CHAPTER II 



THE SPECIFIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIVING AND DEAD 



MATTER AND THE QUESTION OF THE ORIGIN 



OF LIFE 



I. Each organism is characterized by a definite 

 form and we shall see in the next chapter that this form 

 is determined by definite chemical substances. The 

 same is true for crystals, where substance and form are 

 definitely connected and there are further analogies 

 between organisms and crystals. Crystals can grow 

 in a proper solution, and can regenerate their form in 

 such a solution when broken or injured; it is even 

 possible to prevent or retard the formation of crystals 

 in a supersaturated solution by preventing ''germs'* 

 in the air from getting into the solution, an observation 

 which was later utiHzed by Schroeder and Pasteur in 

 their experiments on spontaneous generation. How- 

 ever, the analogies between a living organism and a 

 crystal are merely superficial and it is by pointing out 

 the fundamental differences between the behaviour of 

 crystals and that of living organisms that we can best 



14 



