EXPERIMENTS WITH RADIUM loi 



that the consistency with which they appear and 

 their form at each stage of development are not the 

 least striking features of their many characteristics. 

 At first their appearance is that of diplococci ; 

 yet it will be observed that they are not all of 

 the same size, but vary considerably through a 

 wide range from mere specks as seen in ^^^-inc^ 

 oil immersion power. There is an indication of 

 growth and of their having originated from ultra- 

 microscopic particles, but they do not grow beyond a 

 certain size. 



At first they looked like calculi of carbonate of 

 lime precipitated from viscid solutions of gum, 

 albumen or even glycerine, but these are so 

 very much larger and visible with much lower 

 powers. The latter are insoluble, whilst the former 

 are soluble in warm water ; so that the two cannot 

 be identified. They might have been soluble 

 phosphates, but the considerations which follow 

 indicate that they are highly complicated structures 

 and more like organisms. 



The polariscope does not give the figures and 

 changes of colour which are the characteristic 

 features of a crystal. There is, however, a left- 

 handed rotation imparted to the gelatin, and one 

 which can easily be detected when the culture has 

 penetrated some distance into the interior, the 

 rotation amounting to several degrees in a centi- 

 metre thickness. Thus they appear to be more 

 of the nature of colloidal bodies, but, like bacteria, 

 with an asymmetric structure. 



The very minute quantity which could be experi- 



