404 THE LIFE OF MATTER. 



Without leaving the animal and vegetable kingdoms — that is to say, 

 among veritable living beings — we already perceive attenuation in the 

 rigor of the laws governing chemical constitution and cellular 

 organization. 



The experiments of merotomy, that is to say of amputation, tried by 

 Waller on nerves, on infusoria by Brandt, Gruber, Nussbaum, Bal- 

 biani, and Verworn, teach us the necessity of the presence of the cellu- 

 lar body and the nucleus — that is to say, of the integrity of the cell. 

 But they also teach us that when that integrity no longer exists death 

 does not inunediately ensue. A part of the vital functions continues 

 to be performed in denucleated protoplasm, in a cell which is nuitilated 

 and incomplete. 



Yltal j^henotnena in. eruHhed protopbt^m. — It is true also that grind- 

 ing and crushing suppress the greater part of the functions of the 

 cell. But tests with pulps of various organs and with those of certain 

 yeast plants show that protoplasm, even though ground and dis- 

 organized, can not be considered as inert, and that it still exhibits many 

 of its characteristic phenomena; for example, the production of dias- 

 tases, specific agents of vital chemistry. Finally, while we do not 

 know enough about the actions of which the secondary elements of 

 protoplasm are capable — its granulations, its filaments, which one or 

 another method of destruction might disclose — to be able to deny that 

 protoplasm has power of action independent of its own integrity, we 

 at least know that actions of this kind exist. 



To summarize, we are far from being able to deny that rudimentar}^, 

 isolated, vital acts mav not be executed b}^ the various bodies that 

 result from the dismemberment of protoplasm. The integrity of the 

 cellular organization, even the integrity of protoplasm itself, is not 

 indispcnsal)le for these manifestations of vitality. 



Besides, naturalists admit that within the protoplasm are aliquot 

 parts, elements of an inferior order, which possess special activities. 

 These secondary elements must have the princii)le of th(>ir activity 

 within themselves. Such are the biophores to which Weissniann 

 attributes the vital functions of the cell, nutrition, growth, and nmlti- 

 plication. If there are biophores within the cell they may be imagined 

 as outside of it, and since the}^ carry within themselves the principle 

 of their activity, they may exercise it in an independent manner. 

 Unhappily the biophores, and other elements of that kind, are purely 

 hypothetical. TKey are like the gemmules of Darwin, the bioblasts 

 of Altmann, and the pangenes of De Vries. They have no relation to 

 facts of observation and to real existence. 



Ylfal pliriioinena in brute IxxVnx. — TIkm'c^ is no (loul)t but certain 

 ])h('n()inena of" vitality may occur outside of the cell and its neighbor- 

 hood. To carry this fai'ther we may admit tiiat they may be produced 

 in certain unorganized l)odies, in certain brute bodies. In ever}^ case 

 there are surely produced effects similar at least to those which are 



