MOVEMENTS OF BIOPLASM. 



sort of motion was to be observed in the case of many 

 of the lower forms of life and in the white blood cor- 

 puscle, it was spoken of as amcebiform or amceboid, as 

 if the movements in question were connected with 

 some mechanism or action peculiar to the amoeba and 

 the lowest forms of life. And even now the formation 

 of " amceboid corpuscles " is spoken of as if it were 

 some very special and exceptional phenomenon. The 

 movement is, however, characteristic of the whole 

 living world ; but it is strictly confined to living 

 beings, and nothing like it has been shown to occur 

 in non-living matter. In man and the higher animals 

 it is not always possible to see the movements of the 

 bioplasm, for a very slight change in the circumstances 

 under which life is carried on may cause its death ; but 

 in some cases, and these not a few, they may be seen 

 in the living matter taken from man's organism, and 

 from animals, both in health and also in the diseased 

 state. See Plates XV., XVIL, figs. 52, 54, fig. 60, 

 pp. 46, 54. 



As I have endeavoured to show, these movements 

 are invariably limited to living matter (bioplasm). I 

 have called this movement vital and have endeavoured 

 to show that it is distinct from muscular contractility, 

 and from every other kind of movement known. The 

 vital movements of bioplasm vary remarkably in 

 activity, and the same kind of living matter may 

 move quickly or slowly according as the surrounding 

 conditions change. Living particles transport them- 



