12 BIOPLASM. 



useless. The term I propose to apply to the living or 

 germinal self-propagating matter of living beings, and 

 to restrict to this, is Bioplasm (/3to9, life ; 7r\ao-/jLa, 

 plasma). Now that the word Biology has come into 

 common use, it seems desirable to employthe same 

 root in speaking of the matter which it is the main 

 purpose of biology to investigate. Bioplasm involves 

 no theory as regards the nature or the origin of the 

 matter. It simply distinguishes it as living. A living 

 white blood-corpuscle is a mass of bioplasm, or it 

 might be termed a bioplast. A very minute living 

 particle is a bioplast, and we may speak of living 

 matter as bioplasmic substance. A cell of epithelium 

 consists of bioplasm or bioplasmic matter, surrounded 

 by formed non-living matter, which was however once 

 in the bioplasmic state. In the same way an oval 

 yeast particle consists of the bioplasm with an enve- 

 lope of formed material, which has resulted from 

 changes occurring when particles upon the surface 

 of the bioplasm died. The bioplasm of the micro- 

 scopic fungus or other organism may give off diver- 

 ticula which may become free independent bioplasts. 

 Each minute bioplast may grow, and in the same 

 way give rise to a number of other bioplasts. 



The mode of growth of the bioplasm, and the 

 manner in which it undergoes conversion mio formed 

 material, w r ill be understood if Figs. 9 to 12, plate II, 

 p. 20, be attentively examined. In Fig. 12, the bio- 

 plasm is growing very rapidly at the extremity of each 



