If, however, a crystal or other heterogeneous structure is present, it forms a centre of cohesion which will attach any molecules that are brought by diffusion into its sphere of attraction. We have succeeded in photographing the arrangement of the molecules of a liquid around a crystal in the act of formation (Fig. 26). For this purpose we add to the solution traces of some colloidal substance, such as gelatine or gum, so as to delay the crystallization. It may thus be shown that the molecules of the surrounding liquid are already arranged in crystalline order for some distance from the crystal, forming a sort of field of crystallization. The arrangement of this regular field varies in different cases, and is more or less complicated according to circumstances. One of the most frequent forms is that shown in Fig. 27, which is the field around a crystal of sodium chloride. In the centre
of the crystal is a square with well-marked outline. At each corner of this square there is a straight line at right angles to the diagonal, which will form the sides of the crystal in process of formation. From the middle of each side arise yet other perpendiculars, which in their turn bear other cross lines, each new line being set at right angles to its predecessor. A later stage of crystallization is shown in Fig. 27, where the two squares one inside the other at an angle of 45° are clearly indicated.
Every crystallizable substance gives a different characteristic field of crystallization. In 1903, at the Congress of Angers, I terminated my address by these words: "The field of crystallization may serve to determine the character of a substance in solution." I have subsequently received from Carbonell y Solès of Barcelona an interesting work on this subject, which he contributed to the International Congress of Medicine at Madrid in 1903, entitled Applicacion de la crystalogenia experimental à la investigacion toxicologica de cas alcaloïdes.
Six years ago I received from Australia an exceedingly beautiful photograph of a thin pellicle found in a rain gauge. My correspondent supposed that this strange figure might have been produced under the influence of an electric or magnetic field. I was able to assure him by return of post that the figure was the result of the crystallization of copper sulphate in a colloidal medium. In return I received a letter verifying this fact, and saying that there were copper works in the neighbourhood, and the air was filled with the dust of copper sulphate.
Living beings are but solutions of colloids and crystalloids, and their tissues are built up by the aggregation of these solutes. We have already seen how the forces of crystallization are modified in colloid solutions. This force of crystallization must play an important rôle in the metamorphoses of the living organism, and influence their morphology. It may therefore be of interest to investigate some of the numberless forms of crystallization in colloidal solutions.
