New-York tribune., 1902-01-01
THE BASIS OF LIFE.
PROFESSOR LOEB SAYS 1T is ELEC-
TRICITY, NOT HEAT ENERGY.

EXPERIMENTS SAID TO PROVE HIS THEORY
PROFESSOR NOvY's NEW GERMIcIDE.
Chicago, Dec 31.-Professor JACQUES Loeb of
.hs University Of Chicago, to-day in a paper
sszd before a section of the American Society
If Naturalists made the announcement that he
had discovered the physical processes that ac-
company life. and that electricity and not heat
energy, is the basis of life. He does not claim
10 have solved the problem of What is Iife?"
but TO have proved a theory which overthrows
q fundamental portion of the teachings of text
books on physiology.
The energy of food stuffs," Professor Loeb
said as a conclusion, land the motions of heart
are not after ALL due to the production of heat
but 10 the chemical energy in electrically
charged molecules" and again he put il this
way: "A part of the chemical energy of food
stuffs is transformed into electrical energy,
which, in turn, gives energy TO the muscles and
organs OF the body"
Dr.. Loeb described his experiments with
jel!yhsh. and explained that when he placed the
FISH in a solution electrically charged. such as
salt il responded, while, when he subjected it
70 a solution that was a non-conductor, it did
not respond
Preceding from further experiments. he
found. first. that the muscles contracted ryth-
mically in solutions which had these electrical
charges in them, and. second that the contrac-
tion Of the muscles depended the number of
charges on the diferentions
The announcement that electricity and not
heat is the life energy is the climax of Professor
Loeb's famous experiments which have "
tended over ten years He was first led into
this line Of research by the observation that
electricity able affect protoplasm in a
more universal manner than any other slim
uus He then came TO the conclusion that if
electricity was able to have such effects in the
form Of currents it ought TO have like results
when in the form of ions" An 'ion.' he
plains. is an atom. or group of atoms carrying
charge Of electricity.
He first set to work to investigate along the
lines Of parthenogenesis. or artificial reproduc-
ton. and discovered that the electric ion was
responsible. Then he took up the study of the
cause for the rhythmic beat of the heart, and
again traced the agent 10 the same source.
When with the aid Of Professor A P. Mathews
the same causes were discovered TO be behind
the secret of nerve action, the series was com
plete. and the savants ambition attained.
Nerves, consisting of a colloidal solution
Professor Matthews said ARE stimulated by the
passage of the colloidal particles from the
dlton OF solution 10 that of gelation which
change is produced by the action of electrically
charged atoms which bear negative charges.
Inc STIMULATING action of any chemical
pound depends on these negative charges; the
particles of the nerve are held in solution by
positively charged groups of atoms such as
sodium, potassium, etc. and the effectiveness Of
lhese IONS in preventing stimulation varies di-
rectly with the number of positive charges they
bear 0'
By these facts chemical stimulation is shown
70 be identical with electrical. Whenever in
any part OF nerve the negative particles are
IN excess the nerve is stimulated All positively
charged ions reduce irritability in the nerves;
negative increases it
1t was said tonight that. while DR. Loeb's
experiments in prolonging life were important
and interesting. thus far they were appca BILE
only IN the case of single animal cell and
therefore Of narrow limitation.
another paper which attracted special atten-
ton was that read before the meeting of the
meteorological Society by Professor F G. Novy
OF the University of Michigan who made public
FOR the first time the result Of his efforts to
md a perfect germicide. His results as re-
ported, were beyond expectations for he has II
is asserted, discovered an organic peroxide
which is absolutely destructive of organic life
ana which can be taken into the system by
human beings with perfect ilnpunity.
4 number of experiments were described by
Professor Novy to demonstrate the power Of his
germicide, which he calls "Benzol" Germs TO
the number of 1.000 100000 in saliva were i'm
nlediately killed The throat of a diphtheritic
dog was sprayed with it, and the dog was cured
more speedily than by the anti-toxin treatment
This drug is in the form Of volatile crystals
which soluble in water
In the psychology department Professor
Charles s. Minot, of the Harvard Medical
School, secuted the doctrine of telepathy as a
product Of the imagination.