SALT AND WATER IN LIFE AND GROWTH 



149 



container the tubes grow up straight. (After G. Quincke's 

 publications in Annalen der Physik, 1902.) 



Thus we find that the forces of nature act in the living as 

 in the non-living world. In life we are often unable to 

 recognize their character. But this is hardly a reason for 

 assuming that there are vital forces different in kind from 

 those of the inanimate world. 



+ 



Fig. 59. Bending of a Jellyfish towards Negative Pole if an 

 Electrical Current Is Passed through the Solution 



The resemblance of this bending to the one shown in Figure 58 is obvious. 



The same point is demonstrated by the tendency of cer- 

 tain plants and some of the lower animals to bend if an 

 electrical current is passed through them, along the lines 

 of the current. The same is equally true of artificial struc- 

 tures when an electric current passes through them. (Figs. 

 58 and 59.) It is reasonable to believe that similar physical 

 phenomena are active causes in both cases. 



The artificial structures described so far are all grown in 

 water or in watery solutions and resemble water plants in 



