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CONTENTS 



LECTURE I 



PAGE 



Introductory Remarks i 



LECTURE II 

 ^ Concerning the General Chemistry of Life Phenomena 



7 



1. Historical Remarks 



2. Reversible Enzyme Action — Lipase Action — Reversible Enzyme Action in the 



Carbohydrate Group — The General Occurrence of Protein-splitting Enzymes 9 



3. Respiration as a Catalytic Process 13 



{a) The Oxidases 13 



(i) Further Remarks on the Significance of Oxygen in Life Phenomena . . 16 



(c) Death in Lack of Oxygen and the Protective Action of Oxygen . . 18 



((/) Changes of Structure in Lack of Oxygen ....... 19 



4. The Production of CO2 through Enzymes . 21 



5. Concerning the Theory of Enzyme Action 24 



(o) Stereochemical Attempts .24 



{b) The Theory of Intermediary Reactions 26 



LECTURE III 

 The General Physical Constitution of Living Matter 



1. The Limits of Divisibility of Living Matter 29 



2. Foam Structures and Emulsions '31 



3. The Colloidal Character of Living Matter 33 



4. The Formation of Surface Films and Traube's Membranes of Precipitation — 



Overton's and Meyer's Work on Narcotics and the Nature of Surface Films . 38 



5. Osmotic Pressure and the Exchange of Liquids between the Cells and the Sur- 



rounding Liquid 41 



6. Further Limitations of Traube's Theory of Semipermeability 45 



7. The Antagonistic Effects of Salts 46 



LECTURE IV 



On Some Physical Manifestations of Life 



I. Hypotheses of Muscular Contraction 53 



^. Quincke's Theory of Protoplasmic Motion -55 



3. Gmcerning the Theory of Cell Division 58 



4. The Origin of Radiant Energy in Living Organisms 66 



5. Electrical Phenomena in Living Organisms 68 



