10 FUNDAMENTALS OF CYTOLOGY 



ignorance more painfully evident, but at the same time it gives us hope 

 of avoiding some of the consequences of ignorance. 



What Cytology Is. — In view of what has been set forth above and what 

 is to follow in later chapters, cytology may be defined as the branch of 

 scientific biology that deals more or less directly with the structural and 

 functional organization of protoplasm, usually in single or closely asso- 

 ciated protoplasts, and with the relation of this organization to the phe- 

 nomena of metabolism, growth, differentiation, heredity, and evolution. 



Cytology thus broadly defined would appear to occupy a key position 

 in the science of biology, since everything the organism does has a part of 

 its cause in protoplasmic activity. This, however, does not mean that all 

 biology must be regarded as an extension of cytology : it means rather that 

 all biological problems have a cytological element in them. Cytology is 

 therefore an integral part of biology, and the future progress of the science 

 will depend very largely upon how well such integration is maintained. 



