86 LIFE: ITS NATURE AND ORIGIN 



can escape. I have often cut open these flowers and found a tiny 

 fly entrapped within them. 



When fig trees were planted in California, they grew splendidly; 

 but the fruit did not mature until a small wasp, Plastophaga 

 psenes (Linn.), which fertilizes the flowers, was imported (1890) 

 from Smyrna, cultivated, and released to do this necessary work. 



Functional Life: Active vs. Latent 



In still another sense we may say that a unit is "alive" if, having 

 ceased to carry on active life processes (catalysis and autocatalysis), 

 it is able to resume them on the reestablishment of suitable con- 

 ditions. Many plants and animals, e.g., many bacterial spores and 

 protozoa, revive after prolonged desiccation leading to a more 

 or less complete stoppage of active life. The African lung fish has 

 been known to survive as long as four years in a cake of dried mud. 

 Admiral Byrd found in the Antarctic regions primitive plants 

 whose activities began again as the long winter began to yield to 

 the equally long summer; for though high temperatures are fatal 

 to all living things, many organisms revive even after long im- 

 mersion in liquid air. R. B. Harvey 3 reported finding an alga 

 (Phormidium) growing in Beryl Spring (Yellowstone Park) at a 

 temperature of 89° C. 



The common notion that all functionally living things must 

 show visible signs of life, such as breathing or motion, is based on 

 experience with humans and many animals. In the case of hiber- 

 nating animals like bears, hedgehogs, and woodchucks, visible 

 breathing ceases for long periods. Although the irritability of 

 the heart is increased, it beats only enough to maintain a sluggish 

 circulation, and the body temperature approaches that of the 

 surroundings. The animal lives at a much reduced rate on its 

 accumulated reserves of fat and protein, and its slight demand for 

 oxygen seems to be met in part by diffusion. Fakirs and magicians 

 endure temporary burial by a rigid suppression of many bodily 

 processes. Sudden panic, leading to violent muscular activity to 

 escape, would no doubt be quickly fatal. The condition assumed 

 by successful practitioners of this feat seems in some respects to 

 resemble an artificial hiberation. 



The vitality of "germs" (microorganisms, spores, etc.) and even 

 of seeds is astonishing. Using rigorous precautions against con- 

 tamination, Professor Charles B. Lipman, Dean of Graduate 

 Studies, University of California, reported the presence of viable 



