50 A. E. HILTON ON THE NATURE OF LIVING ORGANISMS. 



making. Remembering that all things fundamentally consist of 

 plasm, and that the activities of plasm which have been described 

 are mainly concurrent, we have now to realise and hold before 

 our mind's eye : — 



1. That plasm is a mobile, restless, unstable, watery colloid, 

 with catalytic properties, growing by assimilation and forming 

 structures by precipitation : 



2. That adaptation to environment, and power of repro- 

 duction, are secured by reversible chemical processes ; and 



3. That vitality is preserved by an automatic equipoise of 

 forces, maintained in equilibrium by reactions of carbon com- 

 pounds, neutralisation of acid products, and by active, yet 

 restrained, electrical energies. 



If we now combine these features into a single working idea, 

 by a swift and comprehensive act of mental perception, we shall 

 have such a glimpse of the essential character of living matter 

 as will enable us, on reflection, to form a truer conception of 

 physical life, whether manifested in ourselves or in the infinitely 

 varied organisms which abound in nature. 



Journ. Quckctt Microscopical Club, Ser. 2, Vol. X., No. 00, April 1907. 



