The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-08-14

during which It's bTirh'I s~s- GeCTesssr
e. that - = star Of the fourth magi itIde.
after which Il resumes it, nrisiI ~ bright
re~s-. III. eXplar alton at M" gIiTii"r >.
first launched ~ a Hypothesis hy Picker
ing and soon cpnfirmsi 10y experiment, -
that Algol ~ u binary System. cuI sistIn x
nf Large bright star and - smaller, darker
star. which Last On the rotation Of tn"
system partly hides. -occ'Ilts' the bright
star and CAUSES tn. dsnI cas-. ~ bright
Ness ohservei The az iversc ~ full Of
dra stars like Algols dark Compar ion
and many Of them which 30 not reveal
their existence by o~cIltirg others have
been detected 10y anomalies In the motions
Of reighhorIng stars This astronomy
OF the invisible has its own method. which
- irdeei slow ard eItGtive but cure
in priU ciplc and rich in results
classification IL a necessity for all
science - COortlInated knOwledge, hut
Classiiications may lie misleading They
are apt To- erect barriers hetween things
which nature has connected lay continuous
gradatlons Thus the division ~ nature
into three kingdoms 10 a. Oil az human
thought AN animal. plant. a stone
Nothing could be more simple and dis
tinct But simplicity exists only in our
mind Nature il infinitely complicated
and provides between its types nnumer-
able transitions. such as We find hetwecn
the thrsn states of matter solid, liquid
gaseous IL IL to-day an established fact
that no clear line of d"marCatIon exists
between animals and plants. but we still
look on IN. A. a thing apart, mystery I'M
penetrable Ia SCIENCE Hut the mystery
IL being dlssipated 10y investigation. Tho
naturalist searching for a definition Of life
s.-.s before him forms Of increasing sim
pIiciiy and finds that tho very cSsence
II life vanishe- whenever he end"avors
To- determine IL with precision Tie
physicist is reaching the same conclusion
IA ia. opposite way He sc"s iorC"s at
work organizing matter. creating forms
and cndowing brute substance with many
Of The characteristics Of living beings. He
realizes his incapaCity to say where the
mineral kingdom ends and whore life be-
gins hut without abandoning prudent
circumspeCtion no will az least bc able To
assert that many phenomena hitherto
considered characteristic Of life belong
Ia brute matter and derive from physiCo-
chemical causes
The living bsiug is characterized Iy it's
products. 10y it, organ IzGIion ard iy ifs
functions. Little 10y little. however. the
various compounds elaborated by life
have cen reproduced syrthetiCally in the
Ia, ,ora,ory II u TO longer recessary in
UrisT to obtain them To bring irto action
any forC.s hut those which govern brute
matter But the bottles produoet by
-yLth.si, ore mere products Of excretion
the waste mAterias OF life. whereas life
itself Is cOncentTated in the protein sub
sta ~. som.timsS called the albumin
oils They are difficult TO tackle Evsn
To isolate them ~ Il pure state Is a very
difficult operation ~ they represent the
most complex and NJ stable form Of o. EN-
ic.l Compounds That il the reEson for
the part they play IN life. But to-day
they ar. the object 81 study of e whole
army 81 chemists Their molecular Ag-
grcgatiors have already teen disinte-
grated. AMI We may expect a Berthelot to
arse b.fur. long Ia carry out tn" syT thesis
OF the Gluuminoiis PhySiolog ical chem
ISiry ls.s also hs.aL occupied With the 40
ton IL living matter If those stTAr ge
prptu"ts, e. zymeI or zymases. which
are frequently designated under the gem
eric name Of soluble ferrnerts. They are
the soul Of many vital actions. the demon
c-aselessly husy tying aud urtyiug the
molecular bonds. But II has been proved
that the action Of engines IL not con-
neCted with any unknoWn vital property.
II IN slectric arc be established between
two rods u platinum. gold or silver i'm
msrsed IN some lsolatinR 'uid. the liquid
becomes filled wath an impalpab bile powder.
invisible Ia the most powerful niCro-
scope the fragments 81 the metal pulver-
lied by the arc In this state Of extreme
subdivision. called the Colloidal state.
metals present some very peculiar prop
critics Their function appears 10 he en-
tirsly similar To that II engines. one
part - colloldal platinum can dccompose
more than a million times its weight Of
oNygenate1 water just ~ rennet acts on
milk. More remarkable still thus plat
mum IL actually killed 10y heat. sulphur
cited hydrogen. corrosive suhlinate. that
- to say. by the very agents which kill
living matter. 80 that the mineral kindgom
produces hpdies which might 10y their AC-
ton be- Confounded with the apparently
most Characteristic agents of life
But life II characterized At first sight
even more 10y tina forms 1t creates Vet
II has heen proved that rystals give birth
t. other crystals. that they r-IJoducc
IN amselycs by the sam" Processes which
ar" met With IN the rsprprIctiun of living
cells capitalization requires the pres
ence Il living germ, Just as life needs
a living germ Both sorts of germs exist
in IN. air and crystals will form IN tub.
OF hot saturated solution after cooling
q th. protecting plug 81 cotton - re-
moved just as culture hnuillon will he
come filled With swarInIng colonies under
similar circumstance tOnta gions and
npidsnics spread IN IN" mineral world
lis. tn" familiar diseases of life. More
over. chemical compounds ran he made
which produc. artificial plants Possessed
e some If m" properties hitherto con
~id"rrd peculiar t. living beings they
absorb and eliminate, they ar. sensitive
~ ni- ms and inU S'h-'ics. light and heat
Affect them as they Affect ordinary plant.
Toe startling experiments IN synthetic
rl.da hv Prof lncuu,- Ln"h.