not

20 " In physiology the word life is understood to mean
the chemical and physical activities of the parts of which
the organism consists." — DoLBEAR, p. 358. (See note to
p. 8).

LIFE. 35

motion at all ; it is only one of the results
of the motion that is going on amongst
the ultimate molecules of protoplasm,
just as fire and warmth are results of the
chemical changes going on in coal that
is burning, and light is a result of the
chemical changes going on in a lighted
match or candle. Nor is it a separate
entity, any more than is the light of the
candle or the warmth of the fire : it begins
with the beginning of the specific chemical
changes, and ceases with their ceasing.

Animal life, as it now exists on the earth,
is started in the individual by the union
of the molecules and motions in the ovum
of the female with those in the sperm cell
of the male ; and in the higher animals
in no other way. After the matter and
motions of the two bodies are brought
together they coalesce, and so re-arrange
themselves that the resulting combination
is able to maintain an independent existence,
which neither body could previously do.

Life is maintained by the appropriation
of pabulum, in response to the calls and
needs of the organism in which it exists,
which calls and needs result from wear
and tear by the activity or work performed
by the organism. The strength and vigour

3*

36 DEATH.

of the individual life depend partly upon
the vigour originally imparted by the
parents ; partly on the activity and vigour
of the chemical changes going on in the
protoplasm of the body and the appro-
priated pabulum ; and partly on the
general care and management bestowed
during the life. Life may well be likened
to the spin of a top, in which the spin is
started by the spinner ; its vigour being
imparted by the force given to the spin,
and the continuance of the spinning by
the care and assiduity of the whipping :
its ceasing to spin is analogous to death.

As to difference between the life of
plants and animals : life being the product
of protoplasm, and protoplasm being
present alike in plants and animals, both
have life ; and the only difference there
can be between plant and animal life is
that of degree or quality ; and for the same
reason there can be no other difference
between animal and human life than that
of degree and quality. The greater the
quantity or proportion of protoplasm the
more of life ; and the higher the quality
the greater the vigour of life.

Death is the result of the ceasing of the
chemical changes that go on in the proto-

MIND. 37

plasm of the body ; whatever puts a stop
to these changes causes death. And once
stopped, these changes can never be re-
started ; protoplasm once dead is dead
for ever.

When life on the earth first began no
one can tell. Nor does anyone know for
certain how it began : whether it was
one of the results of the pre-ordained or
pre-determined evolutions of the universe,
when evolution had produced the highest
not-living proteid or ferment, and pro-
gressed one step further, as some scientists
think ; or whether it was the result of
a special creative act on the part of the
eternal all-pervading Spirit, when the
fulness of time had arrived for life to appear
on the earth, as many scientists, most
philosophers, and nearly all theologians
maintain, we ought not to attempt to
decide. These are questions that will best
be left for each one to settle forThimself .

So much as to the origin and nature
of life. Now as to

THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF MIND.

What is mind ? Is it an entity distinct
from the body ? Is it what is understood

38 MIND.

by the words spirit or soul ; the immortal
soul ? Or is it one of the functions of the
brain ?

What are Consciousness, Memory,
Recollection, Will, Judgment ? Is there
any difference between the mind of man
and that of the lower animals ?

These are very interesting and somewhat
important questions, and are frequently
asked. Let us attempt replies : —

From the preceding pronouncements
on the origin and nature of matter and
life, the reader will not be unprepared to
hear that as I believe life to be the pheno-
mena resulting from chemical changes going
on in the protoplasm of the body generally,
so I believe " mind " is the phenomena
resulting from the action of the protoplasm
of the grey matter of the nervous system,
elicited or made evident by the stimulus
of impressions conveyed to it through the
senses. Let me repeat : " Mind is the
phenomena resulting from the action of
the protoplasm of the grey matter of the
nervous system/" The following facts,
among others, support this belief, viz. :
(i) That where there is no grey matter
there is no intelligent mind ; (2) That
wherever there is grey matters there mind

