The Story of the Living Machine Part 3

This material between the cells is really to be regarded as an excessively thickened cell wall and has been secreted by the cell substance lying within the cells, so that a bit of cartilage is really a ma.s.s of cells with an exceptionally thick cell wall. At Fig. 16 is shown a little blood. Here the cells are to be seen floating in a liquid. The liquid is colourless and it is the red colour in the blood cells which gives the blood its red colour. The liquid may here again be regarded as material produced by cells. At Fig. 17 is a bit of bone showing small irregular cells imbedded within a large ma.s.s of material which has been deposited by the cell. In this case the formed material has been hardened by calcium phosphate, which gives the rigid consistency to the bone. In some animal tissues the formed material is still greater in amount. At Fig. 18, for example, is a bit of connective tissue, made up of a ma.s.s of fine fibres which have no resemblance to cells, and indeed are not cells. These fibres have, however, been made by cells, and a careful study of such tissue at proper places will show the cells within it. The cells shown in Fig. 18 (_c_) have secreted the fibrous material.

Fig. 19 shows a cell composing a bit of nerve. At Fig. 20 is a bit of muscle; the only trace of cellular structure that it shows is in the nuclei (_n_), but if the muscle be studied in a young condition its cellular structure is more evident. Thus it happens in adult animals that the cells which are large and clear at first, become less and less evident, until the adult tissue seems sometimes to be composed mostly of what we have called formed material.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 12.--Plant cells with thick walls, from a fern.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 13.--Section of a potato showing different shaped cells, the inner and larger ones being filled with grains of starch.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 14.--Various shaped wood cells from plant tissue.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 15.--A bit of cartilage.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 16.--Frog's blood: _a_ and _b_ are the cells; _c_ is the liquid.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 17.--A bit of bone, showing the cells imbedded in the bony matter.]

It must not be imagined, however, that a very rigid line can be drawn between the cell itself and the material it forms. The formed material is in many cases simply a thickened cell wall, and this we commonly regard as part of the cell. In many cases the formed material is simply the old dead cell walls from which the living substance has been withdrawn (Fig. 14). In other cases the cell substance acquires peculiar functions, so that what seems to be the formed material is really a modified cell body and is still active and alive. Such is the case in the muscle. In other cases the formed material appears to be manufactured within the cell and secreted, as in the case of bone. No sharp lines can be drawn, however, between the various types. But the distinction between formed material and cell body is a convenient one and may well be retained in the discussion of cells. In our discussion of the fundamental vital properties we are only concerned in the cell substance, the formed material having nothing to do with fundamental activities of life, although it forms largely the secondary machinery which we have already studied.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 18.--Connective tissue. The cells of the tissue are shown at _c_, and the fibres or formed matter at _f_.]

In all higher animals and plants the life of the individual begins as a single ovum or a single cell, and as it grows the cells increase rapidly until the adult is formed out of hundreds of millions of cells. As these cells become numerous they cease, after a little, to be alike. They a.s.sume different shapes which are adapted to the different duties they are to perform. Thus, those cells which are to form bone soon become different from those which are to form muscle, and those which are to form the blood are quite unlike those which are to produce the hairs. By means of such a differentiation there arises a very complex ma.s.s of cells, with great variety in shape and function.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 19. A piece of nerve fibre, showing the cell with its nucleus at _n_.]

It should be noticed further that there are some animals and plants in which the whole animal is composed of a single cell. These organisms are usually of extremely minute size, and they comprise most of the so-called animalculae which are found in water. In such animals the different parts of the cell are modified to perform different functions.

The different organs appear within the cell, and the cell is more complex than the typical cell described. Fig. 21 shows such a cell. Such an animal possesses several organs, but, since it consists of a single ma.s.s of protoplasm and a single nucleus, it is still only a single cell.

In the multicellular organisms the organs of the body are made up of cells, and the different organs are produced by a differentiation of cells, but in the unicellular organisms the organs are the results of the differentiation of the parts of a single cell. In the one case there is a differentiation of cells, and in the other of the parts of a cell.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 20.--A muscle fibre. The nucleii are shown at _n_.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 21.--A complex cell. It is an entire animal, but composed of only one cell.]

