No. 589] 



THE EVOLUTIOX OF THE CELL 



25 



excellence." The simplest elementary organisms were 

 not cells, but cytodes, "living independent beings which 

 consist entirely of a particle of plasson ; their quite homo- 

 geneous or uniform body consists of an albuminous sub- 

 stance which is not yet differentiated into karyoplasm 

 and cytoplasm, but possesses the properties of both com- 

 bined." 11 It is emphasized'- that a sharp distinction 

 must be drawn between protoplasm and plasson, the lat- 

 ter being a homogeneous albuminous formative substance 

 ("Bildungsstoff") corresponding to the "Urschleim" of 

 the older nature-philosophy. 



Haeckel, as was usual with him, did not content him- 

 self with putting forward his ideas as abstract specula- 

 tions, but sought to provide them with a concrete and 

 objective foundation by professing to have discovered, 

 and describing in detail, living and existing organisms 

 which were stated to remain permanently in the condi- 

 tion of cytodes. In consequence, a purely speculative 

 notion was permitted to masquerade for many years 

 under the false appearance of an objective phenomenon 

 of nature, until the error was discovered gradually and 

 the phantom banished from the accepted and established 

 data of biology. Organisms supposed to be of the nature 

 of cytodes constituted HaeckePs systematic division, 

 Monera, of which there were supposed to be two sub- 

 divisions, the Phytomonera and the Zoomonera. The Phy- 

 tomonera were stated to have the plasson colored green 

 and to live in a plant-like manner; the Zoomonera were 

 colorless amoeboid masses of plasson which nourished 

 themselves in the animal manner. The Bacteria were 

 also included by Haeckel in his Monera, apparently, or 

 at all events ranked as cytodes. 13 Most importance, how- 



