28 life's beginning on the earth 



article in lay literature, which publicized Pfeiffer's method 

 (see "Coronet," of June, 1937, "Finger Printing Disease") 



The blood picture obtained in a cancer patient is shown in 

 figures 11 and 12. These pictures can only be interpreted 

 by an expert. 



This book is frankly not concerned with the unsolved 

 problem of the application of Pfeiffer's method to medicine. 

 It is to be emphasized here that the mysterious forces of 

 development in plant life and even animal and human life, 

 both in health and disease do exert a demonstrable influence 

 upon the delicate forces of crystallization. It might be 

 added that Pfeiffer had been induced to start this line of re- 

 search by observing the "frost-flowers" forming at the 

 windows of shops during cold weather; at a butcher shop he 

 saw grossly irregular pictures, while at a flower shop deli- 

 cately developed patterns of great beauty appeared. These 

 alterations are due to diminutive amounts of plant or 

 animal extract picked up by the air and desposited at the 

 ice-cold window with the moisture. 



3. NETWORK AND STRIPE FORMATION IN GELATIN 



Our journey of exploration now takes us to another terri- 

 tory of scientific investigation. Unsatisfied with the knowl- 

 edge acquired so far, we want to know why a crystallizing 

 salt produces those life-like forms after the addition of slimy 

 or organic material. 



Take the crystallization of table salt after the addition of 

 gelatin (Fig. .5). That leaf-like picture obviously comes 

 about through the fact that the salt while crystallizing 

 breaks up into a large number of small crystals. These 

 small crystals then arrange themselves in such a manner 

 that their aggregate resembles a leaf. The question is by 

 what mechanism this action comes about. Is there any 



