626 Price. — Some S Indies on the S true hire of the Plant Cell 
§ 10. Discussion and Conclusions. 
It is obvious, from even the restricted amount of cell material examined, 
that our conception of the structure and constitution of the plant cell, and 
its reactions to plasmolysis, must be one of considerable elasticity, so that 
bearing this in mind no attempt will be made to dogmatize and apply the 
results to cell structure in general. Some short survey of the cells examined, 
and of the general properties of the colloid complexes involved, will, 
however, be attempted, bearing in mind the possibility of the extension 
of the facts and theories to other cells which have not yet been 
examined. 
It has become increasingly evident during the last few years that the 
protoplasm of different plant cells possesses different properties, and from 
the methods of colloid analysis by dark-ground and other methods, it seems 
highly probable that, in many cases at any rate, these differences are to be 
partially attributed to the differences in nature of the colloids, quite as much 
as to differences in chemical constitution. 
Gaidukov’s work and that set out in the present account show that 
there are certainly big differences between the colloids of the cells of 
Spirogyra , Elodea^ Vaucheria , Mucor, and so on. In general, as Gaidukov 
has stated (’10, p. 60 sqq.), the protoplasm is in many cases to be regarded 
as a complex hydrosol, containing reversible and irreversible portions, but 
in other cases the normal structure seems to be rather that of a gel, or at 
any rate departs strongly from that of the typical hydrosol. It is true that 
some of these cases, in which the protoplasm appears to be an almost trans- 
parent liquid (or viscous solid), may be really resolvable into an extremely 
fine colloid sol — with particles too small to be rendered apparent by this 
method — almost approximating to a true solution. It would be thought, 
however, that judging from the size of the particles in the other cases 
examined, such a solution would show at least a strong translucence. 
Some evidence has been brought forward to show that in some cases 
the protoplasm can almost undoubtedly exist in the gel state — as judged 
by its appearance and structure — and that this state is to be regarded as 
a more or less active one. This hydrogel seems capable of undergoing 
a spontaneous transformation, spontaneous, that is, with regard to the cell, 
into a normal sol state, either by the direct absorption of water, or probably 
by some more obscure process. The change described for the germination 
of the spores of Mucor , for instance, rather indicates a change from the gel 
to the sol state, by an absorption or an adsorption of water. The gel con- 
dition not irreversibly coagulated is possibly more capable of undergoing 
long periods of rest than the active sol. Other fungus spores examined in 
a resting state seem to show a similar gel structure. 
In the case of hyphae and root hairs with the so-called hydrogel plugs, 
