  Pressure-jump initiated time-resolved x-ray diffraction studies of dynamics
of the hydration of the hexagonal phase in biological membranes show that (i)
the relaxation of the unit cell spacing is non-exponential in time; (ii) the
Bragg peaks shift smoothly to their final positions without significant
broadening or loss in crystalline order. This suggests that the hydration is
not diffusion limited but occurs via a rather homogeneous swelling of the whole
lattice, described by power law kinetics with an exponent $ \beta = 1.3 \pm
0.2$.