GREY MATTER. 39

phenomena show themselves under proper
conditions ; (3) That mind phenomena
correspond with the quantity and quality
of the grey matter, and with the kind
and intensity of the stimulus ; (4) That
when the grey matter of corresponding
parts of both hemispheres of the brain
is damaged or diseased, mind in some of
its faculties is impaired or diseased, and
when the damage or disease is repaired
the mind is restored ; (5) That on tracing
the rise in the scale of intelligence, it is
found that with every increase in intelligence
there is a corresponding increase in the
quantity of grey matter. The greater
the quantity the larger the mind, and
the finer the quality the higher the quality
of the mind — from an amoeba to a Newton.
Now, grey matter is present in many
parts of the body, but is especially abundant
in the brain and spinal cord. It is dis-
tributed throughout the whole body,
perhaps in single molecules, in the lowest
animals, the protozoa ; and must there
be of the lowest quality, perhaps differing
but little from the highest quality of not-
nervous protoplasm ; but with the rise
in the scale of intelligence it is collected
into masses, and finally into the form of

W///////////////U>rn^on!iCious

DIAGRAM OF SENSOR1-MOTOR ARCS

(Scfio

FUNCTIONS OF GREY MATTER. 41

a brain, and improved in quality. Wherever
present, when excited by appropriate
stimuli, it manifests the phenomena called
mental ; and these phenomena vary with
the position and quality of the grey matter
manifesting them.

The illustration* shows the spinal cord ;
its upper end (medulla oblongata) ; the
lower brain (optic thalami and striated
bodies) ; and the upper brain, the cortex.

As pointed out by Dr. Schofield, the
grey matter in the lower part of the spinal
cord serves the very low mental functions,
viz., those of common reflex action ; is
of very low quality, and responds to very
low kinds of stimuli, viz., those conveyed
from the skin, the muscles, and viscera.
The grey matter in the upper part of the
spinal cord — the medulla oblongata —
serves functions that are higher and more
important, the sub-" instinct "-ive, viz.,
those of respiration, circulation, and diges-
tion ; is of a higher quality, and responds
to higher and more complex stimuli, viz.,
the calls in the system for oxygen and
blood. The grey matter in the lower

• A copy of the diagram in Dr. A. T. Schofield's excellent
treatise on " The Unconscious Mind." He has kindly
allowed me to make use of it.

42 QUALITY OF GREY MATTER.

brain — the thalami optici and corpora
striata — serves the still higher functions,
the " instinct "-ive, viz., those of sub-
consciousness, such as dreams, visions,
sleep-talking, sleep-walking, habits and
acquired reflexes ; is of a still higher quality,
and responds to still higher and more
complex stimuli, such as the higher bodi'y
and lower mental calls and promptings.
And the grey matter of the higher brain —
the cortex or surface of the hemispheres-
serves the most important of all functions,
viz., those of full consciousness and the
highest mental functions ; is of the highest
quality, and responds to the highest kind
of stimuli, such as social and mental
promptings and impulses.

As well as rising in position and increasing
in quantity, the grey matter also improves
in quality, as every other organ in the
body does, with the importance of the
function it has to perform. The higher
the function the higher the position and
quality of the grey matter ; in other words,
the higher the position of the grey matter
the higher the function it performs. This
law rules even in the grey matter of the
hemispheres of the brain. Also the greater
the quantity of grey matter, that is, the

MENTAL FACULTIES. 43

thicker the cortex and more numerous
and deep the folds, the larger is the mind.21

The frontal lobes are really the highest
part of the brain ; the brain being doubled
over forwards. The grey matter of the
frontal lobes is therefore the most highly-
developed protoplasm there is. It must
be of an exceptionally fine quality in such
brains as those of Messrs. Chamberlain
and Asquith ; perhaps a little less fine
but more in quantity in such as those of
Lord Rosebery and the late W. E. Gladstone.
Mind is not a single power ; it is made
up of groups of faculties. The grey matter
of the lower and back parts of the hemis-
pheres serves the lower or animal faculties ;
and that of the upper and front parts
serves the moral and intellectual faculties.
The cerebellum has nothing to do with
the higher mental functions.

