CONTENTS 



Preface ... ... ... ... v 



Translator's Preface ... ... ... vii 



Introduction ... ... ... ix 



Chapter I 



THEORIES OF THE SPONTANEOUS GENERATION 



OF LIFE 



Ancient and mediaeval beliefs .. . ... ... ... i 



Redi's experiments ... ... ... ... ... 17 



Hypotheses concerning the spontaneous generation of 



microbes... ... ... ... ... ... 19 



The work of Pasteur ... ... ... ... ... 28 



Chapter II 

 THE THEORY OF THE ETERNITY OF LIFE 



The theory of the eternity of life among the ancients ... 43 



The emergence of hypotheses concerning the eternity of life 



in the nineteenth century ... ... ... ... 45 



The theory of cosmozoe ... ... ... ... 53 



Arrhenius' theory of panspermia ... ... ... 57 



The state of the problem at the present day ... ... 60 



XV 



737I5 



