The Herter lectures (New York, 1908) on the fluids of the body.

  • Starling, Ernest Henry, 1866-1927.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Herter lectures (New York, 1908) on the fluids of the body. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

    20/204 (page 6)
    the main substance of the cell itself, reveals signs of differentia- tion and betrays a reticular, or honeycomb, structure. How far such a structure is an artefact and depends on the action of reagents on a homogeneous material is still a matter of discussion. When a cell, such as the ovum, accumulates food supi^lies, its natural tendency is to deposit these materials in alveoli within the protoplasm, so that the whole structure acquires an alveolar arrangement which is visible in the fresh living protoplasm. Although the margin of a cell is structurally defined, and although in many cases a cell presents a form and shape which is characteristic, it is impossible to regard the protoplasm of which it is composed as a solid. The existence of active streaming movements, which may occur in opposite directions within the limits of a thin strand of protoplasm, e.ff., in Chara, shows that the substance, out of which the cell is built, is fluid—fluid of varying degrees of viscosity in different cells, or in different parts of one and the same cell. The fact that a cell may have a distinct shape and a resist- ance to deformation may be due to the surface tension existing between the cell and its surroundings, or between different parts of the cell. A globule of mercury, though perfectly fluid, presents resistance to deformation and recovers its shape with a certain degree of energy after any deforming force has been applied. By multiplying surfaces within a fluid it is possible to rob the whole mass of most of the properties which we regard as characteristic of fluid. Thus by the addition of a little albumen to petroleum and agitation so as to break up the petroleum into droplets, each surrounded by a layer of the albuminous fluid, it is possible to turn this liquid into a material which can be handled with a shovel. Our histological experience would therefore point to proto- plasm being built up of fluid of varying consistencies and qualities which may still possess the property of flowing freely