BOTANY. 



5. In a dilute solution of potash protoplasm is dissolved ; if, how- 

 ever, the solution is concentrated, the form of the protoplasm remains 

 unaltered for weeks, but upon the addition of water it at once dissolves. 



6. Protoplasm coagulates upon the application of heat (50 degrees 

 Centigrade), or when immeised in alcohol or dilute mineral acids. 



3. — In consistence protoplasm is a soft-solid substance, 

 varying from an almost perfect fluidity on the one hand to 

 a considerable degree of hardness and even brittleness on 



the other. This difference in con- 

 sistence is mainly due to the vary- 

 ing amounts of water imbibed by 

 it, hence the same mass may at 

 different times vary greatly in this 

 regard. Generally there may be 

 seen in protoplasm a large number 

 of minute granules enclosed in a 

 transparent medium (Fig. 3, A) ; 

 in some instances, however, the 

 granules are entirely wanting, or 

 nearly so. By the withdrawal of 

 these granules for a little distance 

 from the surface toward the cen- 

 tre, a mass of granular protoplasm 



Pi?.3.-0pticai section of a r,- (^^^^ endoplasm) may appear to be 

 tractine branch of n large piasmo- surroundcd by a hyaline envelope, 



dmm of FvXigo varimi-i {JElhalium , , . , "^ . -^ , . '^ 



fepticum of aulhor^) : the narrow the protoplasmiC Skm, Or ecto- 

 iiiner granular masB of protoplasm , ,,, rr ± i ■ i ± js n ■ 



is seen to be surrounded by a broad plasm (the Hmitscllicllt 01 FriDgS- 



hyaline portion, the cctciplasm, -i • ;i tt jt jioi. 



which inthis case is radially streak- lieim, and HaUptplasma of btraS- 



It b?d°;of"thf i;iasnf<?Sf i?f burger) (Fig. 3). It is almost al- 

 lfrsu™Tn'a?i''l'5;'r'h7alfr^n- ^^ys formed when protoplasm is 

 veiope. X 200, -After Hofmeister. exposed in water Or air ; but it, or 

 something very much like it, appears to be generally 

 present, even in closed cells. 



(a) The fine granules are probably not proper constituents of proto- 

 plasm, but finety divided assimilated food-materials immersed in the 

 proper protoplasm, which is itself colorless and transparent. Proto- 

 plasm destitute of granules may be found in the cotyledons of the 

 bean (Phaseolus). In other cases, e.g., in the zygospores of Spirogyra, 

 the granular and coloring matters are so abundant that the hyaline 

 basis can no longer be distinguished. 



