GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY. 



the preceding elements, especially in the young cells, as is 

 proved by their transparency ; this intimate combination of 

 water, of albumen, and of fat, is apparently one of the 

 essential elements of the vitality of the globule ; when the 

 latter attains its maturity, the fat bodies accumulate in it, 

 and then only are they seen, apparently in a free state, in 

 the form of spherical beads, giving to the cell an opaque 

 aspect. 1 This appearance should be regarded as a sign of 

 approaching death or at least of the old age of the globule, 

 which will either soon undergo decomposition, or give birth 

 to an entire generation of young elements in which the fat 

 will be concealed. Consequently an abundance of water 

 and of albumen, which is characterized by great transpar- 

 ency, is a sign of life ; excess of fat, with opacity of the 

 globule, is a sign of death. When a tumor, primarily acute, 

 begins to present fatty elements, its tendency to disappear 

 may be predicted. 2 



Besides these three principal elements, there are found 

 others in small quantities, and non-essential ; these are the 

 mineral substances which make up the general composition 

 of the body, such as potassium (in state of potash salts) 

 and phosphorus ; these two substances are especially found 

 in the nerve elements ; also sulphur, incorporated with albu- 

 men or represented by its salts. The same may be said of 

 sodium, calcium, iron, magnesium, and even some other 

 metals. It answers our purpose simply to note the fact that 

 the globules are chemically very rich, which would naturally 

 lead us to infer what part these bodies, so complex in com- 

 position, would perform in the great work of metamor- 

 phoses. 



Electro-motor Power. Without doubt it is to the mul- 

 tiplicity of the constituent elements that the globules owe 

 their electro-motor power; this property of disengaging 

 electricity is especially met with in the nerves or nerve tubes 



1 Vide J. Straus, " Essai sur la Physiologic de la Degc'ueres- 

 cence graisseuse des Muscles." These de Strasbourg, 1868, No. 

 124. 



2 So when fat is observed in those elements where it does not 

 belong, serious fears for the future should be apprehended. M. 

 Kiiss has observed that the cancerous tint (a characteristic of can- 

 cerous cachexia) is to be looked for only when the cancer becomes 

 fatty. Thus, by the aid of the microscope, he could tell whether 

 a cancerous mass belonged to a person enjoying every appearance 

 of health. 



