THE ENERGY OF EVOLUTION. 483 



probable that death is a consequence of life, rather than 

 that the living is a product of the non-living. I have 

 therefore given to that energy which is displayed by 

 the plant in the elaboration of living from non-living 

 matter the name of antichemism.^ Thus, while the 

 heat of the sun is necessary to the building of proto- 

 plasm, within a certain range of temperature this form 

 of energy has its opportunity. 



The actual demonstration of this hypothesis can 

 only come from researches into the thermochemistry 

 of proteids and protoplasm. As these substances have 

 not been made in the laboratory, these researches are 

 not yet possible. We may, however, consider the 

 problem as follows. In the process of making pro- 

 toplasm, three gases, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen 

 are converted into a semisolid. In this case heat 

 should be dissipated, to an amount reduced by the 

 molecular dissolution of carbon. This is however 

 not the case, for heat is absorbed with an integration 

 of atomic bonds. In other words, it would seem that 

 the manufacture of protoplasm by plants is an endo- 

 thermic process. This view is strengthened by the dis- 

 covery by Berthollef-^ that the production of numerous 

 solid organic substances, in which organic bases are 

 used, is also endothermic. These facts confirm the in- 

 ference above recited, that the phenomena of organic 

 growth involve the absorption of energy and not its 

 dissipation. 



Referring to the composition of protoplasm C O H 

 N, I have called attention to the fact that each of its 

 elements represents one of the great divisions defined 



\A»terican Naturalist, 1884, p. 979; Origin of the Fittest, 1887, p, 431. 

 ^Annates de Chiinie et tie Physique, VI, 1895, p. 232. 