The logical conclusion to be drawn from
these facts is that the protoplasm of the
grey matter of the nervous system, especially
that of the bra n, is the source of the pheno-
mena called mind, just as the protoplasm
of the general system is the source of the

21 " Mind is intimately liaked with cerebral action.
We do not know mind apart from brain." — DALLINGER,
P- 45-

44 ORIGIN OF MIND.

phenomena called life. As life is the
phenomena resulting from the chemical
changes that go on in the protoplasm
of the body generally, and ceases with
the ceasing of these changes, so mind is
the phenomena that result from the vital
changes that go on in the protoplasm of
the grey matter of the nervous system,
especially of the brain, and it ceases with
the ceasing of these changes — goes out
as the light of a lamp does.

Mind, then, is not a separate intelligent
or spiritual entity that uses the brain as
the medium through which to work and
display its powers. Nor is it a universally
existing something, an emanation from
the Deity, that is apportioned off in separate
quantities to individual human and other
beings. There is no separate Ego or I.
" I am," is only a result of consciousness ;
and consciousness is only one of the powers
of the mind. Nor is mind the immortal
soul, or spirit : it is the sum of the pheno-
mena resulting from the activity of the
grey matter of the nervous system.

Now, as nervous system and grey matter
are common to all animals, so is mind ;
and the only difference there can be between
the mind of man, the highest animal, and

MENTAL FACULTIES. 45

that of other animals is quantity and
quality.

The lower groups of faculties — those of
the lower and back parts of the brain-
are the affections : these force action,
and make man a social being. The higher
group — those of the upper part — are the
sentiments : these lift man above the
lower animals, and make him a moral
being. The frontal group are the intellec-
tual faculties. The general action of all
the faculties together is displayed principally
in consciousness, memory, recollection,
will, and judgment.

CONSCIOUSNESS, I take it, is mental
perception, the power of being acquainted
with or comprehending ; that is, of men-
tally comprehending or appreciating the
impressions brought to the mind through
the organs of the senses. Its alertness
and power correspond with the fineness
and susceptibility of the grey matter of
the hemispheres. It is no more a separate
something apportioned off to individuals
than is mind itself.

Memory and Recollection : there is, I
think, some difference between these two
mental powers.

MEMORY, I take it, is the power of retain-

46 MENTAL FACULTIES.

ing or having always present in conscious-
ness past mental impressions ; finding
them always absolutely ready for use ;
and is in proportion to the quantity and
quality, especially the quantity, of the
grey matter that serves the special faculties
or special kind of knowledge to be remem-
bered. It is the space or capacity for the
storage of facts or mental impressions.

RECOLLECTION I take to be the power
of re-collecting past mental impressions
or facts of memory by mental effort ;
of finding them by mentally searching
for them in consciousness, and is much
under the control of the will.

The WILL, I take it, is the mental resolve
resulting from the combined action of
certain groups of cerebral cells or mental
faculties, excited or prompted by certain
stimuli ; and in strength corresponds
with the strength of the prompting causes
or the prospective consequences.

JUDGMENT I take to be the result of the
combined action of all the faculties together.

The SPIRIT, the immortal/goulXis under-
stood to be an entity separable from the
body, being simply a dweller in the body
during the body's life ; and at death takes
its flight or departure to some unknown
region.

>

APPENDIX.
(See page 27.)

SPONTANEOUS GENERATION, ABIOGENESIS.

IN past times many special creations were
contended for, in particular those of plants
and animals, and the human race. The
special creation of the separate classes of
plants and animals was early abandoned,
but a belief in the separate and special
creation of the animal and vegetable king-
doms was long retained ; even at the present
day the special creation of the vegetable
kingdom and of the human race, that is,
of protoplasm and of man, is strenuously
contended for ; the former especially by
scientists, and the latter by theologians.
By " special creation " is meant the

48 SPONTANEOUS GENERATION.

immediate bringing into life by the Creator,
as typified in the account given in Genesis.

