207 



5, a preferential deposition of a little of the d 

 lt w,i^ -> \-ral tinio observed, probably under the influ IP 

 tii.illv active nuclei in the laboratory-dust. 

 \ vstematic study of some of these phenomena was made by 

 >stroniissl( nsky 1 ), but especially in cases where the racemx 

 >mpound is not the stable one in comparison with the mixture of the 

 >mponents. He observed, that an inactive solution of right- and left- 

 mded sodium-ammonium-tartrates, if supersaturated, and inoculated 

 6 C. by a nucleus of laevoga.toryasparagine, will deposit exrhiMvely 

 ic dextrogyr&tory tartrate. Because Gernez had already demon- 

 rated that a supersaturated solution of the dextrogyraiory tartrate 

 is not started to crystallisation by inoculation with a crystal of the 

 left salt, Ostromisslensky concludes from this experiment that 

 the laevogyratory asparagine is structurally more closely related 

 to the righthanded sodium-ammonium-tartrate, than even the lefthan- 



tartrate itself. 



In the same way a preferential crystallisation of the dextrogyratory 

 )mponent was observed, if in this case as a nucleus of crystallisation 

 small quantities of potassium-tartrate , sodium-tartrate, and ammonium- 

 lalate were used ; the direction of the rotary power of the salt deposited, 

 )peared in all cases to be the same as that of the introduced nucleus. 

 Lven the monoclinic ammonium-tartrate , which however, according 

 Pasteur 2 ), may occasionally occur in a rhombic form also, - 

 id the same effect; therefore it seems reasonable to suppose that 

 Amorphous substances also can produce the same effect. Most 

 imarkable is the fact that substances which have no rotatory power 

 all, may also be used as crystallisation-nuclei, and with the best 

 suits, if only the inoculated crystal show a "non-superposable" 

 lemihedrism. 



Thus from an inactive solution of asparagine, by the introduction 

 >f a crystal of glycocoll: CH^NHJCOOH, the one component 

 is deposited principally, although not in all experiments how- 

 ever. Here again is a wide field open for investigation. It we 

 adopt the view of Ostromisslensky that the crystals of gly~ 

 cocoll are really hemihedral, these experiments seem to prove 

 indisputably, that the enantiomorphous nucleus exercises an rxrlu- 

 sive, directional force, perhaps in the same way as in the experiments 



i) I. Ostromisslensky,- Her. d. d. Clu-m. Ges. 41. 3035. (1908); Journ. 

 russ. phys. chcm. (ies. 42. 102, 606. (1910). 

 -') L. Pasteur. Jahresber. (1854), p. 395. 



