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III. OF BIOPLASM OR GERMINAL OR LIVING 

 MATTER. 



FROM many observations upon living forms of every kind 

 and tissues of every class, the results of which have been 

 recorded in detail in papers published during the last fifteen 

 years, I have been led to the conclusion, that although the 

 body of every living thing contains living matter, by far the 

 largest proportion of the matter of the tissues, especially of 

 the higher plants, and animals, and man, is composed of 

 formed matter which is not living. I have established a 

 sharp distinction between that which is living and that 

 which is formed, and have shown how the one may be 

 positively distinguished from the other in disease as well as 

 in health. 



The " tendency of thought" has been strongly opposed 

 to the acceptance of the conclusions which I have put for- 

 ward, but the accuracy of my observations has not been 

 contested. In the following pages some of the most 

 important facts and arguments I have advanced are placed 

 before the reader, and I have endeavoured to express them 

 as succinctly and as clearly as possible. 



General Characters of Bioplasm. The characters of 

 bioplasm or living matter may be studied in the lowest 

 organisms in existence, and in plants, as well as in man and 

 the higher animals. Bioplasm or living matter is always 



