THREE - The cytoplasm

Abstract

Cytoplasm chemically is composed of proteins, lipoids, carbohydrates, mineral salts, and water. The constituents of the protoplasm of animals and plants are generally similar. Protoplasm behaves and appears to be something in the nature of a colloidal system that is very complex and behaves almost always as if it have been a viscous liquid. The ground substance of the protoplasm is known as hyaloplasm and contains a number of bodies and structures, vacuoles, and so on and also a number of very tiny particles, some of them ranging into the ultramicroscopic level and undergo active Brownian movement. Immediately beneath the cell membrane, the protoplasm of the cell is differentiated to form an ectoplasm that appears to be in a partly gelled condition. This ectoplasm plays an important part in the movements of the cell. A prominent feature of the cytoplasm of cells, particularly pancreatic cells, under the electron microscope, is a basophilic fibrillar structure, which takes back a little into the fibrillar theory of protoplasm; this structure is known either as the endoplasmic reticulum or ergastoplasm.