EXPERIMENTS NOW RECORDED 99 



different degrees of oxidation that are easily 

 transformable into one another." 



Further, in reference to the initiation of living 

 matter in our experimental solutions, there is also 

 the fact, as stated by Duclaux (pp. 171-173), 

 that under certain conditions silica itself is known 

 to be a " particularly powerful ' ' catalyser. 



Once let the process be started in our experi- 

 mental solutions by suitable catalysers, and then 

 the de novo production of living units in the ex- 

 perimental vessels would be very closely com- 

 parable with the process above referred to (p. 

 97), in which we have to do merely with growth 

 and multiplication taking place under the influ- 

 ence of catalysers contained within the bodies of 

 the inoculating organisms. 



