114 WHAT IS LIFE 



3. Pressure: Ordinary atmospheric pressure at sea- 

 level. 



III. WHAT MAY BE IGNORED 



In postulating a condition of a critical concen- 

 tration of ions, the attention obviously is centered 

 on a condition that occupies a definite moment in 

 time. 



The theory is concerned with that moment and 

 the further happenings. What preceded and led 

 up to the critical condition permissibly may be 

 ignored, since ionization is not a hypothetical 

 thing but one of the best-known of facts. 



It is here not necessary, then, to inquire into pre- 

 vious chemical reactions, hydrolysis, electrolytic 

 dissociation, electrolytic solution pressure, etc.; nor 

 into the problem of heat, heat of solution, heat of 

 ionization, etc.; nor into any of the other processes 

 and factors that led to the postulated condition of a 

 critical concentration of ions. 



Whatever part the thermal agitation of molecules 

 (an important factor in connection with Brownian 

 movement) may have had in bringing about the 

 required condition, it is not a direct factor at the 

 critical moment. 



^'Surface phenomena," adsorption, surface tension 

 etc., that play so large a role in colloids, are ex- 

 cluded as factors. 



