Cosmology Old and New

SR No.: 006547
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: G R Jain
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith
Publication Year: 1991
Total Pages: 232
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Philosophy
File Size: 12 MB

Page 130

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COSMOLOGY OLD AND NEW
the body without leaving the original body altogether).
Science associates life 220 with tiny organisms called cells which are composed of a substance named 'protoplasm'. According to Arthur Dendy, D.Sc., protoplasm "is a mixture of proteids, mineral salts and water, which has remarkable powers of selection, e.g., one organism will select silica while another selects calcium carbonate from the same sample of seawater and for the same purpose.
221
It is evident that 'life' must be associated with protoplasm since non-living combination of matter cannot be thought of as possessing the power of selection referred to above.
"Protoplasm is the name for the viscous fluid which contains the life of every cell. "222
"This tiny cell has powers and complexities that put it in the class of a higher animal. You cannot hope to account for its substance223 until you are able to melt down a whole animal and account for its emotions by rows of O and H and C and some numerals. The ultimate analysis of a cell must be as difficult as the analysis of a robin. When you give a common name, protoplasm, to the substance that you find in all cells you are not saying anything."
224
99225
Dr. John Baker gives us, the following information : "Quite recently a most ingenious apparatus has been inven
220.
"Protoplasm, the fundamental constituent of both plants and animals, contains chemical compounds......chief amongst these are the proteids. It is the presence of these unstable proteids which confers upon protoplasm its peculiar fitness to form which has been so aptly termed by Huxley "as the physical basis of life."
(Vide Outlines of Evolutionary Biology, p. 7)
"Whatever view we may take with regard to the question of vitalism, there can be no doubt that the most distinctive property of living protoplasm is its power of controlling chemical and physical processes so as to make them yield results different from those which would be obtained if we were dealing with not-living matter. The various processes upon which depend the functions of movement, nutrition, respiration and excretion all appear to be controlled in this manner......" (Ibid., p. 23.)
221. Ibid.
222. Exploring The Universe by H. Ward, p. 145.
223. The substance is the life, the soul.
-(The author.)
224. It refers to a chemical formula in terms of oxygen, hydrogen and carbon. 225. Exploring The Universe by H. Ward, p. 146.