530 PROTOPLASM 



carries on its activities entirely through its enzymes, the "cell 

 itself" being relatively inert. Perhaps the cell itself is the 

 collection of enzymes. Enzymes are catalysts. Realizing 

 the remarkable properties of catalysts, the Swedish chemist 

 Berzelius advanced the idea that life is the resultant of the play 

 of catalysts. In his day, organic catalysts were as great a 

 mystery as life itself. The extraordinary similarity between 

 enzymes and living matter is seen in a comparison of the reactions 

 of the two. Both are destroyed by heat, light, and chemicals. 

 Heat is destructive in each case at the same temperature (50°C.). 

 No chemical is known that is injurious to bacteria and yet with- 

 out action on any enzymes. When dry, both enzymes and 

 bacteria are highly resistant to heat, and both are resistant to cold 

 to an astonishing degree. 



Opposed to the school that postulates a highly complex sub- 

 stance peculiar to living matter is that school which regards all 

 the constituents of protoplasm as lifeless when considered indi- 

 vidually; only in the associated coordinated state does life 

 result (see page 10). 



While this may be true, it is still possible to distinguish between 

 strictly nutritive matter in the cell (e.g., fat droplets) and the 

 active kinetic material. Living protoplasm has its fuel and a 

 mechanism for converting the fuel into energy. While there is 

 no settling the matter, and while we may be forced to grant that 

 the water in protoplasm is alive because it is part of a living sys- 

 tem, that is to say, as much alive as any other part of the system, 

 yet it does appear to be true that living matter contains a great 

 number and variety of protein-like substances which seem to be 

 peculiar to it. Thus, Hammarsten wrote that tissues and cells 

 consist mainly, i.e., fundamentally, not of proteins of our com- 

 mon experience, such as globulins and albumins, but of highly 

 complicated ones, particularly those containing sulphur, phos- 

 phorus, and iron. Alone, these proteins are no more active than 

 is a locomotive without its coal and water. Living matter is 

 unquestionably a system. The probable possession of certain 

 proteinaceous substances peculiar to itself and the great com- 

 plexity of the system as a whole are the only material differences 

 between hving and nonliving matter. 



If there is no one ultimate living substance in protoplasm, 

 and living matter is simply a very intricate and highly organized 



