OTHER RHYTHMS OF THE ORGANISATION 73 



as the primitive cell had, the cell strictly recon- 

 stituting itself. 



In phase 11, the forks have become united by 

 their extreme points, and thus form one single 

 filament, and with this reconstitution of the nucleal 

 filament the division of the protoplasm is initiated 

 by the circle of the cell. 



In phase 12, the filament goes on reproducing 

 itself in inverse order 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, which is 

 that of repose before recommencing the same 

 phases of mitosis or karyokinesis. This mode of 

 division is most general in plants and animals. 



When we see that these mitotic phenomena 

 succeed each other incessantly in the whole animal 

 and vegetable kingdom, and that this mechanism 

 constitutes a rhythm which repeats itself from the 

 time the first vegetables appear in the world, we 

 can understand that in the organic world, which 

 is infinitely more complex, there exists the same 

 exactitude as in the inorganic world in the curious 

 phenomena of crystallisation. As to precision, one 

 can but wonder at the mitotic phenomena which 

 succeed each other in the organic world, from the 

 infinitely small to the precision of the angles and 

 cubes of the best crystals. 



The cells on dividing do not diminish in volume, 

 but they become equal in size with the substance 

 that comes to their nutrition, like the phenomena 



