FUNCTIONS OF LIFE ELEMENTS 59 



alkalinity, which is more or less regulated by the presence of 

 bicarbonates.^ 



Electrical charges in the colloids'- are demonstrated by cur- 

 rents of electricity sent through a colloidal solution, and are 

 interpreted by Freundlich as due to electrolytic dissociation of 

 the colloidal particles, alkaline colloids being positively charged, 

 while acid colloids are negatively charged. The concentration 

 of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions in the ocean and in the organ- 

 ism is automatically regulated by carbonic acid.'' 



Among the colloidal substances in living organisms the so- 

 called enzymes are very important, since they are responsible 

 for many of the processes in the organism. Possibly enzymes 

 are not typical colloids and perhaps, in pure form, they may 

 not be classified as such; but if they are not colloids they cer- 

 tainly behave like colloids.^ 



Cosmic Properties and Life Functions of the Chief 

 Chemical Life Elements 



Of the total of eighty-two or more chemical elements thus 

 far discovered at least twenty-nine are known to occur in liv- 

 ing organisms either invariably, frequently, or rarely, as shown 

 in Table II of the Life Elements. Whether essential, fre- 

 quent, or of rare occurrence, each one of these elements — as 

 described below — has its single or multiple services to render 

 to the organism. 



Hydrogen, the life element of least atomic weight, is always 

 near the surface of the typical hot stars. Rutherford^ tells us 

 that, while the hydrogen atom is the lightest known, its nega- 

 tively charged electrons are only about 1/1800 of the mass of 



^Henderson, Lawrence J., 1913, pp. 157-160. - Loeb, Jacques, 1906, pp. 34, 35. 



* Henderson, Lawrence J., 1913, p. 257. * Hedin, Sven G., 1915, pp. 164, 173. 



* Rutherford, Sir Ernest, 1915, p. 113. 



