Vol. XXII. No. 12.] 



POPULAE SOIEl^CE NEWS. 



181 



Cl^e ^ojJuTar Science $^e\o0, 



BOSTON, DEC. 1, 1888. 



AUSTIN P. NICHOLS, S.B Editor 



WILLIAM J. ROLFE, Litt.D. .... Associate Editor 



At the close of another vohiine of The Pop- 

 ular Science Ifews, the publishers wish to 

 acknowledge the many kind words of encour- 

 agement and appreciation received fi'om its 

 readers. Thej- are constantl}' endeavoring to 

 extend the usefulness and influence of the 

 paper, and are pleased to know that their 

 attempts have been rewarded with some meas- 

 ure of success. The death of Dr. Nichols, 

 early in the 3ear, left a vacancy in the edito- 

 rial staff which can never be completely filled ; 

 but the list of eminent scientific and profes- 

 sional writers who regularly contribute to its 

 columns was never larger than at present, and 

 will be increased during the coming jear. A 

 special feature of the Januar}- number will be a 

 paper by Professor Frederick Le Roj' Sargent, 

 upon "Maize," or Indian corn, illustrated 

 bj' original drawings. It will be completed 

 in two parts, and will be of unusual interest. 

 Articles of special interest, by Professors 

 Young, Shaler, Sumner, P>rinton, and others, 

 will be published during the year. The pub- 

 lishers would also make mention of the bills 

 for 1889, which will be found enclosed in the 

 present number, and bespeak for them an 

 earlv attention. 



A MATHEMATICAL reader of the Science 

 News has calculated that if every subscriber 

 should send in one new name annuall}', in 

 twelve years the entire population of the 

 United States would be entered upon our mail- 

 ing list. We hardly expect to increase our 

 list to that extent, but would suggest that 

 ever}- reader should at least make an attempt 

 at the practical demonstration of the problem, 

 and the results cannot be otherwise than grati- 

 fying to all concerned. 



The sons of the late Alvan Clark are about 

 to undertake a telescopic oliject-glass of fort}' 

 inches in diameter, thus exceeding the one 

 made for the Lick observatory by four inches 

 of diameter. This will have a light-gather- 

 ing power — one of the most important prop- 

 erties of an object-glass — about one-fourth 

 greater than the Lick telescope, and its suc- 

 cessful completion will be awaited with interest. 

 Not the least difficult part of the work will be 

 to obtain a piece of glass of the required size 

 free from defects ; but if this can be procured, 

 we have little doubt that the lens will be suc- 

 cessfully ground and finished. 



reous lustre was obtained. It would thus 

 appear that the peculiar lustre of metals de- 

 pends upon their great opacity, and not, as has 

 been supposed by some, upon the combined 

 reflections from two surfaces, due to the par- 

 tial transparency of the metallic surface. In 

 other words, the metallic lustre depends upon 

 the physical condition of the substance, and 

 not upon its chemical nature. 



The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia offers 

 certain medals and prizes for meritorious dis- 

 coveries or inventions in the arts and sciences, 

 which are open to every one. Full particulars 

 can be obtained upon application to the sec- 

 retary at the above address. 



It has been suggested by Heyes that oxygen 

 may sometimes have a quantivalence of four 

 instead of two, as has heretofore been held. 

 He also supposes that the haloid elements may 

 be trivalent as well as univalent. This theory 

 is supported by certain chemical phenomena, 

 and allows us to write the structural formula 

 of the hypochlorites, chlorates, and perchlo- 

 rates in a way more closely resembling that of 

 the analogous salts. 



The quarrel between Dr. Morell Mackenzie 

 and the German physicians of the late Emperor 

 of Germany is a most unfortunate affair, and 

 about equally discreditable to both parties in 

 the controversy. It is evident that the Em- 

 peror was afflicted from the first with an incur- 

 able disease, and no method of treatment could 

 have done more than prolong his life for a 

 short time. Both the English and German 

 physicians seem to have made certain mistakes, 

 to which undue importance was given by the 

 opposite side ; but mistakes in obscure cases 

 are almost inevitable, and we have no doubt 

 that all concerned used their utmost knowl- 

 edge and skill to preserve the life of their dis- 

 tinguished patient. It is to be regretted that 

 the ph}'8icians allowed their prejudices to get 

 the better of their judgment, and, before the 

 Emperor was fairly buried, entered into a 

 controversy more appropriate to a party of 

 defeated ward politicians than a council of dis 

 tinguished professional gentlemen. 



The cause of the familiar lustre of metals, 

 as distinguished from the vitreous lustre of 

 glass or quartz, has been investigated by W. 