Such, in brief, is the cell to whose activities it is possible to trace the fundamental properties of all living things. Cells are endowed with the properties of irritability, contractibility, a.s.similation and reproduction, and it is thus plainly to the study of cells that we must look for an interpretation of life phenomena. If we can reach an intelligible understanding of the activities of the cell our problem is solved, for the activities of the fully formed animal or plant, however complex, are simply the application of mechanical and chemical principles among the groups of such cells. But wherein does this knowledge of cells help us? Are we any nearer to understanding how these vital processes arise? In answer to this question we may first ask whether it is possible to determine whether any one part of the cell is the seat of its activities.

==The Cell Wall.==--The first suggestion which arose was that the cell wall was the important part of the cell, the others being secondary.

This was not an unnatural conclusion. The cell wall is the most persistent part of the cell. It was the part first discovered by the microscope and is the part which remains after the other parts are gone.

Indeed, in many of the so-called cells the cell wall is all that is seen, the cell contents having disappeared (Fig. 14). It was not strange, then, that this should at first have been looked upon as the primary part. The idea was that the cell wall in some way changed the chemical character of the substances in contact with its two sides, and thus gave rise to vital activities which, as we have seen, are fundamentally chemical. Thus the cell wall was regarded as the most essential part of the cell, since it controlled its activities. This the belief of Schwann, although he also regarded the other parts of the cell as of importance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 22.--An amoeba. A single cell without cell wall. _n_ is the nucleus; _f_, a bit of food which the cell has absorbed.]

This conception, however, was quite temporary. It was much as if our hypothetical supramundane observer looked upon the clothes of his newly discovered human being as forming the essential part of his nature. It was soon evident that this position could not be maintained. It was found that many bits of living matter were entirely dest.i.tute of cell wall. This is especially true of animal cells. While among plants the cell wall is almost always well developed, it is very common for animal cells to be entirely lacking in this external covering--as, for example, the white blood-cells. Fig. 22 shows an amoeba, a cell with very active powers of motion and a.s.similation, but with no cell wall. Moreover, young cells are always more active than older ones, and they commonly possess either no cell wall or a very slight one, this being deposited as the cell becomes older and remaining long after it is dead. Such facts soon disproved the notion that the cell wall is a vital part of the cell, and a new conception took its place which was to have a more profound influence upon the study of living things than any discovery hitherto made. This was the formulation of the doctrine of the nature of _protoplasm_.

Protoplasm.--(a) _Discovery_. As it became evident that the cell wall is a somewhat inactive part of the cell, more attention was put on the cell contents. For twenty years after the formulation of the cell doctrine both the cell substance and the nucleus had been looked upon as essential to its activities. This was more especially true of the nucleus, which had been thought of as an organ of reproduction. These suggestions appeared indefinitely in the writings of one scientist and another, and were finally formulated in 1860 into a general theory which formed what has sometimes been called the starting point of modern biology. From that time the material known as _protoplasm_ was elevated into a prominent position in the discussion of all subjects connected with living phenomena. The idea of protoplasm was first clearly defined by Schultze, who claimed that the real active part of the cell was the cell substance within the cell wall. This substance he proved to be endowed with powers of motion and powers of inducing chemical changes a.s.sociated with vital phenomena. He showed it to be the most abundant in the most active cells, becoming less abundant as the cells lose their activity, and disappearing when the cells lose their vitality. This cell substance was soon raised into a position of such importance that the smaller body within it was obscured, and for some twenty years more the nucleus was silently ignored in biological discussion. According to Schultze, the cell substance itself const.i.tuted the cell, the other parts being entirely subordinate, and indeed frequently absent. A cell was thus a bit of protoplasm, and nothing more. But the more important feature of this doctrine was not the simple conclusion that the cell substance const.i.tutes the cell, but the more sweeping conclusion that this cell substance is in _all_ cells essentially _identical._ The study of all animals, high and low, showed all active cells filled with a similar material, and more important still, the study of plant cells disclosed a material strikingly similar. Schultze experimented with this material by all means at his command, and finding that the cell substance in all animals and plants obeys the same tests, reached the conclusion that the cell substance in animals and plants is always identical. To this material he now gave the name protoplasm, choosing a name hitherto given to the cell contents of plant cells. From this time forth this term protoplasm was applied to the living material found in all cells, and became at once the most important factor in the discussion of biological problems.

