34 PROTOPLASM. 



in properties and powers. I therefore called it germinal or 

 living matter, to distinguish it from the formed material, 

 which is in all cases destitute of these properties. The 

 difference between germinal or living matter and the pabu- 

 lum which nourishes it, on the one hand, and the formed 

 material which is produced by it, 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 transition from one state into the 

 other is sudden and abrupt, although there may be much 

 living matter mixed with a 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. 



Matter may be more or less perfectly or imperfectly 

 formed, and formed matter may differ in hardness, colour, 

 consistence, and a number of other qualities, and it may 

 gradually pass from one state into the other ; but nothing 

 of this kind is observed in the case of the germinal matter. 

 The formed matter may possess very remarkable properties, 

 and may undergo various physical and chemical changes 

 under the influence of heat, moisture, oxygen, &c. It may 

 permit some fluids to permeate it, and may interfere with 

 the passage of others. It may contribute to the stability of 

 the organism, and perform a variety of important functions, 

 but it cannot take the place of the germinal or living matter, 

 nor in many cases does it exhibit its characteristic properties 

 after the death of the germinal matter belonging to it. 







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