Note 16 — Chapter III · ORGANISM, ORGANIZATION, AND ORGANIC SUBSTANCE.

In the cell-theory established by Schleiden and Schwann, in 1838, and which has formed the basis of modern histology, the cell-wall was endowed with an importance which can no longer be upheld now that the existence of independent organisms, and of cells, without a trace of enveloping membrane has been abundantly observed. Cells without walls were first described by Coste in the Comptes Rendus, 1845, p. 1372. They were also described by Charles Robin in 1855, Dict. de la Médicine, art. Cellule. But little notice was taken until Max Schultze, in his famous essay, Ueber Muskelkörperchen und was man eine Zelle zu nennen habe, which appeared in Reichert und Du Bois Reymond’s Archiv, 1861,—Bruecke, in his memoir, Die Elementarorganismen, 1861,—and Lionel Beale, in his Structure of the Simple Tissues, 1861,—all about the same time began the reform in the cell-theory which has effected a decisive change in the classical teaching. Leydig claims, and with justice, to have furnished important data in this direction (Vom Bau des thierischen Körpers, 1864, I. p. 11). The student interested in this discussion should consult Max Schultze, Das Protoplasma der Rhizopoden und der Pflanzenzellen, 1863; Haeckel, Die Radiolarien, 1862; the controversial papers by Reichert, in his Archiv (beginning with the Report of 1863), and Max Schultze, in his Archiv für mikros. Anat., with Henle’s judgment in his Jahresberichte, and Külliker’s summing-up in the last edition of his Gewebelehre. For a full yet brief history of the cell-theory see Drysdale, The Protoplasmic Theory of Life, 1874, pp. 96–106.