34 THEORIES OF SPONTANEOUS GENERATION 



problem of plasmogenesis. Pointing out that spontaneous 

 generation [generatio aequivoca) was contrary to the findings 

 of contemporary science, Engels ironically remarked that it 

 would be absurd to hope to compel nature with the help 

 of some stinking water to do in 24 hours that for which 

 thousands of years had been required. Thus Engels emphas- 

 ised that it was not sudden spontaneous generation but a 

 prolonged evolution of matter which led up to the emergence 

 of life. 



However, most scientists of that period still took up a 

 mechanistic position and held that sudden spontaneous 

 generation was not only the simplest, but even the only 

 conceivable explanation of the origin of life. In this connec- 

 tion E. HaeckeP" wrote " To deny spontaneous generation 

 means to accept a miracle, the divine creation of life. Either 

 life arises spontaneously on the basis of some particular laws, 

 or else it has been produced by supernatural forces." This 

 kind of conviction explains the zeal with which many of the 

 exponents of mechanistic materialism flew in the face of the 

 facts to demonstrate the possibility of spontaneous genera- 

 tion. They saw no other way out. As an example one may 

 mention the violent but ill-founded attacks made by the 

 talented Russian publicist D. Pisarev" on the work of 

 Pasteur. 



Finally, there was no dearth of experimental effort to show 

 that it was possible for living creatures to come into existence 

 suddenly. However, all these experiments, without excep- 

 tion, were utterly futile. The most serious and interesting 

 were those of Bastian.'^ He showed that micro-organisms 

 developed in boiled infusions of hay even when the flasks 

 containing the infusions were opened on mountain tops or 

 after the air entering them had been brought to a red heat. 

 The investigations of Pasteur were consistent with the factual 

 side of these experiments but Pasteur also showed that spon- 

 taneous generation of microbes had not occurred in this case 

 either. The spores of the hay bacillus, which was the organism 

 which grew, can withstand prolonged boiling and still remain 

 viable. If the hay infusion is heated in an autoclave to 

 120° C or boiled twice it, like other organic liquids, will 

 retain its sterility on the admission of uninfected air. In such 



