Spirazines 33 



or into the keto-f orm shown in Figs, le and If. It 

 would probably not be possible for acid or basic 

 radicals to attach themselves to the sides of the 

 spirazines and become neutralized while the con- 

 figuration shown in Figs, la and lb exists, but 

 such neutralization should be possible as soon as 

 the structure changes over to the configurations 

 shown in Figs, lc, Id, le, or If. The relation of 

 these tautomeric changes to the chemical and 

 physical behavior of protoplasmic materials of- 

 fers a promising field for further speculation, but 

 cannot be taken up in detail in the present brief 

 discussion of this subject. 



Life probably commenced with the spontaneous 

 formation of di- and tri-peptides from inorganic 

 substances. The process may have commenced 

 with the spontaneous formation, at high tempera- 

 tures, of small quantities of acetylene CH = CH. 

 Unsaturated compounds of this sort will readily 

 form addition products and may have produced 

 glycine or other amino acids. For example, the 

 acetylene may have combined with water in the 

 presence of dilute sulphuric acid to form acetalde- 

 hyde CH 3 • CHO, and the acetaldehyde may have 

 polymerized into aldol CH 3 ■ CHOH • CH 2 CHO 

 which will also occur spontaneously at ordi- 

 nary temperatures in the presence of dilute 



