Bobby Perrino age 11s of Richmond, Virginia, for the question:

What is protoplasm?

Protoplasm is the magic fountain of life6 It fills all living things, both plants and animals. We do not see it because it is locked safely within the cell walls of which all living tissues are made. The protoplasm itself creates the tiny cell walls in which it lives. Each living cell is filled with this magic fluid which carries on the activities of life.

The magic stuff is a clear, watery jelly. Under the microscope living protoplasm shows its restless activity. Threads, bubbles and granules appear in the watery jelly. The threads stretch and contract, knot together and spread apart. The bubbles swell and shrink. The protoplasm is busy carrying on the magic process of life.

Chemically, the fluid is composed of simple elements such as carbon hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. But the way these simple elements are put together is the most closely guarded secret of nature. We cannot assemble ­them to create protoplasm. Only protoplasm itself can create new protoplasm, Every drop of protoplasm was created by former protoplasm. The magic fountain hands on life from generation to generation.

The simple elements within protoplasm combine to form very complex substance. There are always fats, carbohydrates and proteins. There are also salts, gas bubbles and a large proportion of water. Some of the complex protein molecules are composed of over a thousand atoms. What’s more, the magic protoplasm recipe is different for every different plant and animal. No wonder we cannot create natures fountain of life.

Each blob of protoplasm lives in its own little house. Its walls may be tough cellulose, like the cell walls of wood. They may be soft and elastic like the outer covering of the one‑celled amoeba. The living creature may be one‑celled or an organization of billions of cells. Each cell contains a small nucleus which orders and controls the active life processes.

One of the many vital processes involves oxygen. This gas combines with the fats and carbohydrates. This activity is oxidation and, when it happens, energy is released. We get all our energy from this process going on in the protoplasm which fills our body cells. This happens naturally, all by itself.

There is constant give and take between the various compounds in protoplasm. There is constant give and take between the protoplasm of plants and animals. All living things contain nitrogen, a lazy gas which composes most of the air around us.

We cannot take nitrogen from the air for ourselves but plants can absorb it dissolved in water from the soil. Our vital supply of nitrogen comes from the plants and the plant eating animals we eat. In many other ways the protoplasm of one creature or plant interacts with the protoplasm of countless others. The magic fountain of life, it seems, is sharers by all living things.