The importance of this newly formulated doctrine it is difficult to appreciate. Here, in protoplasm had been apparently found the foundation of living phenomena. Here was a substance universally present in animals and plants, simple and uniform--a substance always present in living parts and disappearing with death. It was the simplest thing that had life, and indeed the only thing that had life, for there is no life outside of cells and protoplasm. But simple as it was it had all the fundamental properties of living things--irritability, contractibility, a.s.similation, and reproduction. It was a compound which seemingly deserved the name of "_physical basis of life_", which was soon given to it by Huxley. With this conception of protoplasm as the physical basis of life the problems connected with the study of life became more simplified. In order to study the nature of life it was no longer necessary to study the confusing ma.s.s of complex organs disclosed to us by animals and plants, or even the somewhat less confusing structures shown by individual cells. Even the simple cell has several separate parts capable of undergoing great modifications in different types of animals. This confusion now appeared to vanish, for only _one_ thing was found to be alive, and that was apparently very simple. But that substance exhibited all the properties of life. It moved, it could grow, and reproduce itself, so that it was necessary only to explain this substance and life would be explained.

(b) _Nature of Protoplasm_.--What is this material, protoplasm? As disclosed by the early microscope it appeared to be nothing more than a simple ma.s.s of jelly, usually transparent, more or less consistent, sometimes being quite fluid, and at others more solid. Structure it appeared to have none. Its chief peculiarity, so far as physical characters were concerned, was a wonderful and never-ceasing activity.

This jellylike material appeared to be endowed with wonderful powers, and yet neither physical nor microscopical study revealed at first anything more than a uniform h.o.m.ogeneous ma.s.s of jelly. Chemical study of the same substance was of no less interest than the microscopical study. Of course it was no easy matter to collect this protoplasm in sufficient quant.i.ty and pure enough to make a careful a.n.a.lysis. The difficulties were in time, however, overcome, and chemical study showed protoplasm to be a proteid, related to other proteids like alb.u.men, but one which was more complex than any other known. It was for a long time looked upon by many as a single definite chemical compound, and attempts were made to determine its chemical formula. Such an a.n.a.lysis indicated a molecule made up of several hundred atoms. Chemists did not, however, look with much confidence upon these results, and it is not surprising that there was no very close agreement among them as to the number of atoms in this supposed complex molecule. Moreover, from the very first, some biologists thought protoplasm to be not one, but more likely a mixture of several substances. But although it was more complex than any other substance studied, its general characters were so like those of alb.u.men that it was uniformly regarded as a proteid; but one which was of a higher complexity than others, forming perhaps the highest number of a series of complex chemical compounds, of which ordinary proteids, such as alb.u.men, formed lower members. Thus, within a few years following the discovery of protoplasm there had developed a theory that living phenomena are due to the activities of a definite though complex chemical compound, composed chiefly of the elements carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, and closely related to ordinary proteids. This substance was the basis of living activity, and to its modification under different conditions were due the miscellaneous phenomena of life.

(c) _Significance of Protoplasm_.--The philosophical significance of this conception was very far-reaching. The problem of life was so simplified by subst.i.tuting the simple protoplasm for the complex organism that its solution seemed to be not very difficult. This idea of a chemical compound as the basis of all living phenomena gave rise in a short time to a chemical theory of life which was at least tenable, and which accounted for the fundamental properties of life. That theory, the _chemical theory of life_, may be outlined somewhat as follows:

The study of the chemical nature of substances derived from living organisms has developed into what has been called organic chemistry.

