New-York tribune., 1907-06-16
1t May Not Be in the Body
at All. Says Science.
By z. T. Brewster.

Al life. know IL on this earth. appears
only in connection with single definite substance
A certain watery jelly. near relative chemically
OF egg abumen. is the only living thing In this
world. Jelly nsh oak trees animals and men, so
CIR as they are alive at all. are built of this one
universe! life stuff. The differences among living
beings largely in the parts that not alive.
For. cUriously enough. the higher UP in the scale
Of life any creature is the smaller, general. is
the proportion Of living substance in its body. The
lowest Of all creatures hardly than bits
OF naked jely-pure protoplasm and almost nothing
else The highest plants. such the hardwood
trees, have only thin living layer between the
wood snd the bark. and small growing spots al the
root tips and IN the leaves. twigs and buds. The
is dead wood and bark. The higher warm
Hooded animals are Of course far alive than
The plants Even they, however, have their skin,
bones. hair nails, tendons. only small portions of
which alive Even the blood is alive,
though there are swimming about IN IL minute lv
ing creatures, the white corpusces Even the
nerves and muscles have each living bit inclosed
IN non-iving sheath The living portion Of an
egg is but part OF the yolk.
Now. concerning the chemistry Of this strange
life stuff. science knows a good deal. but by no
means all Protopiasm contains nothing that is not
found IN water and air; nothing in fact, but
few Of the commouest Of all substances This
much is certain. On the other hand, life stuff is
m enormously complex substance. by far the most
complex Of all substances known 10 chemistry. We
know perfectly well what is Of; do not
and the go together. Thus far. therefore. life
stuff has not been produced arthcialy-though the
Science Of synthetic chemistry is continually getting
nearer and nearer 10 its final achievement. Time
was when knew about sugar than we
now know about protoplasm. To-day know
substantially all there is known about sugar
hnd can make il out OF sawdust old rags.
mere Is another fact equally hard and fast and
equaiiy II matter OF direct observation; living
creatures are not. IN general, single masses Of
4e ouSe OF NE IS built, not of solid but
OF separate bricks. There hundreds these
pIoloiasfillc bricks cells a single eyelash
mere are thousands in a fake Of skin. on the
lhese cells often Of considera bic size a single
plIr comprises the entire yolk of ostrich egg
s!he5= ntIse hLies extend from spine 10 foot-no
hilail Instance ia eleshalt and giraffe
gias an INTERNAL euucture complicated almost be
yohd DeLiei. Inc microscope reveals many still
smaller structures within the cells themselves but
ttc tfclsandth part OF inch in diameter A
olhSie nerve cell may nave the hgure OF Il rooted
sapllns, . q Spreading grapevine, Of an ancient
Oak al these minute parts. moreover. differ
chemically irDEn one another From some Of them
definite SHd characteristic substances have reol
rHtr$ctec; while, 20 conp!.cate the matter stl
furtheT, The tissues IN different creatures
Ter the creature under different conditions1
ere known 10 De chemically unlike.
One t8Ct then Is The life mat v-a
knoD anything about has definite physical ba sis
basis which alike In its outer Dhysical sfr,Ic1urc
ires ,han the life which II embodes
such, In briefesi outline Is the basis NJ fact
which ~ the present time IS serving as the founda
ton Tor some most brilliant Investigations for
gone rnoet fascinating and suggestive theorizine
NO problem is more tsntalizing than ibis nsver Ia.