n8 THE MECHANISM OF LIFE 



in determining the form which is assumed by the figured 

 elements of the organism." 



In 1902, Professor Quinke of Heidelberg, who lias conse- 

 crated his life with such distinction to the physics of liquids, 

 writes thus of the organogenic power of liquids in a paper 

 published in the Annalen der Physik under the title 

 "Unsichtbare Fliissigkeitschichten " : "In 1887, Gustav Rose 

 obtained organic forms by precipitation from inorganic 

 solutions. Bv precipitating chloride of calcium with the 

 carbonates of ammonium and other alkaline carbonates, he 

 obtained small spheres which grew and were transformed 

 into calcic rhombohedra. He also obtained a flocculent 

 precipitate which later became granular and showed under 

 the microscope forms like the starfish, and discs with 

 undulated borders. At Freiberg, in certain stalactites, 

 Rose also discovered forms consisting of six pyramidal cells 

 around a spherical nucleus. 



"In 18f59, Link obtained spherical granulations by the 

 precipitation of calcic or plumbic solutions by potash, soda, or 

 carbonic acid. These spherical granulations united after a 

 time to form crystals. Sulphate of iron, ammoniated sulphate 

 of zinc, sulphate of copper precipitated by sulphuretted 

 hydrogen, and saline solutions precipitated by ferrocvanide 

 of potash, all give granular precipitates or discs, of which the 

 granular origin is quite perceptible. 



" Runge in 1855 was the first to describe the formation of 

 periodic chemical precipitates. He used blotting paper as 

 the medium in which various chemical substances met by 

 diffusion. In this way he studied the mutual reactions oi 

 solutions of ferrocvanide of potash, chloride of iron, and 

 the sulphates of copper, iron, manganese, and zinc. The 

 coloured precipitates appeared at different positions in the 

 paper, and disappeared periodically at greater or longer 

 intervals. The designs formed by these coloured precipitates 

 change with the concentration of the saline solutions, or on 

 the addition of oxalic acid, salts of potash or ammonia, and 

 other substances. These designs are shown in a number of 

 beautiful illustrations which accompany the work. In this 