Organic chemistry has shown that it is possible to manufacture artificially many of the compounds which are called organic, and which had been hitherto regarded as produced only by living organisms. At the beginning of the century, it was supposed to be impossible to manufacture by artificial means any of the compounds which animals and plants produce as the result of their life. But chemists were not long in showing that this position is untenable. Many of the organic products were soon shown capable of production by artificial means in the chemist's laboratory. These organic compounds form a series beginning with such simple bodies as carbonic acid (CO_{2}), water (H_{2}O), and ammonia (NH_{3}), and pa.s.sing up through a large number of members of greater and greater complexity, all composed, however, chiefly of the elements carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. Our chemists found that starting with simple substances they could, by proper means, combine them into molecules of greater complexity, and in so doing could make many of the compounds that had hitherto been produced only as a result of living activities. For example, urea, formic acid, indigo, and many other bodies, hitherto produced only by animals and plants, were easily produced by the chemist by purely chemical methods. Now when protoplasm had been discovered as the "physical basis of life," and, when it was further conceived that this substance is a proteid related to alb.u.mens, it was inevitable that a theory should arise which found the explanation of life in accordance with simple chemical laws.

If, as chemists and biologists then believe, protoplasm is a compound which stands at the head of the organic series, and if, as is the fact, chemists are each year succeeding in making higher and higher members of the series, it is an easy a.s.sumption that some day they will be able to make the highest member of the series. Further, it is a well-known fact that simple chemical compounds have simple physical properties, while the higher ones have more varied properties. Water has the property of being liquid at certain temperatures and solid at others, and of dividing into small particles (i.e., dissolving) certain bodies brought in contact with it. The higher compound alb.u.men has, however, a great number of properties and possibilities of combination far beyond those of water. Now if the properties increase in complexity with the complexity of the compound, it is again an easy a.s.sumption that when we reach a compound as complex as protoplasm, it will have properties as complex as those of the simple life substance. Nor was this such a very wild hypothesis. After all, the fundamental life activities may all be traced to the simple oxidation of food, for this results in movement, a.s.similation, and growth, and the result of growth is reproduction. It was therefore only necessary for our biological chemists to suppose that their chemical compound protoplasm possessed the power of causing certain kinds of oxidation to take place, just as water itself induces a simpler kind of oxidation, and they would have a mechanical explanation of the life activities. It was certainly not a very absurd a.s.sumption to make, that this substance protoplasm could have this power, and from this the other vital activities are easily derived.

In other words, the formulation of the doctrine of protoplasm made it possible to a.s.sume that _life_ is not a distinct force, but simply a name given to the properties possessed by that highly complex chemical compound protoplasm. Just as we might give the name _aquacity_ to the properties possessed by water, so we have actually given the name _vitality_ to the properties possessed by protoplasm. To be sure, vitality is more marvelous than aquacity, but so is protoplasm a more complex compound than water. This compound was a very unstable compound, just as is a ma.s.s of gunpowder, and hence it is highly irritable, also like gunpowder, and any disturbance of its condition produces motion, just as a spark will do in a ma.s.s of gunpowder. It is capable of inducing oxidation in foods, something as water induces oxidation in a bit of iron. The oxidation is, however, of a different kind, and results in the formation of different chemical combinations; but it is the basis of a.s.similation. Since now a.s.similation is the foundation of growth and reproduction, this mechanical theory of life thus succeeded in tracing to the simple properties of the chemical compound protoplasm, all the fundamental properties of life. Since further, as we have seen in our first chapter, the more complex properties of higher organisms are easily deduced from these simple ones by the application of the laws of mechanics, we have here in this mechanical theory of life the complete reduction of the body to a machine.

