286 ON SPONTANEOUS GENERATION. 



lions of matter vary, in which case the organisms produced 

 must vary, which would, consequently, be new typical forais ; 

 or lastly, we must conclude that there must be combinations 

 of matter, not susceptible of its influence, which would de- 

 stroy the doctrines of the inherent qualities of matter. 



A serious objection against the admission of the doctrine 

 of spontaneous generation, whether as explained by Dr. 

 Weissenborn,orbyBurmeister,inhis 'Manual of Entomology' 

 (who only allows spontaneous generation to act upon the 

 secretions rejected by the vital principle of an organism), 

 is the individuality of the organisms produced by its opera- 

 tions. What power is there to regulate its actions upon the 

 matter exposed to it ? When a dynamic power of any kind 

 acts upon matter, it acts upon the whole mass exposed, and 

 not upon the most minute portions of it alone ; therefore this 

 presumed dynamic power, when in action, must animate the 

 whole mass of matter exposed, whether great or small. If 

 the mass in question is more than enough to furnish one 

 germ or organism, what power regulates it, that it shall only 

 create them of the size wanted, and that it shall not create a 

 larger one ? Is it capable of dividing the matter, of knowing 

 how much is required for each organism ? There must be 

 some superintending power in attendance upon it, to prevent 

 the confusion that must necessarily operate in producing 

 genus of the same species of every conceivable size, from 

 the most minute to the largest, according to the size of the 

 varied collection of matter subjected to its influence ; or are 

 we to believe that matter always assembles of itself in one 

 determinate quantity according as it is required by this un- 

 known power ? If, by its power, it creates such quantities 

 of Pediculi, that a sick person's head is " cover ed^^ with 

 them ''at once^'' with adults, not with germs ; if there was 

 such a quantity of disposable matter at hand, it must have 

 been distributed in quantities of various sizes. I should 

 very much like to be informed, how, in such a case, the mat- 

 ter was regulated, so that there should be no overplus in one 

 place nor any deficiency in another, if the cuiTents of the pow- 

 er were all in a state of equal tension or density, so as to give 

 an equal proportion of vital power to every atom of the mat- 

 ter exposed ; and if so, what power divides the living mat- 

 ter into the proper quantities for each insect ? Might we 

 not rather suppose that it would create one organism of each 

 separate quantity of matter ? That would be most in ac- 

 cordance with every observed action of every known dynamic 

 power. 



( To he continued.) 



