SPONTANEOUS GENERATION 201 



The connection whicli Pasteur has emphasised 

 between living and optically active substances is 

 thus one which has a physical signification. The 

 atoms of living substance or biogen are, as we have 

 said, those which have not yet condensed or been 

 transformed into actual elements. Their form should 

 appear, from their astronomical analogy, spiral, or 

 more accurately, corkscrew shape. An atom com- 

 posed of electrons which assume this corkscrew 

 configuration would no doubt rotate the plane of 

 polarisation of light which was transmitted through 

 it ; the reason being that since plane polarised 

 light is made up of two circular vibrations in 

 opposite directions, the efiect of increasing or 

 diminishing the rotation of one relatively to the 

 other is equivalent to rotating the plane of vibra- 

 tion of the total efi"ect (see Preston's Theory of 

 lAght or any other similar work). Therefore, if the 

 atom has a corkscrew structure, let us suppose a 

 right-handed one, the eff'ect will be to retard the 

 right-handed vibrations and let the left-handed ones 

 pass unafi"ected : the effect will be a rotation of the 

 plane of polarisation of the resultant vibration. 



This conception helps to give us a clue as to 

 the dynamical connection between the phenomena 

 of vitality and those of optical activity. 



Japp regards the chance synthesis of the sim- 

 plest optically active compound as absolutely 

 inconceivable. He arrives at the conclusion of 

 the production of single asymmetric compounds or 

 their isolation from the mixture of their enantio- 



