i6 
LIVING PROTOPLASM AND 
the living protoplasm by regulating contrivances to the respira - 
tionprocess. 
The question arises now: can it be proved directly or 
indirectly that aldehyde-and amidogroups are really present in 
the living protoplasm ?—If our hypothesis is correct, that the 
vital motion emanates from labil aldehyde-and amidogroups, it 
follows, that every substance reacting in great dilution with 
those groups must prove a poison for every living vegetable or 
animal organism . x) 
As experiments confirmed this conclusion, our hypothesis of the 
formation and nature of active albumen has thus received essential 
support . Very correct views were expressed by Nencki in regard 
to the cause of poisonous actions . 1 2) “ Why is it that a poison¬ 
ous substance has a well defined action, while slight changes in 
the chemical constitution of the poison bring on quite different 
actions? This depends on the one hand upon the chemical 
constitution of the protoplasm and on the other hand upon the 
chemical structure of the poisonous substance.” Indeed in most 
cases the poisonous actions are the result of a chemical reaction 
upon the albuminous substances of the living cells. If we lessen 
the chemical energy of a poisonous substance by introducing a 
carboxyl-,-or a sulfogroup, the physiological action will be also 
lessened. If we substitute alkyls for the hydrogenatoms of 
amido-or imidogroups the poisonous character is decreased ; 
while on the other hand innocuous substances might turn into 
poisons if imidogroups, or amidogroups of a certain lability are 
formed. Thus the non-poisonous hydrobenzamid can be trans¬ 
formed by atomic migrations into the poisonous amarin, isomeric 
to the former.— 
And what an enormous change in the poisonous qualities is 
observed, if one hydrogenatom of the ammonia-molecul is re¬ 
placed by the hydroxyl,-or by the amido-group ! While ammonia 
in form of neutral salts is in a certain dilution no poison for 
animals, the substitution-products thus obtained, viz. the hy- 
droxylamin resp. diamid in the same dilution in neutral solutions ' 
are very strong poisons.—Bacteria and mouldfungi, that are not 
1) Compare O. Loew, A natural system of poisonous actions, Munich, 1893^ 
Chapt, 4. 
2) Arch des scienc. biolog. St. Pétersburg 1892 p. 61. 
