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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 378. 



portional to their fat-dissolving powers. 

 The colloids in protoplasm are in all likeli- 

 hood fat or lecithin proteid combinations 

 like the sheath of the red blood corpuscles, 

 and like the latter they are, no doubt, more 

 soluble in ether and water than in water 

 alone. So far as I can see, tliis explana- 

 tion of the action of ansesthetics is in har- 

 mony with the facts. It supports the gen- 

 eral conclusions drawn as to the meaning 

 of changes in irritability and it explains 

 the often-noted similarity of action between 

 hydrogen ions, certain poisons, potassium 

 ions and the auEesthetics. All these sub- 

 stances increase the stability of the hydro- 

 sol and liquefy protoplasm. 



14. Stimulation by light and ether vibra- 

 tions. In paragraph 5 it was stated that, 

 in my opinion, stimulation by the nega- 

 tive ion was not due primarily to the va- 

 lence of the ion. It is not the charge itself, 

 but its motion, Avhich determines stimula- 

 tion. This is shown, I believe, by the varia- 

 tion between the action of fluorine, chlor- 

 ine, bromine and iodine, and between potas- 

 sium, sodium and hydrogen. The hydroxyl 

 ion, although monovalent, stimulates like 

 a bivalent anion. Since the fact is appar- 

 ently established that it is the electrical 

 charge which stimulates, and not the atom 

 with which it is associated, and also since 

 the charge associated Avith chlorine does 

 not differ in nature from that associated 

 with fluorine, the difference in action 

 between these ions can only be due to some- 

 thing the charge does; in other words, to 

 the motion of the charge or of the atom 

 with which it is associated. When a charge 

 is moved it produces a disturbance in the 

 ether. It is well known to all that the 

 vibrations of the ether will produce those 

 changes in protoplasm which the ions pro- 

 duce, and further the character of the 

 change in protoplasm produced by light 

 varies with the wave-length or the number 

 of impacts per second. Violet light or the 



ultra-violet rays stimulate protoplasm, 

 while the red rays as a rule do so very 

 feebly or inhibit movement. By the elec- 

 tromagnetic theory of light the ether dis- 

 turbances which we call light must be due 

 to the movement of electrons or charges in 

 the sun, either constituting a part of the 

 sun's atoms or associated with these atoms. 

 In other words, it is not the presence of the 

 chai'ges in the sun which stimulates proto- 

 plasm, but the movements of the charges. 

 These facts are ground enough for the 

 hypothesis that it is not the charges or the 

 number of charges, but the movements of 

 the charge which produce the change in 

 protoplasm called stimulation, and, I may 

 add, which must determine chemical action 

 as well. This idea will agree, I believe, 

 with the suggestions of J. J. Thomson, 

 Larmor, Nernst and others in regard to 

 the association betAveen atoms and elec- 

 trons. This motion of the electron may be 

 either translatory on the atom, which 

 will agree with the kinetic theory of solu- 

 tions, or it may be a rotatory motion. For 

 various reasons I am inclined to assume 

 that the charge is either revolving with the 

 atom or about it, but a detailed considera- 

 tion of this point will be given in the full 

 paper. Knowing, however, that charges in 

 motion affect the ether; that the impulses 

 thus given produce chemical changes; that 

 substances in solution or as solids actually 

 give out what Ave call ether vibrations ; hav- 

 ing established the fact that monovalent 

 ions differ among themselves in stimulat- 

 ing action, although the charges are the 

 same on each, and also that ions stimulate 

 by the charges and not by the atoms, I see 

 no escape from the conclusion that it is 

 not the charge, but its motion and its sign, 

 which ultimately determines its action. In 

 other words, chemical stimulation and light 

 stimulation are identical. 



A. P. Mathews. 

 Unia'ersity of Chicago. 



