358 The Microscope. 



from the surgical shock in man ; tlie protoplasm in our section 

 begins to move first in the cells adjacent to the cut ; in the cut 

 cells themselves the protoplasm never revives its activity, but 

 lets go its attachment, and rolls into shapeless cloud-like masses 

 in the inner areas of the cells, lying there still in the repose of 

 death ; they never revived during my observations prolongued 

 through a full week. After nine hours I found the reaction in 

 the protoplasm complete, exhibiting as grand a flowing as I 

 ever saw ; this was not brought about by warming the proto- 

 plasm ; the temperature as noted above had fallen 15° or more ; 

 then the natural conclusion is that the reaction was brought 

 about by some intrinsic cause wherein time was an important 

 element, just as time is required to bring about recovery from 

 surgical shock. This was not an isolated example, for I have 

 repeatedly observed the same phenomena in sections from differ- 

 ent onions, but in this slide we see that after twenty-four hours 

 more (thirty-six after the sectioning) the protoplasm does not 

 flow by warming it from 45° to 80°. We may venture to raise 

 the temperature carefully a little higher, not very high, for I 

 have stopped entirely a respectable flow by raising the heat up 

 to 100°, endeavoring to get up a better exhibition in a somewhat 

 sluggish specimen ; we know that the onion grows best in a 

 moderate temperature, that of early spring. By examining 

 works on physiological botany, we learn that the germinating 

 temperature best suiting seeds that grow in early spring is as 

 low as 40°, and ceases at 88°-93°. Upon raising the tempera- 

 ture of our slide to 70° the protoplasmic streams are revived as 

 beautifully as before, but on the following day, sixty hours 

 after mounting, we failed to persuade the protoplasm to flow, 

 although we I'aised the temperature to 80° ; we continue to try 

 it on other days, always with failures, until on the sixth we had 

 allowed the specimen to dry so far that the air had entered 

 under the section ; by applying water under the cover and 

 warming, we got a flow of the protoplasm, possibly this time 

 through osmosis rather than life. 



Next day, the seventh after mounting, we examine the speci- 

 men at 60°; no life; raise it to 80°; no flow. The specific 

 principle of germination is almost entirely quiet ; here and 

 there on the partition walls we observe a few large cells much 

 like mould spores ; at 90°, using the thermometer all the 



