CHEMICAL PHENOMENA IN LIFE 



It may be that the whole mass of protoplasm 

 is not equally rich in these suspensions. As a rule 

 we perceive along the cell wall on the outmost 

 layer of protoplasm a thin protoplasmatic part 

 which does not show any visible particles, and 

 only very few under the ultramicroscope. This 

 layer was named by Pfeffer Hyaloplasma. The 

 other parts of protoplasm usually contain great 

 quantities of coarser particles which give a greyish 

 colour to the whole protoplasmatic mass. Pfeffer 

 introduced the name of Polioplasma for this part 

 of the cytoplasma. 



It is manifest that Hyaloplasm is an important 

 medium to admit substances from outside into 

 the cell as well as to permit the passing out of 

 products of the cell. Hyaloplasm can therefore be 

 considered to be the cell organ for the Endosmosis 

 and Exosmosis of substances, i.e. the osmotic 

 organ of cell protoplasm. Polioplasm, on the 

 other hand, must be the organ to assimilate the 

 substances which enter the cell, to form new 

 constituents of protoplasm, to furnish different 

 forms of physical energy, to continue the process 

 of life and to form the substances which are 

 superfluous for cellplasm and are excretions. 

 Polioplasm is thus the seat of the metabolism 

 of the cell itself. We shall try to show how far our 

 present chemical knowledge may explain the 

 connection of all these functions of living cell 

 protoplasm. 



