1 84 DEMONSTRA TION OF LIVING MA TTER. 



servers have found it succeed admirably, and I have nume- 

 rous specimens which illustrate its value, and which can be 

 examined by any one desirous of examining them. 



As investigation proceeded, I became more and more 

 impressed with the importance of the distinction I had drawn 

 between: i. The matter that was coloured; and 2. The 

 matter that remained uncoloured by the carmine fluid. It 

 was proved that the matter coloured, which had been con- 

 sidered by many authors to be of little importance, was 

 really in the living, active, growing state. It was shown 

 that upon it all growth, multiplication, conversion, formation, 

 and, in short, life depended. And in many instances when 

 death occurred, it was the matter in the first state that 

 changed, while the last remained unaltered. The first was 

 alone capable of dying, for, in fact, that only had been alive. 

 On the other hand, the matter in the second condition, 

 although it might possess very remarkable properties, and 

 might have a highly complex chemical composition, never 

 grew or multiplied. It never converted or formed. New 

 matter might be added to it, but it could not convert matter 

 by virtue of its own properties or powers. In short, the last 

 was not alive. 



Lastly, facts and arguments were advanced which showed 

 that all matter in the last or formed state was once in the 

 first or living state, so that the properties it acquired and 

 the characters it possessed as formed matter were to be 

 referred back to the changes which had been brought 

 about while the matter existed in the antecedent or living 

 state. 



Not even the smallest living particle seen under the 

 i-5oth of an inch objective consists of matter in the same 



