The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-03-08
uv,,e, on the PHYSICAL Basis Of Lie.

resting paper in the Fortai9htiy Rs0iesO from
Whioh we make some extracts:-
Mr.. Huxley begins by admitting that when
Arst apprehended, such a doctrine as his ap-
pears almost shocking to common sense. What
community Of faculty can there be between
the brightly c6lored liohen, which 80 nearly
resembles mere mineral inorustation Of the
bare rock on which IL grows, and the painter,
te whom It is instinct with beauty, or the
botsnist whom It feeds with knowledgeY II
We regard substance, or material competition,
what hidden bond can connect the flower
which girl wears in her hair and the blood
which courses through her youthful veins or
what is there in common between the dense
and resisting mass Of the oak, or the strong
fabric of the tortoise, and those broad disks
81 CLASSY ielly which may be seen pusating
through the waters OF calm sea, but which
drain away to mere films in the hand which
raises them out Of their elementY such OBJ
iections as these must arise In the mind OF
every one who ponders, for the first time,
upon the conception OF single physioal
basis of life underlying all the diversities Of
vital existence: but Mr.. Huxley proposes to
demonstrate that threetold unity-namely,
A unity of form, and q unity OF substantial
oomposition-does pervade the whole living
world.
To illustrate his case, Mr.. Huxley goes to
the common nettle:-
You are doubtless aware that the common
nettle owes its singing property to the inuu-
Quisitey delicate. hairs whicn cover Its sur
face. Each singing needle tapers from broad
10 slender summit, which, though rounded
at the end, is of such microscopic ineness that
IL readily penetrates. and breaks off in, the
outer case of wood, closely applied to the inner
surface OF which Is a layer OF semi-huId matter,
minuteness. This semi-fuid lining is protoo
plasm, which thus constitutes kind of bag,
a OF Of mPId qSad qS and 5ooghty & oSsrespSna s
1t fills When viewed with q sufficiently high
magnifying power. the protoplasmic layer OF
the nettle hair is seen TO be in q condition of
uncessing activity. Local contractions of the
whole thickness of its substance pass slowly
rise TO the appearance of progressive waves,
just as the bending of successive stalks of corn
corn-held. But in addition to these move.
ments. and independently ofthem, the granules
channels in the protoplasm which seem TO
have a considerable amount of persistence.
Most commonly. the currents in adjacent parts
of the protoplasm take similar directions;
and, thus, there is general stream III one side
ofthe hair and down the other. But this does
not prevent the existence of partial currents
which take different routes; and sometimes,
trains of granults may be seen courslng swiftly
in opposite directions, within a twenty thou
sandth OF an inch OF one another; while occa-
sionally, opposite streams come into direct col
lision, and, after longer or shorter strugg gle,
plexity OF many other organic forms, seemingly
as simple as the protoplasm of the nettIe,
dawns upon one; al d the comparison of sue
ton, Which has @ been put forward | by by an an % emi-
nent psychologist, loses much OF It's startling
are fundamentally one Is any al such unity pre-.
dicable of their forms? Let us seek in easily
% facts pr Sa reply to this hi II
and aaSI,o under sufSienty - micro,
a%SpE muttHde
which m sve it's color
ratively small number OF colorless corpuscles.
haps Of kse at the
perature of the body, these colorless corpuscles
Changing I W their forms Win great rSpdity Tidty
drawing in and thrusting out prolongations oi
were Independent organisms The substance
which is thus active is a mass OF protoplasm
princpie rom that Of the % proiopasm 'ofn of the
nettle. A indicated mass of protoplasm turns
unit of the human body. AS matter Of fact.
the body, in its earliest state, is a mere null
dition, 1t Is a multiple of such units, variously
But does the formula which expresses the
essential structural character of the highest
animal cover all the rest as the statement of
otbers" Very nearly, Beast and fowl rentiIe
and fish, mollusk, worm, and polype, are all
composed of structural units of The same char
acter, namely, masses OF protaplasm with a
nucleus. There are sundry very low animals,
each OF which, structnrally. is mere colorless
blood corpusce, leading an Independent life
But at the very bottom of the animal SCALE
even this simplicity becomes simplified and
IL
particle OF protoplasm without nucleus,
And what has been said of the animal world
ls no less true of plants. Traced back to its
earliest state, the Kettle arises as the man does
In a particle OF nucleated protoplasm And in
the lowest plants, as in the lowest animals, a
single mass OF such protoplasm may constitute
the whole plant. or the proboplasm may exist
Under these circumstan ces IL may we'll be
asked, how is one mass of non nucleated
pretoplasm to be distinguished from another I?
Why call one "plant" and the other "ani Inn al?'
The only reply is that, 30 far as form is con-
cerned, plants and animals are not separa ble,
and that, In many cases, 1t Is q mere matter OF
convention whether we call given organism
an animal or plant. There is living body
called Kthalium septicum, which appears
upon decaying vegetable substances. and in
one of lis forms Is com mon upon the surface oI
tan pits. In this condition IL is to all intents
and purposes, fungus, and formerly was
always regarded as such; but the remarkable
Investigations OF De Barry have shown that, in
another condition, the Hthalium Is an ac-
lively locomotive creature, and takes In solid
matters, upon which. apparently IL feeds thus
exhibiting the most characteristic feature oi
animality. Is this plant, or is it am animal
Is IL both, or is it neither?
Mr.. Huxley declares at this point that pro.
toplasm, simple or nucleated, is the formal
basis of all life. 1t is the clay of the potter,
which, bake it and paint it as you will, re,
mains clay, separated by arti6ce and not by
nature, from the commonest brick or sun
dried clod. ALI living powers are cognate, and
all living forms are fundamentally of one char
acter.
The researches of the chemist have revealed
no less striking uniformity of material com
position in living natter
y In perfect strictness IL is true that chemic
inVestigation can tell us little nothing, di
rectly, of the composition of living matter