30 AS REGARDS PROTOPLASM, ETC. 



pure protoplasm; and such difference of result, according to 

 difference of temperature, etc., must assuredly be allowed to 

 point to a difference of original nature. Any conclusion so far, 

 then, in regard to unity of substance, whether the chemical 

 composition or the action of reagents be considered, cannot be 

 said to bear out the views of Mr Huxley. 



What now of the unities of form and power in protoplasm ? 

 By form, Mr Huxley will be found to mean the general appear- 

 ance and structure ; and by faculty or power, the action 

 exhibited. Now it will be very easy to prove that, in neither 

 respect, do all specimens of protoplasm agree. Mr Huxley's 

 representative protoplasm, it appears, is that of the nettle-sting ; 

 and he describes it as a granulated, semi-fluid body, contractile 

 in mass, and contractile also in detail to the development of a 

 species of circulation. Strieker, again, speaks of it as a homo- 

 geneous substance, in which any granules that may appear 

 must be considered of foreign importation, and in which there 

 are no evidences of circulation. In this last respect, then, that 

 Mr Huxley should talk of " tiny Maelstroms," such as even in 

 the silence of a tropical noon might stun us, if heard, as " with 

 the roar of a great city," may be viewed, perhaps, as a rise into 

 poetry beyond the occasion. 



Further, according to Strieker, protoplasm varies almost in- 

 finitely in consistence, in shape, in structure, and in function. 

 In consistence, it is sometimes so fluid as to be capable of form- 

 ing in drops; sometimes semi-fluid and gelatinous; sometimes 

 of considerable resistance. In shape for to Strieker the cells 

 are now protoplasm we have club-shaped protoplasm, globe- 

 shaped protoplasm, cup-shaped protoplasm, bottle-shaped pro- 

 toplasm spindle-shaped protoplasm branched, threaded, 

 ciliated protoplasm circle-headed protoplasm flat, conical, 

 cylindrical, longitudinal, prismatic, polyhedral, and palisade-like 

 protoplasm. In structure, again, it is sometimes uniform and 

 sometimes reticulated into interspaces that contain fluid. In 

 function, lastly and here we have entered on the consideration 

 of faculty or power some protoplasm is vagrant (so to trans- 

 late wandernd), and of unknown use, like- the colourless blood- 

 corpuscles. 



(In reference to these, as strengthening the argument, and 

 throwing much light generally, I break off a moment to say that, 

 very interesting as they are in themselves, and as Recklinghausen, 

 in especial, has made them, Mr Huxley's theory of them dis- 

 agrees considerably with the prevalent German one. He speaks 

 of them as the source of the body in general, yet, in his Physi- 

 ology, he talks of the spleen, the lymphatics, and even the liver 

 parts of the body as their source. They are so few in 

 number that, while Mr Huxley is thankful to be able to point 



