CONTENTS 

 PART I 



INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER I 



LIVING MATTES PAGF 



Organisms composed of living substance — Appearance of liv- 

 ing substance — Meaning of the word cell — Importance 

 of the cell — Irritability — Assimilation — Reproduction — 

 Universal characteristics — Non-living matter in a living 

 cell — Starch in the potato — Starch used for food — A 

 question simplified — Matter — Heat — Diffusion — Osmosis — 

 The question answered — Chemical action — Combustion 

 — Characteristics of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen — 

 Heat and chemical action — Manufacture of starch — 

 Transfer of starch — Purification of air — Air, its compo- 

 sition and pressure — Summary 7 



CHAPTER II 



RESPIRATION 



A universal process — The process defined — Necessary condi- 

 tions — The law of gases — Passage of a gas through a 

 membrane — Influence of pressure on rate of passage — 

 Establishment of an equilibrium — Independent behavior 

 of gases — Application to respiration — Free oxygen — 

 Equilibrium of nitrogen — Respiration in specific animals 

 — Lower animals — Higher animals — Respiratory organs 

 in aquatic animals — Relation between the blood and the 

 gill membrane — Situation of the moist membrane — Re- 

 spiratory organs in land animals — Mechanism for bringing 

 ix 



