CHAPTER XI 



VARIOUS CONDITIONS IN WHICH A LIVING BODY MAY 

 EXIST FROM THE CHEMICAL POINT OF VIEW 



WE have accepted a definition of elementary life ; and 

 now we shall Have to establish that, theoretically at least, 

 the living substances of a living being may be found exist- 

 ing in three states, under three different conditions : 



Condition No. 1. The sum total of circumstances in which 

 the elementary life of living substances manifests itself 

 by strict assimilation without any destructive reaction 

 or variation. We can rarely realize this condition perfectly, 

 but we succeed in a few particular cases. 



Condition No. 2. One of the very numerous cases in 

 which the living substance is the seat of destructive reaction. 

 When these destructive reactions are produced alone, or 

 if they win the day over the assimilative reactions, the 

 fatal result is complete destruction, the death of the indi- 

 vidual studied. In these reactions, moreover, living sub- 

 stances do not behave like living substances, but like dead 

 or not-living substances which are always destroyed in 

 reacting. The phenomena of Condition No. 2 are, there- 

 fore, phenomena of death. 



Condition No. 3. More or less perfect chemical repose, 

 in which, when there is any reaction at all, it is never 

 assimilative, but always a more or less slow destructive 

 reaction accompanied by variations equally slow. 



In reality, as we have seen, Condition No. 1 is very 



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