CYTOMORPHOSIS 41 



of that notion of structure which we derive from the study of 

 differentiated cells, but also on direct observation. Such 

 investigation has not yet brought us very far. It teaches us 

 that protoplasm is not completely uniform, but usually 

 contains fine granules which are unlike among themselves. 

 Micro-chemistry is a nascent science from which we may 

 expect much, although she has presented us yet with but little. 

 It is the science which investigates the chemical substances 

 and processes in cells with the help of the microscope. We 

 have already succeeded in proving that granules, chromidia, 

 fatty substances, lipoids and various proteids exist in 

 protoplasm in a visible form. We have also learned through 

 micro-chemistry something of the distribution of iron and 

 phosphorus in the cell. We have not yet got very far, but 

 far enough to be justified in saying that the organization of 

 living substance is known in part by direct observation. 



We are acquainted with another structure in the proto- 

 plasm of many cells, the so-called centrosome which we can 

 only allude to here, although its occurrence again demon- 

 strates the importance of organization. 



A word more concerning the nucleus. In the nucleus 

 organization can be observed easily and without exception, 

 and since the nucleus also belongs with the living substance, 

 its peculiarities also serve to strengthen us in the belief in 

 the importance of organization. Whoever knows the won- 

 derful history of the chromosomes by his own observation, 

 must be convinced that the nucleus has a very complicated 

 organization. 



Now to the conclusion. Cytomorphosis is the funda- 

 mental conception of the entire development of all multi- 

 cellular organisms, and is the foundation at once of morph- 

 ology and physiology. It explains to us many processes 



