THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 383 



destructive influence of a moist temperature of 2i2F. 

 On such evidence as this he attempted to raise the 

 possible limit of vital resistance by i8F, and sought 

 to establish the rule that living organisms might survive 

 in neutral or alkaline solutions, which had been raised 

 to any temperature short of 230 F. He did not seem 

 to appreciate the fact that he had less warrant for the 

 assumption that the organisms met with in these neutral 

 or alkaline fluids had been derived from c germs 3 which 

 had resisted the temperature of 2i2F 5 than he or his 

 opponents would have had in falling back at once upon 

 the counter assumption., that the evolutional tendencies 

 of neutral or alkaline fluids exposed to high temperatures 

 were greater than those of similar fluids when in an 

 acid state 1 ; such neutral or alkaline fluids being, as 

 was now seen, capable of overcoming the restrictive 

 conditions in Schwann's experiments and of giving 



1 This omission on the part of M. Pasteur is all the more remarkable 

 in the face of facts which must have been well known to such an accom- 

 plished chemist. Thus, Gerhardt says (' Chimie Organique,' t. iv. p. 

 547): ' Beaucoup de matieres qui seules ou a 1'etat humide ne 

 s'oxydent pas a 1'air, eprouvent une combustion ds qu'elles se trouvent 

 en contact avec un alcali. Ainsi 1'alcohol pur se conserve a 1'air indefini- 

 ment et sans s'aigrir ; mais, si 1'on y verse un peu de potasse, il absorbe 

 promptement de 1'oxygene et se convertit en vinaigre et en une matiere 

 brune resineuse. II est clair, d'apres cela, que la potasse doit favoriser 

 certaines fermentations, puisqu'elle favorise 1'absorption de 1'oxygene et 

 que la presence de celui-ci developpe les ferments.' He also says (loc. 

 cit. p. 556) : ' On sait, que les viandes et les substances vegetales 

 mariees dans le vinaigre sont preservees de la decomposition, au moins 

 pour un certain temps .... La plupart des acides produisent le meme 

 effet que le vinaigre.' 



