250. THORNTON ON HUXLEY. 



f " The habits of exhibiting these phenomena in conjunction 

 with certain other habits, make up the aquosity or wateriness 

 of water. They are part of water's nature, and, in the absence 

 of any one of these, water would not be its own self, and would 

 not exist. But in no such sense whatever is the life or vitality 

 whereby what we are accustomed to call animated are distin- 

 guished from inanimate objects, essential to the existence of 

 the species of matter termed matter of life, or protoplasm. 

 Take from water its aquosity, and water ceases to be water ; 

 but you may take away vitality from protoplasm, and yet leave 

 protoplasm as much protoplasm as before. Vitality, therefore, 

 evidently bears to protoplasm a quite different relation from 

 that which aquosity bears to water. Protoplasm can do per- 

 fectly well without the one, but water cannot for a moment dis- 

 pense with the other. Protoplasm, whether living or lifeless, is 

 equally itself ; but unaqueous water is unmitigated gibberish. 

 But if protoplasm, although deprived of its vitality, still re- 

 mains protoplasm, vitality plainly is not indispensable to pro- 

 toplasm is not, therefore, a property of protoplasm" (p. 671). 



The truth being, that the so-called " dead protoplasm," 

 and " ready-made protoplasm," is no protoplasm at all, 

 but merely the chemical remains of what was once 

 protoplasm either immediately at death, or before it 

 was converted into tissue long anterior to the death of 

 the animal or plant : and no\# it is nothing but pabu- 

 lum, and there is no difference between it and the 

 smelling-salts with the other salines, except that some 

 living organisms can assimilate the latter, while others 

 cannot, owing no doubt to difference in the molecular 

 constitution of tbeir respective protoplasms. 



The expressions referring life to chemical changes 

 have also been found ambiguous, such as " If the 

 properties of water may be properly said to result 

 from the nature and disposition of its component 



