CONTENTS.
Reading edition
PREFACE.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE STORY OF THE LIVING MACHINE.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
PART II.
CHAPTER III.
THE LIBRARY OF USEFUL STORIES.
NEW EDITION OF HUXLEY'S ESSAYS.
BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS.
introduction—Biology a new science—Historical biology—Conservation of energy—Evolution—Cytology—New aspects of biology—The mechanical nature of living organisms—Significance of the new biological problems—Outline of the subject 1
PART I.
THE RUNNING OF THE LIVING MACHINE.
CHAPTER I.
IS THE BODY A MACHINE?
What is a machine?—A general comparison of a body and a machine—Details of the action of the machine—Physical explanation of the chief vital functions—The living body is a machine—The living machine constructive as well as destructive—The vital factor 19
CHAPTER II.
THE CELL AND PROTOPLASM.
Vital properties—The discovery of cells—The cell doctrine—The cell—The cellular structure of organisms—The cell wall—Protoplasm—The reign of protoplasm—The decline of the reign of protoplasm—The structure of protoplasm—The nucleus—Centrosome—Function of the nucleus—Cell division or karyokinesis—Fertilization of the egg—The significance of fertilization—What is protoplasm?—Reaction against the cell doctrine—Fundamental vital activities as located in cells—Summary 54
PART II.
THE BUILDING OF THE LIVING MACHINE.
CHAPTER III.
THE FACTORS CONCERNED IN THE BUILDING OF THE LIVING MACHINE.
History of the living machine—Evidence for this history—Historical—Embryological—Anatomical—Significance of these sources of history—Forces at work in the building of the living machine—Reproduction—Heredity—Variation— Inheritance of variations—Method of machine building—Migration and isolation—Direct influence of environment—Consciousness—Summary of Nature's power of building machines—The origin of the cell machine—General summary 131