==The Reign of Protoplasm.==--This substance protoplasm became now naturally the centre of biological thought. The theory of protoplasm arose at about the same time that the doctrine of evolution began to be seriously discussed under the stimulus of Darwin, and naturally these two great conceptions developed side by side. Evolution was constantly teaching that natural forces are sufficient to account for many of the complex phenomena which had hitherto been regarded as insolvable; and what more natural than the same kind of thinking should be applied to the vital activities manifested by this substance protoplasm. While the study of plants and animals was showing scientists that natural forces would explain the origin of more complex types from simpler ones through the law of natural selection, here in this conception of protoplasm was a theory which promised to show how the simplest forms may have been derived from the non-living. For an explanation of the _origin_ of life by natural means appeared now to be a simple matter.

It required now no violent stretch of the imagination to explain the origin of life something as follows: We know that the chemical elements have certain affinities for each other, and will unite with each other under proper conditions. We know that the methods of union and the resulting compounds vary with the conditions under which the union takes place. We know further that the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen have most remarkable properties, and unite to form an almost endless series of remarkable bodies when brought into combination under different conditions. We know that by varying the conditions the chemist can force these elements to unite into a most extraordinary variety of compounds with an equal variety of properties. What more natural, then, than the a.s.sumption that under certain conditions these same elements would unite in such a way as to form this compound protoplasm; and then, if the ideas concerning protoplasm were correct, this body would show the properties of protoplasm, and therefore be alive. Certainly such a supposition was not absurd, and viewed in the light of the rapid advance in the manufacture of organic compounds could hardly be called improbable. Chemists beginning with simple bodies like CO_{2} and H_{2}O were climbing the ladder, each round of which was represented by compounds of higher complexity. At the top was protoplasm, and each year saw our chemists nearer the top of the ladder, and thus approaching protoplasm as their final goal. They now began to predict that only a few more years would be required for chemists to discover the proper conditions, and thus make protoplasm. As late as 1880 the prediction was freely made that the next great discovery would be the manufacture of a bit of protoplasm by artificial means, and thus in the artificial production of life. The rapid advance in organic chemistry rendered this prediction each year more and more probable. The ability of chemists to manufacture chemical compounds appeared to be unlimited, and the only question in regard to their ability to make protoplasm thus resolved itself into the question of whether protoplasm is really a chemical compound.

We can easily understand how eager biologists became now in pursuit of the goal which seemed almost within their reach; how interested they were in any new discovery, and how eagerly they sought for lower and simpler types of protoplasm since these would be a step nearer to the earliest undifferentiated life substance. Indeed so eager was this pursuit for pure undifferentiated protoplasm, that it led to one of those unfounded discoveries which time showed to be purely imaginary.

When this reign of protoplasm was at its height and biologists were seeking for even greater simplicity a most astounding discovery was announced. The British exploring ship Challenger had returned from its voyage of discovery and collection, and its various treasures were turned over to the different scientists for study. The brilliant Prof.

Huxley, who had first formulated the mechanical theory of life, now startled the biological world with the statement that these collections had shown him that at the bottom of the deep sea, in certain parts of the world, there exists a diffused ma.s.s of living _undifferentiated protoplasm_. So simple and undifferentiated was it that it was not divided into cells and contained no nucleii. It was, in short, exactly the kind of primitive protoplasm which the evolutionist wanted to complete his chain of living structures, and the biologist wanted to serve as a foundation for his mechanical theory of life. If such a diffused ma.s.s of undifferentiated protoplasm existed at the bottom of the sea, one could hardly doubt that it was developed there by some purely natural forces. The discovery was a startling one, for it seemed that the actual starting point of life had been reached. Huxley named his substance _Bathybias_, and this name became in a short time familiar to every one who was thinking of the problems of life. But the discovery was suspected from the first, because it was too closely in accord with speculation, and it was soon disproved. Its discoverer soon after courageously announced to the world that he had been entirely mistaken, and that the Bathybias, so far from being undifferentiated protoplasm, was not an organic product at all, but simply a mineral deposit in the sea water made by purely artificial means. Bathybias stands therefore as an instance of a too precipitate advance in speculation, which led even such a brilliant man as Prof. Huxley into an unfortunate error of observation; for, beyond question, he would never have made such a mistake had he not been dominated by his speculative theories as to the nature of protoplasm.

