CHEMICAL PHENOMENA IN LIFE 



same. But it was the merit of the well-known 

 botanist Ferdinand Cohn, of Breslau, that he 

 was the first to declare, in 1850, the identity of the 

 protoplasm in plant cells and of the so-called 

 Sarcode in animal cells. 



The Chemistry of Life may henceforth be called 

 the Chemistry of Protoplasm. This is our territory 

 when we study Chemical Phenomena in Life. 



The first work the chemist does when beginning 

 his examination of a substance, is to describe its 

 properties before they have been changed by any 

 reaction. We have also to specify the chemical 

 qualities of the substratum of life before we enter 

 upon the effects of reactions between protoplasm 

 and other substances brought into contact with it. 



What is protoplasm chemically so called? Is 

 it to be considered as a substance peculiar to 

 living organisms and responsible for all the unique 

 phenomena by which life is characterised ? 

 Or is protoplasm a combination of different 

 substances peculiarly composed ? Or, finally, is 

 there any unknown structure in the mucous matter 

 which we call protoplasm, and should we not pre- 

 fer to speak, rather than of a substance or of a 

 combination of substances, of a minutely structured 

 organ when \ve deal with protoplasm ? 



Morphology, however, and comparison with 

 other details of cell structure strongly uphold the 

 theory that protoplasm is an intricately con- 

 structed organ of the cell. It does not matter 



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