52 BEALE'S PROTOPLASMIC THEORY. 



{Waller, Beale, Cohnheim), and take up foreign bodies, and 

 account for various phenomena. All this is distinctly recog- 

 nized ; but the majority are also inclined to attribute muscular 

 contraction to the protoplasmic movements, and distinctly 

 assert that protoplasm is contained in the muscular fibre. Her- 

 mann* says, " We may therefore lay down the proposition that 

 movements (in the sense of mechanical work), in all cases, only 

 manifest themselves where protoplasm occurs " (207). 



All protoplasm, besides the various partial movements above 

 described, is capable of contracting into a ball under electricity 

 and various stimuli, and it is taken for granted that in mus- 

 cular contraction something similar is the efficient cause of the 

 movement, especially as the same stimuli cause contraction of 

 the protoplasm and the muscles. On carefully reviewing all 

 these statements, I find them very weak as arguments that 

 muscular contraction depends on protoplasmic movements, and 

 it rather appears as if the question had never yet been fairly 

 raised than that it had been settled. On the other hand, on 

 the question of spontaneity, other authors are unanimous in 

 stating simply that the stimuli are unknown, and on this point, 

 I think, Dr. Beale has made out no case ; nor, in his assertion 

 of some hyper-physical cause for the movements, is he more 

 fortunate, for he admits the impossibility of even living matter 

 creating force ; while, according to his own showing, there is 

 always a sufficient change of matter going on to account for 

 evolution of the necessary force. Nor have we any proof that 

 the slight viscidity of the protoplasm does not show sufficient 

 cohesive force to account for the movements of bioplasts, which 

 never surpass that sufficient to sustain their own weight,t and a 

 drop of water has enough for that. This slight cohesive force, 

 however, is a most cogent argument against the protoplasmic 

 theory of muscle- work. 



* " Grundriss der Physiologic." 



t In opposition to this, it is urged by Dr. Beale that a growing mush- 

 room -will raise a stone hundreds of times its own weight ; and that a 

 growiug root will split a tree, &c. ; but in all these instances molecular 

 forces are in play, which depend on the chemical changes involved in 

 deposition of structure and in physical forces exerted by that structure 

 afterwards. A wedge of dead wood inserted in a rock dry, will split it 

 -when moistened by the mere force of capillary attraction. 



