CHAPTER V. 



Life is a 

 Mystery. 



Living 

 Protoplasm. 



THE REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 



It is not the purpose of this chapter to enter into 

 a lengthy, much less a technical, discussion of 

 the principles of biology or evolution ; but rather 

 to present in simple language the processes of re- 

 production as a basis for the study of heredity. 



Life is a mystery. The processes of life may 

 be said to be fairly well understood, but the ulti- 

 mate essence and origin of life are as unknown 

 to the scientist as to the savage. To be sure, 

 many theories have been advanced, yet all have 

 fallen short of the solution of the problem. The 

 "psycho-chemical theory" formulated by Prof. 

 Huxley, which presumed to explain all ?ife as be- 

 ing the product of certain chemical combinations 

 and manifestations and was for a time accepted 

 by many as a scientific statement of the essence 

 and origin of life has been abandoned by scien- 

 tific men. All attempts to analyze living proto- 

 plasm have utterly failed to disclose the secret of 

 life. When protoplasm is analyzed it is but dead 

 matter composed largely of oxygen, hydrogen, 

 nitrogen, carbon and sulphur, elements which 

 cannot be made to combine in f/jy form to pro- 

 duce the phenomena of life or living protoplasm. 



In a recently revised edition (ft "The Princi- 



