36 THE MYSTERY OF LIFE. 







colour, while the tissue (muscle, nerve, &c.) 

 remains perfectly colourless. By this remark- 

 able action of an alkaline solution of carmine 

 we are enabled to distinguish, and with certainty, 

 every particle of living matter which grows and 

 forms; from the passive lifeless matter in a 

 tissue, which last possesses no formative power. 

 The living matter in its normal state being per- 

 fectly colourless often escapes notice. Indeed, 

 this most important constituent of living bodies 

 has been passed over as of no importance 

 at all. Its presence has been regarded in 

 some cases as accidental, and every trace has 

 been entirely omitted from many drawings of 

 tissues in our text books. Consequently, the 

 most erroneous views concerning the changes 

 which occur during the formation of tissue and 

 the nature and causes of them are entertained. 

 I have therefore made new drawings of many 

 of the tissues, for the purpose of showing this 

 living matter, without which these tissues could 

 not have been formed, and which is concerned 

 in all the changes which the tissues and organs 

 of the body undergo in health and disease. 



The living matter differs entirely from matter 

 in every other state, and I have called it bioplasm, 



