Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-04-11
MONSTERS CREATED BY SCIENCE.
Hideous and Repulsive Creatures
Brought Into World by Chemistry. (
What is life

What is life
Epon this tremendous question we
are perhaps in greater uncertainty
than ever before. Gntil recently sci
enee thought It knew at least what
was not life but even of this we are
ha longer sure.
Powers once attributed only To lix-
ms things have been found in sub
stances called inorganic, and powers
oIee regarded as entirely phS sieo-
chemical arc found IL play an essen
tiai part in creating natural life.
Prof StephaHe Eedue. OF the great
Medical college Of Nantes. France. Is
ene OF the most brilliant of the many
scientists Who are working At the
great problem of studying The nature
of life aud its possible ultimate cut
concentrating life.
Prof Ledue has now succeeded in
creating vast number OF animal and
vegetable forms, which undoubtedly
possess some of The attributes OF nat
anal living creatures. They absorb
nourishment and they show cell
growth. Rnt they cannot reproduce
themselves. They are partly alive. hut
they :ack some of the essential attri-
hutes of life Can these remaining at
tributes be furnished artideiallX.
Fer the present these artificial erea-
lures Of Eedae are scientific F'ranlzen-
stems of more alarming appearance
even tll8a the classical monster Of fie-
ton. They devuur uourishment with
amazing rapacity. and then pass OUT
at existence without perpetuatiag
their kind or contributing anything
10 the economy of nature. as far as
We en- tell.
II these monsters Were created an Il
sufficiently large scale, they might IN
deed. inspire We'll justified terror in
the human race.
Among them is 2 Creature With The
body of IA octopus and the tail Of a
snake. Prof. Leduc in tits instance.
st1rted t. construct a form Of sea life,
but what be actually produced Is TN
like anything ever seen ON land on
sea.
lie created these creatures by con
structiug in tine first place Il germ ri
the saline chemical elements as It nat
ural germ, and covered Il with a men,
bfane. Then he placed il in "a npur-
ishing solution. The artificial germ
drew naurishment through the MEM
brane, then Burst the membrane. grew
new cells outside which. in turn, de-
vel0ped into limbs, tenacles and even
headlike greNths.
In the case of the spake-octopus
monster he made germ consisting OF
one part sugar and two parts copper
sulphate. the latter forming the coy
erine membrane. He placed this in
solution of gelatin, yellow blood al
kali, chloronatrium and silica salts.
The latter salts were put IN to furnish
the shells and bones, which in SEA
creatures are found To consist largely
of silicates
The germ burst its membrane.
greedily swallowed up the nuNiment
| in the surrounding fuid, developed
body and head and threw cut tenta-
| cles suggesting the form of an oeto-
pus. one nj the tentacles by some
| mysterious chance grew enormously
| beyond the others until it seemed like
| a great snake
| Different combinations of the same
| substances produced other cariea-
| lures OF living sea creatures Mon
strous oysters, muscles, scoliops and
star fish were produced.
| When the blood was omitted from
| the nutritiye medium, vegetable forms
| were obtained.
| A bit of chloride of calcium placed
in a solution of phosphoric acid kali
| um showed beautiful cells with trans
| parent perfect membranes The cell
| development of these artificial crea-
lures. when dissected and analysed
under the microscope, appeared sim
| liar to that OF living creatures.
! ~. he t1f
Breslau. proved by experiments that
! he could make osmotic membranes ar
| tfaeially by chemical reactions. Prof.
| Leduc has been working along the
| same lines and he has succeeded IN
making artificially. not only cells and
| cell structures. but also entire
! creatures which show a similar
| form to natural organism They grow
| and assinilate food, move and seem
! almost alive Prof I4educ does not
even use organic material. but with
! pure mineral matter he obtains under
| special conditions. the very same
| forms thai we observe 70 the animal
| and vegetable kingdoms.
An artificial cell is made Ny taking
a few drops of blood alkali and plae-
ing them on a gelatine-eoYercd slide.
| Tic drops spread ~ uliiuHiott az -
the geatine, md rs they meet one
another form kind Of membrane. II
resembles closely the cell structure Of
the membrane II 4 living creature
| and shows the samc tendencies. The
life Of these artificial cells may he
siipported ~ pouring nouishins fluids
on them. Then tie Ii Just like that Of
4 natural creature. 1lie first stage OF
HIM n paW q
cell heart and wall Tire second stage
consists iii reaching out for ilnid food
,rhe streaming inward Of the fluid
hnext ceases and concentration takes
place. When concentration is finished