476 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



less the work-rooms above are made the most important feature of the 

 whole. These vast collections will spread the elements of natural 

 science among the people of New York, and the surrounding region ; 

 but the quiet workers in the attic, who pursue science for its own 

 sake, will bring the Museum renown throughout the world. 



There is yet a more important reason for making this institution 

 a centre for original research. The science of to-day stands face to 

 face with great problems. The antiquity of man, the origin of the 

 human race, and even the origin of life itself, are among the ques- 

 tions which the present age submits to science, and to which it de- 

 mands an answer. If these problems are to be solved by science, 

 America must do her full share of the work, for the materials are 

 here. In all that pertains to ancient life, the Western Continent 

 possesses countless treasures, unknown in other lands. These, as I 

 believe, are to unlock many mysteries in biology, and render impor- 

 tant aid toward the solution of the profounder questions I have 

 named. American science can thus repay its debt to the Old World, 

 where science began, and gathering new facts, from broader and 

 richer fields within her own borders, carry forward, with the vigor 

 and enthusiasm of youth, the never-ending search for truth. 



If the American Museum of Natural History, opened to-day under 

 such favorable auspices, does not take a prominent part in this great 

 work, it will not do justice to its founders, or to its opportunities. 

 But with such a foundation as we have here, and such resources as 

 wait to unfold their secrets within walls yet to be reared on this com- 

 manding site, I venture to predict for natural science in America 

 greater triumphs than have hitherto been won in any land. 



SPONTANEOUS GENEEATION. 



By Prof. JOHN TYNDALL, F. R. S. 



WITHIN ten minutes' walk of a little cottage which I have re- 

 cently built in the Alps, there is a small lake, fed by the melted 

 snows of the upper mountains. During the early weeks of summer 

 no trace of life is to be discerned in this water ; but invariably tow- 

 ard the end of July, or the beginning of August, swarms of tailed 

 organisms are seen enjoying the sun's warmth along the shallow mar- 

 gins of the lake, and rushing with audible patter into the deeper water 

 at the approach of danger. The origin of this periodic crowd of liv- 

 ing things is by no means obvious. For years I had never noticed in 

 the lake either an adult frog, or the smallest fragment of frog spawn ; 



