September 6, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



293 



sion of carbon particles; which arrange 

 and rearrange themselves under the influ- 

 ence of the movements of the electrolytes 

 in a manner indistinguishable from that 

 adopted by the particles of chromatin in a 

 dividing nucleus. And in the process of 

 sexual reproduction, the researches of J. 

 Loeb and others upon the ova of the sea- 

 urchin have proved that we can no longer 

 consider such an apparently vital phenom- 

 enon as the fertilization of the egg as being 

 the result of living material brought to it 

 by the spermatozoon, since it is possible to 

 start the process of division of the ovum 

 and the resulting formation of cells, and 

 ultimately of all the tissues and organs — 

 in short, to bring about the development of 

 the whole body — if a simple chemical re- 

 agent is substituted for the male element 

 in the process of fertilization. Indeed, 

 even a mechanical or electrical stimulus 

 may suffice to start development. Kurz 

 und gut, as the Germans say, vitalism as a 

 working hypothesis has not only had its 

 foundations undermined, but most of the 

 superstructure has toppled over, and if any 

 difficulties of explanation still persist, we 

 are justified in assuming that the cause is to 

 be found in our imperfect knowledge of 

 the constitution and working of living ma- 

 terial. At the best vitalism explains noth- 

 ing, and the term "vital force" is an ex- 

 pression of ignorance which can bring us 

 no further along the path of knowledge. 

 Nor is the problem in any way advanced 

 by substituting for the term "vitalism" 

 "neo-vitalism," and for "vital force" 

 "biotic energy." "New presbyter is but 

 old priest writ large. ' ' 



Further, in its chemical composition we 

 are no longer compelled to consider living 

 substance as possessing infinite complexity, 

 as was thought to be the case when chem- 

 ists first began to break up the proteins of 

 the body into their simpler constituents. 



The researches of Miescher, which have 

 been continued and elaborated by Kossel 

 and his pupils, have acquainted us with the 

 fact that a body so important for the nu- 

 tritive and reproductive functions of the 

 cell as the nucleus — ^which may be said 

 indeed to represent the quintessence of cell- 

 life — possesses a chemical constitution of 

 no very great complexity; so that we may 

 even hope some day to see the material 

 which composes it prepared synthetically. 

 And when we consider that the nucleus is 

 not only itself formed of living substance, 

 but is capable of causing other living sub- 

 stance to be built up; is, in fact, the di- 

 recting agent in all the principal chemical 

 changes which take place within the living 

 cell, it must be admitted that we are a long 

 step forward in our knowledge of the chem- 

 ical basis of life. That it is the form, of 

 nuclear matter rather than its chemical 

 and molecular structure which is the im- 

 portant factor in nuclear activity can not 

 be supposed. The form of nuclei, as every 

 microscopist knows, varies infinitely, and 

 there are numerous living organisms in 

 which the nuclear matter is without form, 

 appearing simply as granules distributed 

 in the protoplasm. Not that the form as- 

 sumed and the transformations undergone 

 by the nucleus are without importance; 

 but it is none the less true that even in an 

 amorphous condition the material which in 

 the ordinary cell takes the form of a 

 "nucleus" may, in simpler organisms 

 which have not in the process of evolution 

 become complete cells, fulfil functions in 

 many respects similar to those fulfilled by 

 the nucleus of the more differentiated or- 

 ganism. 



A similar anticipation regarding the 

 probability of eventual synthetic produc- 

 tion may be made for the proteins of the 

 cell-substance. Considerable progress in 

 this direction has indeed already been 



