The philosophy of evolution : (an Actonian prize essay) / by B. Thompson Lowne.

  • Lowne, B. Thompson (Benjamin Thompson), 1839-1925.
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The philosophy of evolution : (an Actonian prize essay) / by B. Thompson Lowne. 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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    It is by no means, however, to be concluded on this account that living matter will never be artificially produced; for it will be seen in the sequel that the development of organisms and structure is probably a far more complex phenomenon than the production of mere structureless material capable of undergoing organization. Indeed we may confidently anticipate that such material will eventually be formed, just as sugar, alcohol, vale- rianic acid, and a multitude of similar organic bodies have been formed by the chemist, which were formerly believed never to originate except by the action of vitality. Such structureless organic matter is called Protoplasm. It may fairly be looked upon as the basis from which all living creatures have arisen. Each individual is at first a mere speck of proto- plasm ; and the simplest forms of life retain that form throughout their whole term of existence. The most complex animal or plant consists of a mere aggregation of such minute particles vari- ously bound together: of these some retain their primitive structureless condition, as “ wander- cells ” and white blood-corpuscles; and others undergo changes which alter their appearance, so that they are only recognized when their develop- ment has been carefully studied. Protoplasm is a viscid structureless colloid, per-