On Spontaneous Generation. 621 



Art. IX. — On Spontaneous Generation. By W. Weissenborn, 



; Ph. D. 



I hope I may be allowed to return once more to the subject 

 of spontaneous generation, in consequence of the objections 

 which Mr. Edward Blyth has raised (see the September No. 

 Mag. Nat. Hist.), p. 507). against the views expressed by me 

 in the July No. of this Journal. 



Mr. Blyth first mentions a case where seeds of Chrysan 

 themum segetum, capable of germinating, were found in clay 

 under a stratum of peat earth fourteen feet thick. Without 

 taking into account that the yellow ox-eye or corn-marigold 

 is one of the hardiest and most common weeds, the seeds of 

 which might possibly have been flooded into the clay during 

 the tedious operations of draining and paring such a layer of 

 peat, and of trenching the clay, (particularly as it is stated, 

 that a great part of the peat-bog in question had been flooded 

 away by raising water from the river Teith, and discharging 

 it into the Forth, the under soil of clay being then cultivated) 

 such an exceptional case would only tend to confirm the ge- 

 neral rule, that healthy seeds of plants are not promiscuously 

 found, either in the deeper or more superficial strata of the 

 earth. Two years ago I had an opportunity of inspecting the 

 various samples of materials, as they were successively brought 

 to the surface out of an Artesian well sunk in this neighbour- 

 hood to the depth of 560 feet ; but I discovered in them no 

 traces of seeds. The two deep sandy strata lately discovered 

 in Hanover, (on which I reported in a former No. of this Ma- 

 gazine), samples of which, taken from different depths, were 

 subjected to the most accurate microscopic investigation, 

 both at Gottingen and in Berlin, consisted of the testa of ani- 

 malcules, with an occasional admixture of fir-pollen ; which 

 proves that the surface of the earth was covered with vegeta- 

 tion during the formation of some parts of these banks, yet no 

 trace of any seed was found in them. This is what we might 

 have anticipated, by considering what may become of the 

 seeds of plants, as they are successively scattered from their 

 parents. Those that remain near the surface must either ger- 

 minate or be decomposed ; such as are washed underground 

 must either be petrified or preserved (as by the tannin of peat 

 water), or be decomposed by slow chemical agency, unless in 

 some instances they become imbedded in media of a neutral 

 nature, which would dry quickly, where they might remain, 

 as if in good cellars or dry vaults, for an indefinite period, 



3p2 



