32 PHARMACEUTICAL BACTERIOLOGY 



porarily thrown off by the plasmic base or stroma, a temporary resting 

 condition of a portion of the plasmic stroma, to take on renewed activity 

 as soon as the conditions shall have become favorable. The nucleus and 

 all that pertains thereto may be likened to the cell plastids and other 

 living inclusions of the cell, in so far as they are plasmic rejecta or storage 

 matter, temporarily set aside to be activated by the plasmic base when the 

 conditions are, for example, suitable for cell division to take place. That 

 plasm is king, and not the nucleus, is proven by the fact that enucleated 

 cells may be induced to grow and septate, whereas nuclei separated from 

 the cell plasm will not divide and develop into new cells. It is highly 

 probable that the substances which a cell deposits in the nucleus, leaves 

 the vitality of the plasm very much weakened and unless the plasm makes 

 use of this stored nuclear substance, it will, as a general rule, not be able 

 to survive for long periods, and under usual or natural conditions finds 

 itself incapacitated for cell division, or even for cell growth. The sphsero- 

 cytes (nucleated living cell inclusions common in fruits) are apparently 

 extra deposits of the cell plasm which have the power to continue the life 

 of the cell for a time, thus enabling fruits to remain alive for many months 

 after they have ripened and separated from the mother plant. If the 

 living cell could dispose of the coagulation and precipitation products 

 as rapidly as they are formed then the cell would continue to live indefi- 

 nitely. The Ameba does this to all intents and purposes, because the dis- 

 persing medium in which it lives (namely water) disperses the rejected 

 products at once. Death among the multicellular organisms is inevitable, 

 unless some condition develops which will enable the organism to get rid 

 of the coagulation and precipitation products. In this lies the solution to 

 the problem of eternal life and eternal youth. We may indeed reduce the 

 precipitation changes to a minimum, by reducing the plasmic activities to 

 a minimum. Such conditions exist in spores, in seeds, and in the resting 

 stages of various organisms. 



From the foregoing it must be apparent that life, as we know it, could 

 not have come into existence until certain highly complex molecules had 

 developed, which complex molecules must be in the proper colloidal com- 

 minution and dispersed in water and associated with other colloidal 

 particles, including minerals, as sulphur and phosphorus. Water takes 

 no active part in the life processes, although it is the absolutely essential 

 dispersing medium for the plasmic base, or stroma. Unless plasm is 

 actually immersed in water from which it can draw unreservedly, it must 

 constantly have water brought to it, otherwise it cannot continue in the 

 hving state. We may make certain statements as to the properties of the 

 living stroma in which all life activities take place and from which all 

 plasmic formations are derived. 