But although Bathybias proved delusive, this did not materially affect the advance and development of the doctrine of protoplasm. Simple forms of protoplasm were found, although none quite so simple as the hypothetical Bathybias. The universal presence of protoplasm in the living parts of all animals and plants and its manifest activities completely demonstrated that it was the only living substance, and as the result of a few years of experiment and thought the biologist's conception of life crystallized into something like this: Living organisms are made of cells, but these cells are simply minute independent bits of protoplasm. They may contain a nucleus or they may not, but the essence of the cell is the protoplasm, this alone having the fundamental activities of life. These bits of living matter aggregate themselves together into groups to form colonies. Such colonies are animals or plants. The cells divide the work of the colony among themselves, each cell adopting a form best adapted for the special work it has to do. The animal or plant is thus simply an aggregate of cells, and its activities are the sum of the activities of its separate cells; just as the activities of a city are the sum of the activities of its individual inhabitants. The bit of protoplasm was the unit, and this was a chemical compound or a simple mixture of compounds to whose combined physical properties we have given the name vitality.

==The Decline of the Reign of Protoplasm.==--Hardly had this extreme chemical theory of life been clearly conceived before acc.u.mulating facts began to show that it is untenable and that it must at least be vastly modified before it can be received. The foundation of the chemical theory of life was the conception that protoplasm is a definite though complex chemical compound. But after a few years' study it appeared that such a conception of protoplasm was incorrect. It had long been suspected that protoplasm was more complex than was at first thought. It was not even at the outset found to be perfectly h.o.m.ogeneous, but was seen to contain minute granules, together with bodies of larger size.

Although these bodies were seen they were regarded as accidental or secondary, and were not thought of as forming any serious objection to the conception of protoplasm as a definite chemical compound. But modern opticians improved their microscopes, and microscopists greatly improved their methods. With the new microscopes and new methods there began to appear, about twenty years ago, new revelations in regard to this protoplasm. Its lack of h.o.m.ogeneity became more evident, until there has finally been disclosed to us the significant fact that protoplasm is to be regarded as a substance not only of chemical but also of high mechanical complexity. The idea of this material as a simple h.o.m.ogeneous compound or as a mixture of such compounds is absolutely fallacious.

Protoplasm is to-day known to be made up of parts harmoniously adapted to each other in such a way as to form an extraordinarily intricate machine; and the microscopist of to-day recognizes clearly that the activities of this material must be regarded as the result of the machinery which makes up protoplasm rather than as the simple result of its chemical composition. Protoplasm is a machine and not a chemical compound.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 23.--A cell as it appears to the modern microscope.

_a_, protoplasmic reticulum; _b_, liquid in its meshes; _c_, nuclear membrane; _d_, nuclear reticulum; _e_, chromatin reticulum; _f_, nucleolus; _g_, centrosome; _h_, centrosphere; _i_, vacuole; _j_, inert bodies.]

==Structure of Protoplasm==.--The structure of protoplasm is not yet thoroughly understood by scientists, but a few general facts are known beyond question. It is thought, in the first place, that it consists of two quite different substances. There is a somewhat solid material permeating it, usually, regarded as having a reticulate structure. It is variously described, sometimes as a reticulate network, sometimes as a ma.s.s of threads or fibres, and sometimes as a ma.s.s of foam (Fig. 23, _a_). It is extremely delicate and only visible under special conditions and with the best of microscopes. Only under peculiar conditions can it be seen in protoplasm while alive. There is no question, however, that all protoplasm is permeated when alive by a minute delicate ma.s.s of material, which may take the form of threads or fibres or may a.s.sume other forms. Within the meshes of this thread or reticulum there is found a liquid, perfectly clear and transparent, to whose presence the liquid character of the protoplasm is due (Fig. 23, _b_). In this liquid no structure can be determined, and, so far as we know, it is h.o.m.ogeneous. Still further study discloses other complexities. It appears that the fibrous material is always marked by the presence of excessively minute bodies, which have been called by various names, but which we will speak of as _microsomes_. Sometimes, indeed, the fibres themselves appear almost like strings of beads, so that they have been described as made up of rows of minute elements. It is immaterial for our purpose, however, whether the fibres are to be regarded as made up of microsomes or not. This much is sure, that these microsomes --granules of excessive minuteness--occur in protoplasm and are closely connected with the fibres (Fig. 23, _a_).

