GENERALIZED LIVING MA TTER. 373 



that every kind of bioplasm yet discovered has a life history 

 of its own, and, as has been already shown, manifests powers 

 peculiar to itself. Even the very lowest we are acquainted 

 with gives rise to certain forms of organism, many of which 

 are readily identified and differ in character from other 

 possibly very nearly allied forms. The so-called protoplasmic 

 mass formed in a certain stage of growth of some of the 

 myxomycetes is anything but a generalized organic living 

 matter out of which we might suppose new forms would be 

 very easily evolved. The facts of the case do not justify 

 such an inference, but, on the contrary, afford support to 

 the view that these, like other kinds of bioplasm, have their 

 own special endowments, and during their life pass through 

 several specific phases of change which together constitute 

 their life history. Where, I would ask, is the protoplasm 

 that has no life history? Probably no more difficult ques- 

 tion can be proposed for our consideration than the question 

 of the derivation of these endowments. Every form of living 

 matter seems to approach so very closely to what we should 

 conceive must really be the lowestfgrade of simple "un- 

 differentiated " life-stuff, that a suggestion that it could have 

 descended from living matter possessing endowments of a 

 still lower or simpler kind, will hardly appear reasonable. 



On the other hand, so striking are the differences by 

 which every form of living matter known to us is separated 

 from every form of non-living matter yet discovered, that it 

 is difficult indeed to believe that there have been no transi- 

 tional forms of matter by which the tremendous chasm 

 between the lowest grade of living and most complex non- 

 living might in a measure be bridged. It is difficult to be- 

 lieve that a hiatus so considerable should have always existed 