By " spontaneous generation " is meant
the beginning to manifest the phenomena
of life by matter not previously manifesting
these phenomena, and without the inter-
vention of anything already manifesting
them — matter beginning to manifest the
phenomena of life spontaneously, from the
innate initiative tendency within matter.
Spontaneous generation really means genera-
tion by nature herself, or by the Creator
via nature, which is the same thing.

Here the name " Creator " is used to
signify the maker of the universe, the
originator of all things that have been
created ; indeed, the apparent source of all,
whether created or not.

From the earliest times to the end of the
middle ages no one called in question the
doctrine that, under favourable conditions,
living matter might come into existence
spontaneously, as well subsequently as at
its primitive genesis. In the latter part
of the seventeenth century, however, this
opinion became disputed, and about the
middle of the nineteenth century, by careful
experimentation, Pasteur, Virchow, Tyndall,
and other scientists satisfied themselves

OMNE VIVUM E VIVO. 49

that spontaneous generation never now
occurs, but living things arise always from
pre-existing living things, that is, from
germs. They thereupon formulated the
law : " Omne vivum e vivo " : and this is
now the orthodox belief amongst biologists.
To doubt it is heresy, and to dispute it is to
incur excommunication, both scientific and
theological. On the kind of germs, how
long these had previously existed, and
whence they had originally come, these
experimenters did not venture to dog-
matise. It is, however, admitted that they
belong to the vegetable kingdom, are
separate simple cells of vegetable protoplasm,
are minute plants, protophytes.

Though the experiments of Pasteur
militate against the idea of the spontaneous
generation of protoplasm taking place now,
they are of no force against the doctrine
of its primitive or original spontaneous
generation. The beginning of life in
organic fluids being prevented by filtering
the germs out of the air, does not prove
that these germs had not themselves arisen
spontaneously ; if they had not, then they
must have been specially created ; and no
true scientist will contend for their special
creation. Nor does it prove that they do

4

50 ORIGIN OF MAN.

not now arise spontaneously, under favour-
able circumstances ; their spontaneous
generation may still be going on in much
the same way, under similar conditions.
Why not ? The law omne vivum e vivoy
applies only as far as we can see ; it is not
reasonable to suppose that nature's forces,
that originally produced protoplasm, have
ceased to operate. Similar soil, moisture,
warmth, sunshine, and darkness still exist,
and are likely to produce similar effects
[See p. 27].

It is not contended that the Creator
could not have communicated life directly
to not-living matter, could not have made
not-living matter into living matter at once ;
it is only maintained that such would be
contrary to the whole plan of creation,
and would have involved a break in the
chain of evolution, and a special inter-
position on the part of the Creator.

Now the laws of orderly development
rule throughout the universe. The highest
plant life is gradually developed from the
lowest — the graceful palm from the proto-
phyte : so also is the highest animal life
similarly developed by slow degrees, from
the amoeba to the most highly developed
member of the animal kingdom — man

ORDERLY DEVELOPMENT. 51

There are no breaks or lines of demarcation
between the various sections of either
plants or animals, not even marking oft
man from the rest of the animal world.22

22 " By what other means than by the operation of
natural ' laws ' can we think of the Infinite Power, extend
ing through all extent as the fountain of all being} as acting ?"

DALLINGERj p. 39.

" He who is not content to lookj like a savage, at the
phenomena of nature as disconnected^ cannot any longer
believe that man is the work of a separate act of creation."—
DARWIN, p. 927.

" The time will before long come when it will be thought
wonderful that naturalists, who were well acquainted
with the comparative structure and development of man
and other animals3 should have believed that each was
the work of a separate act of creation." — DARWIN, pj 371

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