==The Nucleus.==--(a) _Presence of a Nucleus_.--If protoplasm has thus become a new substance in our minds as the result of the discoveries of the last twenty years, far more marvelous have been the discoveries made in connection with that body which has been called the nucleus.

Even by the early microscopists the nucleus was recognized, and during the first few years of the cell doctrine it was frequently looked upon as the most active part of the cell and as especially connected with its reproduction. The doctrine of protoplasm, however, so captivated the minds of biologists that for quite a number of years the nucleus was ignored, at least in all discussions connected with the nature of life.

It was a body in the cell whose presence was unexplained and which did not fall into accord with the general view of protoplasm as the physical basis of life. For a while, therefore, biologists gave little attention to it, and were accustomed to speak of it simply as a bit of protoplasm a little more dense than the rest. The cell was a bit of protoplasm with a small piece of more dense protoplasm in its centre appearing a little different from the rest and perhaps the most active part of the cell.

As a result of this excessive belief in the efficiency of protoplasm the question of the presence of a nucleus in the cell was for a while looked upon as one of comparatively little importance. Many cells were found to have nucleii while others did not show their presence, and microscopists therefore believed that the presence of a nucleus was not necessary to const.i.tute a cell. A German naturalist recognized among lower animals one group whose distinctive characteristic was that they were made of cells without nucleii, giving the name _Monera_ to the group. As the method of studying cells improved microscopists learned better methods of discerning the presence of the nucleus, and as it was done little by little they began to find the presence of nucleii in cells in which they had hitherto not been seen. As microscopists now studied one after another of these animals and plants whose cells had been said to contain no nucleus, they began to find nucleii in them, until the conclusion was finally reached that a nucleus is a fundamental part of all active cells. Old cells which have lost their activity may not show nucleii, but, so far as we know, all active cells possess these structures, and apparently no cell can carry on its activity without them. Some cells have several nucleii, and others have the nuclear matter scattered through the whole cell instead of being aggregated into a ma.s.s; but nuclear matter the cell must have to carry on its life.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 24.--A cell cut into three pieces, each containing a bit of the nucleus. Each continues its life indefinitely, soon acquiring the form of the original as at _C_.]

Later the experiment was made of depriving cells of their nucleii, and it still further emphasized the importance of the nucleus. Among unicellular animals are some which are large enough for direct manipulation, and it is found that if these cells are cut into pieces the different pieces will behave very differently in accordance with whether or not they have within them a piece of the nucleus. All the pieces are capable of carrying on their life activities for a while. The pieces of the cell which contain the nucleus of the original cell, or even a part of it, are capable of carrying on all its life activities perfectly well. In Fig. 24 is shown such a cell cut into three pieces, each of which contains a piece of the nucleus. Each carries on its life activities, feeds, grows and multiplies perfectly well, the life processes seeming to continue as if nothing had happened. Quite different is it with fragments which contain none of the nucleus (Fig.

25). These fragments (1 and 3), even though they may be comparatively large ma.s.ses of protoplasm, are incapable of carrying on the functions of their life continuously. For a while they continue to move around and apparently act like the other fragments, but after a little their life ceases. They are incapable of a.s.similating food and incapable of reproduction, and hence their life cannot continue very long. Facts like these demonstrate conclusively the vital importance of the nucleus in cell activity, and show us that the cell, with its power of continued life, must be regarded as a combination of protoplasm with its nucleus, and cannot exist without it. It is not protoplasm, but cell substance, plus cell nucleus, which forms the simplest basis of life.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 25.--A cell cut into three pieces, only one of which, No. 2, contains any nucleus. This fragment soon acquires the original form and continues its life indefinitely, as shown at _B_. The other two pieces though living for a time, die without reproducing.]

