Abstract
THE book before us deals, mainly from the physiologico-philosophical standpoint, with a property of living matter which has excited the interest of biologists, and which, indeed, has been the field, not only of much speculation, but also of much experiment. The fact that certain forms of living matter, whether they are integral parts of a highly-developed and differentiated organism, or whether they consist of more or less apparently undifferentiated protoplasm, either do not respond at all or respond only after varying intervals of time to certain stimuli has long been known, and the condition of the protoplasm in question during this time has long been investigated by biologists. We use the term apparently undifferentiated advisedly, since, as has been often pointed out, it is sometimes a matter of extreme difficulty to know whether, when dealing with the infinitely simple, we are not really dealing with the infinitely complex.
The Functional Inertia of Living Matter. A Contribution to the Physiological Theory of Life.
By Dr. D. F. Harris. Pp. xi + 136. (London: J. and A. Churchill, 1908.) Price 5s. net.
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T., F. The Functional Inertia of Living Matter A Contribution to the Physiological Theory of Life . Nature 79, 96 (1908). https://doi.org/10.1038/079096a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/079096a0