PFLUGER'S THEORY 79 



attributes a great value to the cyanogen theory, and 

 agrees that all the decomposition products of living 

 albumin contain the cyanogen radical ; and that 

 some of them, e.g. urea, can be synthetised from 

 cyanogen compounds. He says in his " General 

 Physiology " : "I would say that the first albumin to 

 be formed was living matter, endued with the pro- 

 perty in all its radicals of attracting homogeneous 

 parts with great force and preference, in order to 

 build them chemically into molecules, and so grow 

 indefinitely. On this view living albumin would not 

 have a constant molecular weight, because it is a 

 huge molecule in an increasing process of formation 

 and decomposition, probably acting upon ordinary 

 chemical molecules as the sun does upon small 

 meteors." 



