22 THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 



over and over again repeated, showing that Torulse 

 and Moulds, as well as Bacteria, may be obtained 

 practically at will from hermetically sealed tubes 

 that have been heated to 125, to 130, to 140, 

 and even to 145 C. (293 F.) ; while, as every 

 text-book says, Torulas would invariably be killed 

 by momentary exposure in fluids to a heat of 

 70 C., or even less. 



Yet the organisms taken from these super- 

 heated tubes are not dead organisms, but living 

 Torulas and Bacteria, which must have been born 

 therein, and which soon, under favourable con- 

 ditions, begin rapidly to grow and multiply. 

 Here, then, surely, we have the actual Origin of 

 Life demonstrated as far as such a thing is 

 possible. 



Happily, it can no longer be said, as was form- 

 erly the case, in reference to my early experiments, 

 that the organisms found were dead, and had been 

 there all the time. This was the criticism actually 

 started by Huxley, and subsequently taken up by 

 others, because of his strong disbelief at that time 

 that any Bacteria could survive in boiled infusions, 

 and his equal disbelief that they were capable of 

 originating in such fluids (see Quart. Journ. of 

 Microscop. Science, Oct., 1870, pp. 359, 362). He 



