LIVING MATTER. 15 



substances in solution which may serve the living mat- 

 ter as food. In the spaces between the minutest parti- 

 cles or net-work of bioplasm we may also find mate- 

 rial which has been formed by it. So that in every 

 bioplast, or living particle, we recognize matter in 

 three different states : (1) Matter not yet alive, but 

 about to become so, called Pabulum, or nutriment. 



(2) Living matter in the strictest sense, or Bioplasm. 



(3) Formed material, or matter which was alive, but 

 is so no longer. 



Owing to the constant action of the air and other 

 influences, the formed material is constantly decay- 

 ing, or becoming effete, and thus returns to the inor- 

 ganic world from which it originated, so that we may 

 say of the body of any living thing though not of 

 the life u Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou 

 return." 



6. Physical forces, like gravity, heat, light, and 

 electricity, and chemical agencies, affect all living 

 matter as well as the non-living, but not always in 

 the same manner. Some forces, as gravity, for ex- 

 ample, act in the same way on the living and the non- 

 living. The passage of liquid out of or into a porous 

 or membranous vessel is similar in a living or non- 

 living thing. In other instances the presence of life 

 greatly modifies the influence of inorganic force. 

 Thus, water generally freezes at 32 deg. F., and boils 

 at 212 deg.; but bioplasm, or living matter, resists the 



