[VOL. 2 



242 ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 





peculiar and highly complex proteins constituting the living 

 matter in the proper meaning of the word, whose chemical 

 qualities we should have to make responsible for the whole 

 complex of life phenomena. Therefore, it appear* m! a most 

 attractive problem to subject protoplasm to a thorough 

 chemical investigation. The names of Reinke and Rodewald 

 are connected with this work. These two botanists, in 1880, 

 then in Gottingen, analyzed the protoplasmic mass, the so- 

 called plasmodium, of Fuligo septica, a common species of 

 the Myxomycetes. The result was that a part, about three- 

 quarters, of the material was recognized to belong to the pro- 

 tein group in the widest sense; while 25 per cent was a mix- 

 ture of diverse carbohydrates, fatty bodies, organic acids, 

 and inorganic materials. No evidence of the presence of any 

 peculiar protoplasmic substances was found. Reinke, there- 

 fore, laid emphasis on the point that protoplasm could not be 

 regarded as a single chemical body of peculiar qualities, but 

 that it should be considered as a mixture of various sub- 

 stances, of which not even one was unknown to the chemists. 

 The consequence of this view was that Reinke inclined to the 

 hypothesis that the peculiarities of protoplasm were not due 

 to its chemical nature but rather to its peculiar structure. 

 The stuff-hypothesis had to be replaced by a structure-theory 

 of protoplasm. 



At present, however, we can scarcely accept all conclusions 

 drawn by Reinke from his famous analysis of protoplasm. 

 Reinke thought that all the vital properties of living proto- 

 plasm were destroyed when cells were killed, in the same way 

 as the mechanism of a watch is destroyed by grinding it down 

 in a mortar. The chemical substances, however, may remain 

 unchanged while the mechanism is forever destroyed. The 

 first experiments which proved that Reinke 's simile is not 

 quite an exact one were obtained from studies on the various 

 enzyme effects which continue in a mass of finely comminuted 

 tissue. Among those effects we know a series of processes 

 which undoubtedly belong to the complex of vital metabolism, 

 — as, for example, to those of respiration and digestion. And 

 these effects may be followed for weeks and for months after 



