8o THE STORY OF THE LIVING MACHINE. 



dation to take place, just as water itself induces 

 a simpler kind of oxidation, and they would have 

 a mechanical explanation of the life activities. 

 It was certainly not a very absurd assumption 

 to make, that this substance protoplasm could 

 have this power, and from this the other vital ac- 

 tivities are easily derived. 



In other words, the formulation of the doctrine 

 of protoplasm made it possible to assume that 

 life is not a distinct force, but simply a name 

 given to the properties possessed by that highly 

 complex chemical compound protoplasm. Just 

 as we might give the name aquacity to the prop- 

 erties possessed by water, so we have actually 

 given the name vitality to the properties possessed 

 by protoplasm. To be sure, vitality is more mar- 

 velous than aquacity, but so is protoplasm a more 

 complex compound than water. This compound 

 was a very unstable compound, just as is a mass 

 of gunpowder, and hence it is highly irritable, also 

 like gunpowder, and any disturbance of its condi- 

 tion produces motion, just as a spark will do in a 

 mass of gunpowder. It is capable of inducing 

 oxidation in foods, something as water induces 

 oxidation in a bit of iron. The oxidation is, how- 

 ever, of a different kind, and results in the forma- 

 tion of different chemical combinations; but it is 

 the basis of assimilation. Since now assimilation 

 is the foundation of growth and reproduction, this 

 mechanical theory of life thus succeeded in tracing 

 to the simple properties of the chemical com- 

 pound protoplasm, all the fundamental proper- 

 erties of life. Since further, as we have seen in 

 our first chapter, the more complex properties of 

 higher organisms are easily deduced from these 

 simple ones by the application of the laws of 



