THE ORGANIC CELL 
89 
use. The cytoplasm, being devoid of this synthetical faculty 
and being merely endowed with the property of destructive 
metabolism, uses up its stored energy and soon dies. It is 
therefore of the utmost importance to remember that 
the nucleus initiates the phenomena of both chemical and 
morphological synthesis, a fact of essential value in support 
of the theory of inheritance. 
The study of the cells of plants has added weight to the 
above evidence. It has been shown that detached fragments 
of certain algae which were devoid of nuclear material were 
incapable of developing an envelope of cellulose. The cells of 
certain forms can be broken up into portions, some of which 
are nucleated, others non-nucleated : the nucleated fragments 
clothe themselves in a new garment of cellulose, and by the 
process of morphological synthesis regenerate into complete 
plants, down to the minutest detail. The non-nucleated 
portions, while able to form starch on account of their con- 
tained chlorophyll, are unable to use it, neither can they 
develop a new covering of cellulose, neither can they grow, nor 
regenerate lost portions. 
Position and Movements of the Nucleus 
Observers have clearly demonstrated that local growth of 
a cell-wall is always associated with a previous migration of 
the nucleus to the point where the growth is taking place. 
In connection with the cells of the epidermis the nucleus is 
at first placed centrally ; when growth of the wall occurs the 
nucleus moves towards, and remains continuous with, the 
growing surface. That this is not a movement in search of 
light and air is proved by the fact that in many cells the nucleus 
moves to the inner and not the outer wall, and there causes 
thickening and growth. 
That the process of growth is initiated by the nucleus 
is beautifully illustrated in the case of the root-hairs in the 
pea, in which the first rudiment of an outgrowth always occurs 
in the vicinity of the nucleus, the nucleus passing outwards 
in the direction of the growing hair. An exception to 
this would at first appear in the case of the hairs of aerial 
