4 Protoplasm : 



organic matter, and others prey upon living organisms. Thus we 

 see that all protoplasm is derived, directly or indirectly, from and 

 composed of inorganic elements. 



Now, we are not justified in assuming that the elements change 

 their nature and properties when absorbed by plants. They are 

 not released from the natural forces that previously affected them, 

 but remain after absorption as inorganic as they were before, and 

 continue responding and subject to the same chemical, electrical, 

 and mechanical forces as when in the earth or in the air. Neither, 

 on the other hand, are we justified in assuming that additional 

 powers were bestowed upon them when received into the cells of 

 plants, or in supposing that they became living and capable of 

 acting in any different way from that in which they could when 

 they formed component parts of inorganic salts or gases. The 

 German saying, ' Ohne Phosphor kein Gedank,' is quoted by 

 Prof. Schafer with approval, but the atoms of Phosphorus in the 

 brain can be no more legitimately assumed to think than those in 

 phosphoric acid or those in the bones of the leg. Undoubtedly 

 protoplasm is lifeless and dead matter, though it acts as no purely 

 inorganic element or compound does or can : performs wonderful 

 operations, builds up structures of marvellous design, repairs them 

 when injured, provides for future wants before there is any intimation 

 of their necessity, and finally, most wonderful of all, produces the 

 seeds and germs of fresh individuals. And as in the inorganic kingdom 

 neither chemistry, electricity, nor any other natural force, in itself 

 and by itself, can cause or enable lifeless matter to do such things, 

 it is evident that the protoplasm in the cells of organic bodies is 

 under the influence and control of some invisible power which 

 directs and makes use of it and the chemical and other forces to 

 which it is subject. That power we call Life, which is the designer 

 and architect of all organisms, and the efficient cause of all the 

 wonders they perform. 



Structure in Plants. 



The bodies of animals and plants do not consist of a single 

 piece or a few large masses of protoplasm, but are made up of an 

 aggregate of minute portions which not rarely are microscopic. 

 In plants these small masses almost invariably construct around 

 themselves a wall of a substance called cellulose, a carbo-hydrate 



