150 Distinctions between Organisms and Minerals. [March, 
The artificial pseudo-organic elements are enveloped in 
true membranes possess ng a high degree of dialysing 
power, and giving passage merely to liquids. They have 
heterogeneous contents, and produce in their interior granu- 
lations arranged in a determined order. They are, there- 
fore, in form and constitution, absolutely similar to the his- 
tological elements of organic beings. It is probable that 
the inorganic elements contained in protoplasm play a 
certain part in the constitution of the figured organic 
elements.’ 
The close similarity, both of the means employed and of 
the ends reached by these authors, and by M. Fournier, is 
very interesting. Silicate of soda was one of the compounds 
used by M. Fournier, and salts of nickel played a prominent 
part in some of his most striking results. After having thus 
vindicated the claims of my friend I must attempt to show 
some of the bearings of this discovery. 
It must be admitted that the structures produced are 
merely pseudo-organisms. They manifest none of the 
phenomena of life. They do not take in, assimilate, and 
excrete any kind of matter. They do not propagate. Nor 
does it appear that if carefully preserved under constant 
conditions they might not continue to exist for an abso- 
lutely indefinite time. They have, therefore, no vital cycle 
— no periodicity. 
Nevertheless we must note the points in which they seem 
to link the organic and the inorganic worlds together. As 
MM. Monnier and Vogt urge one of the characters by which 
mere lifeless matter was till yesterday differentiated from 
the living organism is wiped out. There are no longer any 
distinctive forms by which we may distinguish the two great 
classes. Here a new thought will suggest itself to every 
reader : these pseudo-organisms have, so far as we know, 
been obtained experimentally only by M. Fournier, and by 
MM. Monnier and Vogt. But is it not very possible that 
such structures might be produced without human intention 
and interference in what we call an accidental manner ? 
Might they not, considering the large proportion of silica 
which they contain, become preserved for ages, and continue 
to display pseudo-organic features ? Suppose we find in a 
rock certain structures exhibiting apparently organic cells, 
are they the remains of true organisms or of pseudo-organ- 
isms ? This consideration — at least till it has been further 
studied — is not without its bearing upon such questions as 
the organic or mineral nature of the structures found in 
meteorites, and, e.g., of Eozoon Canadense. 
