SPONTANEOUS GENERATION. LIFE. GROWTH. 5 



A mass of plasma with micellae as yet unarranged, 

 because any organization without a preceding organ- 

 izing activity is inconceivable. For this reason 

 known organisms cannot have orginated sponta- 

 neously; a kingdom of simpler beings must have 

 preceded them (Probien the sub -organic kingdom). 

 The growth of the masses of plasma continues as 

 long as the conditions of nutrition are favorable. 

 If these become unfavorable, a resting period (latent 

 life) or partial or total death occurs, according to 

 circumstances (as lack of nutritive material, lower- 

 ing of temperature, comparative exsiccation). The 

 growth of plants and animals is nothing else than 

 the continuation of the growth begun in the pri- 

 mordial plasma. This growth still continues wher- 

 ever the primordial plasma exists. 



4. PARTIAL DEATH OF THE INDIVIDUAL: REPRODUC- 

 TION. 



Since the primordial masses of plasma continue 

 to attract nutritive materials indefinitely and apply 

 them to growth, the nutritive materials are used up 

 in one place and another and the substance which is 

 no longer nourished is in great measure disinte- 

 grated. A general condition of equilibrium now 

 sets in, in which the viable plasma masses continue 

 to gain just as much in growth as there is dead 

 plasma broken down and changed back into the 

 original nutritive materials. 



