The relation of the vegetable and animal to the inorganic kingdom : a lecture delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain / by William S. Savory.

  • Savory, William Scovell, 1826-1895.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The relation of the vegetable and animal to the inorganic kingdom : a lecture delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain / by William S. Savory. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    entirely, and to be dependent on organic com- pounds. Nay, it further appears that in some cases at least, as in the familiar instance of the yeast plant, not only is organic, but even a nitro- genous, substance essential to their prolonged existence. This fungus, whose cells of course con- tain protoplasm, a nitrogenous compound, will go on multiplying, as is w^ell known, for an indefinite time if placed in a liquid containing saccharine matter, and an albuminous substance at a moderate temperature. But in a solution of pure sugar, in the absence of any nitrogenous matter, the plant will multiply its cells for a short time only, the protoplasm of the old cells being transferred into the new ones as they are successively evolved; but under these latter circumstances the cells gradually become smaller, and at length cease to multiply, a portion of the nitrogenous matter being wasted in the reproduction until it becomes insufficient to carry on the growth. Although, then, the distinction founded upon the nature of their food and their relative power of assimilation is, on the whole, the least exception- able, and certainly the most important in regard to the natural position in which plants stand to animals, yet, as we see, this is by no means abso- lute and universal, and admits only of general application. But it may be said that it is not now by one, but by several characters taken together, that the point