MODERN ASPECTS OF THE LIFE-QUESTION. 763 



that every distinct chemical substance of the living body Avill ulti- 

 mately be produced in the laboratory ; and this from inorganic ma- 

 terials. Given only the exact constitution of a compound, and its 

 synthesis follows. When, therefore, the chemist shall succeed in pro- 

 ducing a mass constitutionally identical with protoplasmic albumen, 

 there is every reason to expect that it will exhibit all the phenomena 

 which characterize its life ; and this equally whether protoplasm be a 

 single substance or a mixture of several closely allied substances. 



But here a word should be said concerning a remarkable physical 

 condition assumed by matter in organized beings. Graham, in 18G2, 

 drew the sharp line which separates colloid from crystalloid matter. 

 " His researches have required," says Maudsley, " a change in our con- 

 ception of solid matter. Instead of the notion of inert, impenetrable 

 matter, we must substitute the idea of matter which in its colloid state 

 is penetrable, exhibits energy, and is widely susceptible to external 

 agents. This sort of energy is not a result of chemical action, for 

 colloids are singularly inert in all ordinary chemical relations, but is 

 a result of its unknown molecular constitution ; and the undoubted 

 existence of colloidal energy in organic substances, which are usually 

 considered inert and called dead, may well warrant the belief of its 

 larger and more essential operation in organic matter in the state of 

 instability of composition in which it is when under the condition of 

 life. Such energy would then suffice to account for the simple uniform 

 movements of the homogeneous substance of which the lowest animal 

 consists, and the absence of any differentiation of structure is a suffi- 

 cient reason for the absence of any localization of function and of the 

 general uniform reaction to local impressions." Graham himself says : 

 "The colloidal state may be looked upon as the probable j)rimary 

 source of the force appearing in the phenomena of vitality." The 

 colloidal condition is the dynamical state of matter ; the crystalloidal 

 the static. The former, which is the rule in the organic kingdom of 

 nature, is the exception in the inorganic. Aluminum and ferric 

 hydrates, silicic acid, and a few other inorganic substances, exist in 

 the colloid condition. From analogy there would seem to be but little 

 doubt that the colloid state of these bodies differs from their crystal- 

 loid state merely in the size of the molecule. In other words, opal, 

 which is colloid silica, is a polymer of quartz. If this theory be true, 

 there can be no doubt of the vastly greater complexity of a colloidal 

 proteid molecule than of a crystalloid one. Now, it is a very signifi- 

 cant fact, in this connection, that not a single organic colloid has ever 

 been synthesized. Gelatine, which is one of the best examples of a 

 colloid, has a comparatively simple structure. And, although Gibbs 

 showed, many years ago, that gelatine was probably an amido-deriva- 

 tive of the sugar group, yet no inverse process has yet given us this 

 substance. That matter in the crystalloid and the colloid forms may 

 be chemically identical, differing only in the size of its molecule, may 



