Abstract: An organic phase which comprises a water-insoluble material to be encapsulated, a capsule-forming or matrix-forming monomer or prepolymer and, should this be desirable, a solvent, is dispersed in droplet form in an aqueous phase. The capsule-forming or matrix-forming monomer or prepolymer forms a sheath around the material to be encapsulated. As a capsule-forming or matrix-forming monomer, an organosilicon compound of the general formula ##STR1## is used, wherein R.sup.1 is a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, n-functional hydrocarbon moiety, which may be interrupted by groups containing oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur; R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 are the same or different and represent a hydrocarbon moiety with 1 to 6 carbon atoms or X; X is a hydroxyl group or a hydrolyzable group and n is a whole number greater than or equal to 1, with the proviso that, when n=1, R.sup.1 has at least 12 carbon atoms and R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 represent X or a prepolymer hereof.