ON ARTIFICIAL CELLS 115 



about 800,000 times. This means, however, only 

 about 900 diameters. 



Amongst the secretion products of bacteria there 

 are some formed by albumins which crystallise, and, 

 according to him, these crystals in their earlier 

 stages present many, if not all, the characteristics of 

 living matter ; whilst he asserts that similar observa- 

 tions with inorganic crystals, minerals, and igneous 

 rocks have led him to a similar conclusion. Whether 

 the bodies when thus manifesting vitality are really 

 crystals is what remains to be decided. From our 

 observations, if the processes are similar, we should 

 be inclined to think that in the initial stages some- 

 thing more than crystalline bodies are observed. - 



Von Schron has given the name petroblasts to these 

 minute bodies which are formed just as crystallisation 

 occurs or is about to occur in a salt solution. These 

 bodies go, as we have said, through something similar 

 to the cyclic process which radiobes undergo, and 

 finally become resolved into what may appropriately 

 be designated as crystals. Whether in the first 

 instance in his experiment, when they are just in 

 the stage of initial formation, they are also crystal- 

 line, is a point upon which there does not appear to 

 be sufficient evidence to decide. And yet it seems a 

 highly important one ; since, if the contention is 

 true, there can be no doubt that crystals are really 

 the final products of disintegration in a process 

 vastly more complicated than that which occurs in 

 the subsequent process of crystallisation. 



The question as to whether the young crystal is, 



I 2 



