The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-03-08

Darative ienorance or the things for whicnit
stands u mSs be .rny ssio r as the wnie Or
albumen, OF an egg Is one OF tne commonest
may may say that all living matter is more or less
Aud now. what is the ultimate fate and what
the origin of the matter of life? Is IL, as some
OF the older naturalists supposed, dffused
throughout the universe in molecules which
are ihdestructible and Interchangeable Ia them.
selves; but, In endless transmigration, unite in
forms of life We knowg Or, is the matter OF life
composed of ordinary matter, differing from IL
sgRrte teated9 Is it built up OF ordinary matter.
and again resolved into ordinary matter when
its work is done? Modern science does not
hesitate a moment between these alternatives.
Physiology writes over the portals of life
"Debemur morti nos nostraque,"
with profounder meaning than the Roman
whatever disguise IL takes refuge, whether
fungus or oak, worm or man, the living pro.
into Its mineral and lifeless Is, but is
always dying, and, strange as the paradox may
sound. could not live unless 1t died.
All work implies waste, and the work OF
lite results, directly or indirectly, in the
work of protoplasm. Every word uttered by
a speaker costs him some physical loss, and,
in the strictest sense, he burns that others
may have light-so much eloquence, so much
of his body resolved into carbonc acid, water,
and urea. II is clear that this process of
expenditure cannot 60 on forever. But,
happily, there is also process Of renewal
For example, this present lecture, whatever
Its intellectual worth to you, has certain
physical value 10 me, which Is, conceivably, ex-
pretsible by the number of grains of proto.
plasm and other bodily substance wasted in
maintaining my-vital processes during its deli
very. BY .and-by 1 shall probably have recourse
the purpose of stretching 1t back to its original
size. Now this mutton was once the
of another snimal-a sheep. AS 1 shall eat 1t,
II is the same matter altered, not only BY,
operations in the process OF cooking. But these
changes whatever be their extent have not
lions ss matter Of life. singular inward
| laboratory, which possess will dissolve q GER
tain portion of the modifed protoplasm, the
| solution so formed will pass into my veins; and
| the subtle ipfluep ces TO which 1t will then be
| subjected Will convert the dead protoplasm
| into living protopasm, and transubstantiate
sheep into man. Nor is this all. Indigestion
were q thing to be trifled with, might sup upon
would undergo the same wonderful meta
morphosis into humanity. And were
and undergo % sSipWfecR, the crGstacea ] ~ mi @ gnt,
and probably would, return the compliment,
ing my protoplasm into living lobster. Or, If
nothing better we've TO be had, might supply
my wants with mere bread, and should ind
the protoplasm of the wheat plant 10 be con-
vertlble into man, with no more trouble than
that of the sheep, aud with far less, fancy,
than that of the lobster. Hence it appears 70
be a matter of no great moment what animal,
or what plant, l lay under contribution for pro.
| general identity OF mat substance in ali living
beings share this catholiciiy of assimilation
with other animals, all OF which, SO far as we
know, could thrive equally well on the proto.
psm an Of sn any ,he powers or o
of the animal world cease. A solution of
smellipg'sal,s IN water, with an lnhnitesimal
| tains all the elementary bodies which enter
into The composition Of protopissm; but. as I
not keep hungry man from starving, nor
fotn An antr nal M m a lya mr. hnf
| must take 1t ready made from some other
animal, or some plant-the animals highest
feat of constructive chemistry being to con-
vert dead protoplssm into that living matter
of life which is appropriated TO itself.
Therefore, in seeking for the origin of proto-
table world. The fluid containing carbonic
acid, water, and ammonia, which offers such
Barme ecide feast TO the animal is a table richly
spread to multitudes of plants; and, with due
will not only maintain itself in vlgor, but
grow and multiply until it has increased
quantity of protorlasm which it originally
possessed; in this way building up the matter
Of life, TO an indefinite extent, from the common
But it will be observed that the existence
of certain compounds. namely; earbonic acid.
water, and ammonia Withdraw any
Sna all Tsa come To-
an end They related o the protoplasm of
tnat of the animal. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen.
and nitrogen are all lifeless bodies. OF these,
carl bon and by droBen unite In certain proper
tions and under certain conditions, to give rise
! to carbonic acid; ny drogen and oxygen produce
water: nitrogen and hydrogen give rise to am.
monia. These new compounds, like the ele-
mentsry bodies OF which they are composed,
are lifeless. But when they are brought to-
| gether, under certain conditions they give rise
! to the still more complex body, protoplRsm,
and this protoplasm exhibits the phenomena OF
life. see no break in the series OF steps In
molecular complication, and am unable to
understand why the language which is appllca-
Die 10 any one term OF the series may not be
|
to call different Kinds of matter carbon,
| oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, and to speak
OF the various powers and activities of these
substances as the properties OF the matter of
which they are composed. When hydrogen
| ana oxygen are mixed in certain proportion,
and an electric SPARK is passed through them
they disappear, and quantity of water equal
| IN weight 10 the sum of their weights, appears
In their place. There is not the slig htest parity
| between the passive and active powers of the
| wafer ana those OF the oxygen and hydrogen
which have given rise TO it, AT 81 deg. Fahren-
and by drogen are elastic gaseous bodies, whose
particles tend TO rush away from
one one, another with great force.
strong though brittle solid, whose particles
tend 10 cohere into definite geometricaI shapes,
and sometimes build up frosty limitations OF
Nevertheless we call these, aud many other
strange phenomena, the properties of the
water, ana we do not hesitate To believe that in
some way or another they result from the
water. We do not assume that @ something
called "aquosity" entered into and took pos
session OF the oxide ofhydr1gen soon as II
was formed, aud then guided the aqueous
particles 10 ieneir places in the facets OF the
crystal, or amongst the leaflets of the no ar
1rost 1s the case in any way changed when
and ia their place, under the influence of pre-.
existing living protoplasm an equivalent