FORMED MATERIAL OF MUSCLE NON-LIVING. 227 



be disposed to go the length of placing in the same 

 category as the above passive tissues, muscle and nerve- 

 fibre. To these last textures mysterious vital pro- 

 perties are assigned, and, strange to say, even by those 

 who entertain the strongest opinions concerning the 

 physical character of all the phenomena of living beings. 

 Although neither muscular nor nerve tissue can pro- 

 duce new texture although each exhibits well-marked 

 structure, and is destitute of every attribute of living 

 matter, it is maintained that muscular contraction 

 and the transmission of a current along a nerve-fibre 

 are vital phenomena. 



Some, perhaps, may incline to the opinion that 

 bioplasm exists diffused through the formed material 

 of these textures, and that to it their wonderful pro- 

 perties are entirely due. It is therefore desirable in 

 this place to consider the possibility of such an 

 arrangement in the case of muscle. The structure of 

 unstriped muscle is smooth, or very slightly fibrous, 

 but exhibits no indications of containing bioplasm in 

 its substance. The tissue is not tinged with the car- 

 mine fluid. It possesses all the general characters of 

 formed material, and its relation to the bioplasm is 

 the same as that of the formed material of other 

 tissues. The evidence is therefore against such a 

 view as regards unstriped muscle. Neither is it pro- 

 bable that in each sarcous particle of striped muscle 

 there is a minute portion of bioplasm, because, in the 

 first place, the living matter cannot be detected at an 

 early period of the development of muscle; secondly, in 

 inflammation and in other morbid conditions in which 

 the masses of bioplasm of tissues are much increased 

 in size, no change is seen in the sarcous particles 

 themselves ; thirdly, the lines of sarcous particles 

 correspond with the wavy bands of the fibrous tissue 

 of tendon, which unquestionably consist of formed 

 material only ; and lastly-, since the very transparent 

 contracting tissues of some of the lower animals do 



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