928 The Variability of Protoplasm.- [September, — 
life under conditions widely different from those of our planet, 
and that organic beings may exist under greatly diversified cir- 
cumstances of temperature’ and physical relations. 
A similar view was later expressed by Professor Cope, who 
says: “It would be a monstrous assumption to suppose that con- 
sciousness and life are confined to the planet on which we dwell, 
Yet it is obvious that if there be beings possessed of these attri- 
butes in the planets Mercury and Saturn, they cannot be com- 
posed of protoplasm, nor of any identical substance in the two. 
In the one planet protoplasm would be utterly disorganized and 
represented by its component gases; in the other it would bea 
solid, suitable for the manufacture of sharp-edged tools.” — 
In a letter to the writer from Mr. John A. Ryder, in which he 
describes his observations upon the characteristics of protoplasm, 
he relates observed facts which clearly indicate chemical differ- 
ences. Thus some forms of protoplasm were found to instantly 
coagulate in the presence of water, while other forms refused to 
coagulate. He found also considerable difference in color, trams- 
parency, general appearance and behavior when exposed to the 
action of chemical agents. He inclines to the conclusion that 
“the protoplasm of each species is a distinct organization, and 
its molecular composition may be of an approximately specific 
type for each form, with an inherent capacity for variation in t ; 
presence of the proper stimuli.” 
As to the peculiar forms assumed by protoplasm, long thought 
distinctive, it is now known that inorganic compounds, under 
certain circumstances, may take on precisely similar forms. This 
was first observed by G. Fournier in 1878, who found that mix- 
tures of certam inorganic salts produced pseud me 
sembling in appearance cryptogamic plants, Similar experiments 
made by D. Monnier and C. Vogt produced colloid ee re 
actly resembling organic cells and tubes. “ The artificial pseudo- 
organic elements are enveloped in true membranes, possessing & 5 
o-organisms, Te 
1On Archæsthetism, AMER. NATURALIST, June, 1882. 
* Comptes Rendus, XCiv (1882), pp. 45-6. ; 
