NATURE OF PROTOPLASMIC RESPIRATION. 343 



itive and negative valencies are opened simultaneously. The 

 number of residual valencies may be considerable since upon 

 Thompson's hypothesis of the electronic constitution of matter 

 the movement outward of any electron owing to the speed of 

 rotation of the atom or a disturbance of its electrical equilib- 

 rium would open up such valencies. In fact, the whole atom 

 would be made up of polarized valencies if we look at it in this 

 way. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. 



The foregoing hypothesis has a close bearing on the spon- 

 taneous origin of living matter. As a result of chemical and 

 histological work it is now clear that living matter is a mixture 

 of various substances and is not a chemical compound ; there is 

 no living compound. While this conclusion may not be ad- 

 mitted by all, it is, in my opinion, clearly established. There is 

 no longer any doubt that the different phenomena of life are due 

 to different constituents in this mixture. The histological, phys- 

 iological, pharmacological and chemical evidence is unanimous 

 on this point. The problem of the origin of life no longer 

 appears, therefore, under its former guise, of how the foods are 

 transformed into a living molecule or compound, but in its place 

 we have instead, how are the foods transformed into the mixture 

 of substances which is ca'led living matter. 



The question which we have to answer is this : is the transfor- 

 mation of the foods into living matter produced by the foods ; or 

 is it produced by the living matter ? At first glance everyone 

 would say that the transformation was caused by the living 

 matter. This is the answer everyone has given hitherto and its 

 truth appears to be self-evident. If we mix the foods by them- 

 selves they do not produce living matter. This answer has 

 made it difficult to see how living matter originated on the earth. 

 Preexisting living matter was always needed to get living matter. 



In the light of the foregoing discussion and the study of the 

 transformations of the foods in protoplasm it appears highly prob- 

 able that this answer is erroneous. Living matter does not cause 

 the transformation of foods into living matter as we imagine ; 

 instead the foods to-day spontaneously change themselves into 

 living matter just as they did at the beginning. The change 

 goes on very rapidly in living matter, but very slowly outside. 