 Spring. He finds, that, when powders of 

 opaque substances were submitted to great 

 pressure, the solid produced by the compres- 

 sion possessed a metallic lustre ; but if the 

 powder was more or less transparent, the vit- 



The possibility of lead-poLsoning from the 

 use of earthenware cooking- vessels glazed with 

 lead has recently been discussed in medical 

 journals. AVe think that the danger from this 

 cause is slight, although not to be entirely dis- 

 regarded. The silicate of lead, of which the 

 glaze is composed, is a stable salt, and not 

 very easily decomposed. Still, it is not impos- 

 sible that the continued action of weak acids, 

 like vinegar, might dissolve out an appreciable 

 portion of the poisonous metal. It would be 

 a wise precaution to use only "salt-glazed" 

 earthenware for cooking food containing vin^ 

 egar, lemon-juice, or other acids. A sensa- 

 tional journal has recently been warning people 

 against the use of water-goblets of flint glass, 

 which contains a large proportion of lead, but 

 there is no danger at all from such a source. 



[Origiaal in The Popular Science Jl'eict.] 



ON THE ULTIMATE CAUSES OF ACTION IN 



ANIMALS. 



BY PROFESSOR JAMES STOLLER. 



One of the broad generalizations of modern bio- 

 logical science is, that the cell is the unit of living 

 bodies. In lifeless bodies the structural unit is 

 the molecule, or, indeed, the atom itself, if the bod- 

 ies be simple substances, like iron, sulphur, etc. 

 But, while living bodies have a molecular structure, 

 the molecule is not their true unit of composition. 

 The microscope shows that the tissues of living 

 orgauisms alwaj's consist of elementary parts of 

 definite physical proportions, called cells. These 

 cells are the true units of the living body. 



The cell is not merely the unit of structure: it is 

 the functional unit as well. It is not only the 

 anatomical element, but also the physiological ele- 

 ment. It is not only true that the living body 

 consists in structure of an aggregation of form- 

 elements, but also that it consists in its functions 

 of an aggregation of action-elements. Thus it is 

 that any action of a living body, no matter how 

 complex it may be, is only the result of the com- 

 bined action of the cells that compose the part of 

 the body in use. The beating of the heart, for 

 example, is the result of the combined and co-ordi- 

 nated action of the muscle-cells which compose the 

 heart, and the origin of an idea in the mind is 

 based upon a like combined and co-ordinated action 

 of the nerve-cells of the brain. Thus, the cells of 

 any organ act in harmony to attain a common end, 

 this end being the function of the organ. 



But, while the cells act in harmony, they have yet 

 a complete independence in all that relates to their 

 individual existence. Each cell has a life which is 

 entirely apart from the life of all the other cells of 

 the body. Each cell as a living entity runs its own 

 course of existence: it has its birth, growth, ma- 

 turity, and decay. It takes its own food, repairs 

 its own waste, moves itself, changes its form, and 

 it may even reproduce itself. In short, it performs 

 all the essential functions which the body, of which 

 the cell is a single minute element, performs in its 

 larger existence. 



If it be difficult to reconcile the individuality of 

 the single cell with the evident intimate association 

 and interdependence of all the cells in order to 

 form the oneness of the living body, this difHcultv 

 disappears when it is understood that the relation 

 of the cells to one another is precisely the same as 

 that of the relation of living bodies themselves to 

 one another. 'J"he individuality of each living 

 body is restricted to carrying on its own internal 

 bodily functions ; for the general means of its sub- 

 sistence it is dependent upon other living bodies 

 surrounding it and forming with it tlie one organic 

 kingdom. The interdependence of living bodies 

 is just as great and of exactly the same nature as 

 that of the interdependence of tiie cells of any one 

 living body, and likewise the individuality of the 

 cell is precisely the same as that of the living body. 

 Indeed, the principle of individuality in commu- 

 nity which applies in human society, prevails 

 everywhere in organic nature, whether we consider 

 the fauna and flora of a region of country or the 

 cell-composition of a living body. 



It is seen, then, that the cell is in itself an indi- 

 viduated living being. In the simplest physical 

 form it exhibits the essential functions of living 

 bodies. A minute spherule, perhaps one-five- 

 thousandth of an inch in diameter, it yet has the 

 same nature and shows the same fundamental 

 phenomena as the most highly organized plant or 

 animal. The difference between monad and mam- 

 mal may be infinitely great as regards physical 

 proportions, but a.s living organisms they stand on 

 the same plane. The two essential powers of their 



