molecule (mol'ek-ul)

The smallest particle into which a substance can be divided without losing its chemical identity. Each molecule is made up of like and unlike atoms. bipolar m. See per i polar, electrical m. Of Du Bois- Reymond, one of the small m's, arranged like systems of magnets with their positive and negative poles in contact, of which he conceived the muscles and nerves as made up. On pa ing a polarizing current through the nerve or muscle, the poles are reversed, organic m. A hypothetical m. not supposed to be cacapable of corruption or regeneration. per i polar m. See per i polar, refringent m's. Minute bodies or corpuscles that po e the property of bending rays of light (e. g., the highly refractive spores of the fi ion fungi and some other cryptogams). [Lat., molecula, dim. of moles, a ma .]