As more careful study of protoplasm was made it soon became evident that there is a very decided difference between the nucleus and the protoplasm. The old statement that the nucleus is simply a bit of dense protoplasm is not true. In its chemical and physical composition as well as in its activities the nucleus shows itself to be entirely different from the protoplasm. It contains certain definite bodies not found in the cell substance, and it goes through a series of activities which are entirely unrepresented in the surrounding protoplasm. It is something entirely distinct, and its relations to the life of the cell are unique and marvelous. These various facts led to a period in the discussion of biological topics which may not inappropriately be called the Reign of the Nucleus. Let us, therefore, see what this structure is which has demanded so much attention in the last twenty years.

(b) _Structure of the Nucleus_.--At first the nucleus appears to be very much like the cell substance. Like the latter, it is made of fibres, which form a reticulum (Fig. 23), and these fibres, like those of protoplasm, have microsomes in intimate relation with them and hold a clear liquid in their meshes. The meshes of the network are usually rather closer than in the outer cell substance, but their general character appears to be the same. But a more close study of the nucleus discloses vast differences. In the first place, the nucleus is usually separated from the cell substance by a membrane (Fig. 23, _c_). This membrane is almost always present, but it may disappear, and usually does disappear, when the nucleus begins to divide. Within the nucleus we find commonly one or two smaller bodies, the nucleoli (Fig. 23, _f_).

They appear to be distinct vital parts of the nucleus, and thus different from certain other solid bodies which are simply excreted material, and hence lifeless. Further, we find that the reticulum within the nucleus is made up of two very different parts. One portion is apparently identical with the reticulum of the cell substance (Fig. 23, _d_). This forms an extremely delicate network, whose fibres have chemical relations similar to those of the cell substance. Indeed, sometimes, the fibres of the nucleus may be seen to pa.s.s directly into those of the network of the cell substance, and hence they are in all probability identical. This material is called _linin_, by which name we shall hereafter refer to it. There is, however, in the nucleus another material which forms either threads, or a network, or a ma.s.s of granules, which is very different from the linin, and has entirely different properties. This network has the power of absorbing certain kinds of stains very actively, and is consequently deeply stained when treated as the microscopist commonly prepares his specimens. For this reason it has been named _chromatin_ (Fig, 23, _e_), although in more recent times other names have been given to it. Of all parts of the cell this chromatin is the most remarkable. It appears in great variety in different cells, but it always has remarkable physiological properties, as will be noticed presently. All things considered, this chromatin is probably the most remarkable body connected with organic life.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 26.--Different forms of nucleii.]

The nucleii of different animals and plants all show essentially the characteristics just described. They all contain a liquid, a linin network, and a chromatin thread or network, but they differ most remarkably in details, so that the variety among the nucleii is almost endless (Fig. 26). They differ first in their size relative to the size of the cell; sometimes--especially in young cells--the nucleus being very large, while in other cases the nucleus is very small and the protoplasmic contents of the cell very large; finally, in cells which have lost their activity the nucleus may almost or entirely disappear.

They differ, secondly, in shape. The typical form appears to be spherical or nearly so; but from this typical form they may vary, becoming irregular or elongated. They are sometimes drawn out into long ma.s.ses looking like a string of beads (Fig. 24), or, again, resembling minute coiled worms (Fig. 21), while in still other cells they may be branching like the twigs of a tree. The form and shape of the chromatin thread differs widely. Sometimes this appears to be mere reticulum (Fig.

23); at others, a short thread which is somewhat twisted or coiled (Fig.

26); while in other cells the chromatin thread is an extremely long, very much twisted convolute thread so complexly woven into a tangle as to give the appearance of a minute network. The nucleii differ also in the number of nucleoli they contain as well as in other less important particulars. Fig. 26 will give a little notion of the variety to be found among different nucleii; but although they thus do vary most remarkably in shape in the essential parts of their structure they are alike.