234 | Proceedings of Scientific Societies. | Feb., 1883, 
of the opening into new prolongations. One of these mineral 
organisms, when placed on a fresh fragment, shot some new pro- 
longations, as if real grafting had taken place. i 
Organisms of sulphate of copper, sulphate of zinc, alum, phos- 
phate of iron, etc., were similarly obtained, each possessing a form’ 
peculiar to itself and distinct from the others. Analogous forms 
grew in saccharated lime-water. Cellular bodies of the same 
minerals formed in solutions of alkaline carbonates. 
These experiments relate to the almost unknown department of 
chemistry which treats of colloids, and as crystalline solutions 
grow into symmetrical crystals, so a colloid substance in process 
of formation assumes a typical form, and must be the start of all 
forms in animals and plants. These so-called mineral organisms,” 
viewed with the naked eye, under the microscope, or chemically _ 
tested, come as near to the.lower animals and plants, as these are 
from one another, and form a new field of investigation for the 
biologist. We can no longer say that only living things grow, 
unless we reckon these as living. 3 
Among the conclusions of Dr. Valin’s paper were these: “That 
the vitality or growth of these mineral organisms consists in the 
passage of a crystal into a colloid, and is thus correlated, but not 
identical, with the kinetic process known as crystallization. That : 
the molecule of the bodies consists of many elements, and Wt 
acid and alkaline polarities are always concerned in their growth, 
for only acid minerals in alkaline solutions gave rise to them 
That we have a right to suppose that living protoplasm is nothing 
but a highly complex mineral organism in favorable media (water 
and air).” l 
This would tend to confirm the growing belief among yee 
plasm, when they pass from the crystalline or soluble i 
colloid state in the proper media. : Ke 
In the brief discussion which followed, Dr. Clevenger asks ae 
writer whether he believed that the growth of these minea 
might not be dependent on the action of some micro-organist 
Dr. Valin answered that some micrococci had been seen ee he 
solutions used, and that a large fungus at one time covered tf 
surface of the water in one flask with its mycelium, visible to thë 
naked eye. But as the minerals referred to grow instantaneo i 
in any kind of water, and as this water remains transparent px 
cluded the possibility of any bacterial action. i 
