334 EVOLUTION AND DOGMA. 



tion of the divers compounds of the mineral world, 

 but they are also able to give us the formulae of the 

 most complex constituents of vegetable and animal 

 tissue. And as time rolls on, the chemist's mastery 

 over matter and the forces of nature grows apace, 

 and often at a rate that is atonishing to the chemist 

 himself. He now plays with atoms and molecules 

 as a juggler manipulates spheres of brass, and so 

 great is his knowledge of affinities and equivalences, 

 so complete his command over the hidden forces of 

 allotropism and isomerism, that he can, with the 

 utmost ease, accomplish what a few years ago would 

 have been regarded as thaumaturgy of the highest 



order. 



Protoplasm. 



The compound which has received the greatest 

 share of attention, from those who have been look- 

 ing forward to the ultimate production of animate 

 matter, is protoplasm. This is the substance to 

 which Huxley has given so much notoriety under 

 the designation of " The Physical Basis of Life." 



Chemically, protoplasm is composed of carbon, 

 oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. At first it was re- 

 garded as a kind of albumen, called protein, and 

 was viewed as a single compound of homogeneous 

 structure. It was spoken of as " a kind of matter 

 which is common to all living beings," plants as 

 well as animals ; " a single physical basis of life un- 

 derlying all the diversities of vital existence." " It 

 is," says Huxley, " the potter's clay," out of which all 

 the Protean forms of animal and plant life are fash- 

 ioned. 



