﻿MYSTERY 
  OP 
  LIFE 
  DONNAN 
  313 
  

  

  carried 
  on 
  by 
  distinguished 
  men 
  of 
  the 
  high 
  caUber 
  of 
  Lawrence 
  Hen- 
  

   derson, 
  Osterhout, 
  and 
  van 
  Slyke. 
  In 
  Germany 
  we 
  have 
  such 
  great 
  

   names 
  as 
  Meyerhof 
  , 
  Warburg, 
  Bechhold, 
  and 
  Hober, 
  to 
  mention 
  only 
  

   a 
  few. 
  What 
  are 
  these 
  men 
  attempting? 
  Just 
  what 
  Claude 
  Bernard 
  

   set 
  out 
  in 
  his 
  program, 
  namely, 
  by 
  a 
  patient, 
  exact, 
  and 
  quantita- 
  

   tive 
  application 
  of 
  the 
  facts 
  and 
  laws 
  of 
  physics 
  and 
  chemistry 
  to 
  the 
  

   elementary 
  phenomena 
  of 
  life, 
  gradually 
  to 
  arrive 
  at 
  a 
  synthesis 
  and 
  

   understanding 
  of 
  the 
  whole. 
  That 
  was 
  precisely 
  how 
  Newton 
  was 
  

   able 
  to 
  determine 
  the 
  motions 
  of 
  celestial 
  objects, 
  namely, 
  by 
  going 
  

   back 
  to 
  the 
  elementary 
  or 
  fundamental 
  law 
  of 
  gravitation. 
  Through 
  

   fine 
  analysis 
  to 
  sjmthesis 
  is 
  indeed 
  the 
  only 
  true 
  scientific 
  method. 
  I 
  

   do 
  not 
  mean 
  that 
  general 
  physiology 
  in 
  the 
  pursuit 
  of 
  its 
  studies 
  will 
  

   not 
  discover 
  many 
  things 
  as 
  yet 
  unknown 
  to 
  us. 
  The 
  future 
  findings 
  of 
  

   this 
  science 
  might 
  be 
  as 
  strange 
  to 
  the 
  investigators 
  of 
  to-day 
  as 
  the 
  

   relativity 
  theory 
  of 
  Einstein 
  and 
  Minkowsky 
  was 
  to 
  the 
  physicists 
  of 
  a 
  

   few 
  years 
  ago. 
  What 
  I 
  do 
  mean 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  future 
  discoveries 
  and 
  

   explanations 
  of 
  general 
  physiology 
  will 
  be 
  continuous 
  and 
  homologous 
  

   with 
  the 
  science 
  of 
  to-day. 
  Should, 
  indeed, 
  a 
  new 
  form 
  of 
  energy, 
  " 
  a 
  

   vitalistic 
  nervous 
  energy," 
  be 
  discovered, 
  as 
  predicted 
  by 
  the 
  eminent 
  

   Italian 
  philosopher, 
  Eugenio 
  Rignano, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  no 
  twilight 
  will-o'-the- 
  

   wisp, 
  no 
  elusive 
  entelechy 
  or 
  shadowy 
  vital 
  impulse, 
  but 
  an 
  addition 
  to 
  

   our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  a 
  character 
  permitting 
  of 
  exact 
  measurement 
  and 
  of 
  

   exact 
  expression 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  mathematical 
  equations. 
  

  

  To 
  give 
  you 
  the 
  barest 
  outline 
  of 
  the 
  progress 
  made 
  by 
  general 
  

   physiology 
  since 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  Claude 
  Bernard 
  50 
  j^ears 
  ago 
  (his 
  statue, 
  

   together 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  Marcellin 
  Berthelot, 
  stands 
  in 
  front 
  of 
  the 
  

   College 
  de 
  France) 
  would 
  require 
  at 
  least 
  a 
  hundred 
  lectures 
  and 
  the 
  

   encyclopaedic 
  knowledge 
  of 
  a 
  Bayliss. 
  Permit 
  me, 
  however, 
  to 
  

   mention 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  examples, 
  and 
  those 
  with 
  all 
  brevitj^. 
  The 
  chem- 
  

   istry 
  and 
  energy 
  changes 
  of 
  muscle 
  have 
  been 
  discovered 
  recently 
  by 
  

   Mej^erhof 
  in 
  Germany 
  and 
  by 
  A. 
  V. 
  Hill 
  and 
  Hopkins 
  in 
  England. 
  

   When 
  the 
  muscle 
  tissue 
  contracts 
  and 
  does 
  work 
  it 
  derives 
  the 
  nec- 
  

   essary 
  free 
  energy, 
  not 
  from 
  oxidation, 
  which 
  is 
  not 
  quick 
  enough, 
  

   but 
  from 
  the 
  rapid 
  exothermic 
  conversion 
  of 
  the 
  carbohydrate 
  glyco- 
  

   gen 
  into 
  lactic 
  acid. 
  When 
  the 
  fatigued 
  muscle 
  recovers 
  it 
  recharges 
  

   its 
  store 
  of 
  free 
  energy; 
  that 
  is 
  to 
  say, 
  by 
  oxidizing 
  or 
  burning 
  some 
  of 
  

   the 
  carbohydrate, 
  it 
  reconverts 
  the 
  lactic 
  acid 
  into 
  glycogen. 
  Thus 
  

   in 
  the 
  recovery 
  stage 
  we 
  have 
  the 
  coupled 
  reactions 
  of 
  exothermic 
  oxida- 
  

   tion 
  and 
  endothermic 
  conversion 
  of 
  lactic 
  acid 
  into 
  glycogen. 
  Every- 
  

   thing 
  proceeds 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  laws 
  of 
  physics 
  and 
  chemistry. 
  The 
  

   story 
  of 
  the 
  mode 
  of 
  action 
  and 
  recovery 
  of 
  the 
  muscle 
  cells 
  forms 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  fascinating 
  chapters 
  of 
  general 
  physiology. 
  Here 
  we 
  

   see 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  elementary 
  phenomena 
  of 
  life 
  already 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  extent 
  

   analyzed 
  and 
  elucidated. 
  How 
  this 
  would 
  have 
  rejoiced 
  the 
  heart 
  of 
  

   Claude 
  Bernard! 
  That 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  examples 
  which 
  I 
  wished 
  to 
  

  

  