VII 

 LIFE PROTOPLASM 



Protoplasm Its First Appearance Complex Construction 

 Environment Evolution from Elements Haeckel's Carbon 

 Theory Special Life Element. 



LIFE is of profoundest interest. It is an element having 

 a charm all its own. It enters into, and on it depends, 

 the formation of organic structures, in which are riches 

 of order. It appears in a protoplasmic unit, in the lowly 

 moss, in grass of the field, in flowers of the garden, in 

 the noble oak and fruitful vine. It rises higher in riches 

 and power in the fowls of the air, fish of the sea, and 

 beasts of the field. It flows in majesty in man. In him 

 it receives its loftiest consecration, rises into its highest 

 field of action. 



We are met at the threshold by the question, What 

 is life ? What is its nature ? In what does it consist ? 

 Does it result from a peculiar combination of atoms built 

 up into a complex structure? Or is it some form of 

 immaterial entity, having relations to and consequently 

 power over matter, to control and direct its action ? We 

 do not propose to discuss these questions, but to show 

 that the known elements entering into its production 

 reveal in their action the clearest signs that they are the 

 work of a great understanding, and that the special 

 entity, if such there be, proceeds from the same exalted 

 source. The simplest form of life is protoplasm, which, 



94 



