CHAPTER II 



EFFECT OF VARYING MOISTURE UPON PROTOPLASM 



In this chapter it is proposed to speak (I) of the amount of 

 water in organisms; (II) of the effect of desiccation upon the 

 functions of protoplasm ; (HI) of the acclimatization of organ- 

 isms to desiccation, and (IV) of the control of the direction 

 of locomotion by moisture — hydrotaxis. 



§ 1. On the Amount of Water in Organisms 



Any theory of the structure of protoplasm must recognize 

 that water forms the greater part of the whole mass ; between 

 60% and 90%. In the case of dry seeds and grains, however, it 

 may fall below 15%. Many determinations have been made of 

 the proportion of water in the body of entire organisms and in 

 their organs. I give in tabular form some of these determina- 

 tions, which were made by Bezold ('57), designated by (B); 

 Krukenbbrg ('80), designated by (K); and Liebermann 

 ('88), designated by (L). 



TABLE VIII 



58 



