88 



THE MECHANISM OF LIFE 



Hospital, which was published as long ago as 1865. This 

 work was recently brought to my notice by the kindness of 

 Professor Baumler of Freiburg. He says : " Crystals are not 

 strangers in the organic world. Many organic compounds are 

 able to assume crystalline forms under certain conditions. 

 Rainey has shown that many shells consist of globular crystals 



Fig. 30. — Form produced by the crystallization of chloride of ammonium 

 in a colloidal solution. 



i.e. of mineral substances math' to crystallize by the itiHuence 

 of viscid material. 11 In this connection I may also mention 

 the interesting work of Otto Lehmann of Karlsruhe on liquid 

 crystals. 



In conclusion, we may recall the words of Schwann himself, 

 the originator of the cell theory: "The formation of the 

 elementary shapes of an organism is but a crystallization of 

 substances capable of imbibition. The organism is but an 

 aggregate of such imbibing crystals." 



