102 A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH 



Apart from work directly bearing on the problem of the 

 origin of life, general biochemical studies have had tremen- 

 dous importance in its clarification. This is particularly true 

 of comparative studies of the metabolism of organisms at 

 different stages of evolution. 



On the basis of the successive stages in the evolution of 

 metabolism we can put forward certain hypotheses concern- 

 ing the forms of organisation which preceded the appearance 

 of the first living things. An anatomist who studies and 

 compares the structure and organs of different animals can 

 draw a picture of their evolutionary development. Similarly, 

 a biochemist who studies the processes underlying various 

 vital phenomena can draw a picture of the successive stages 

 in the evolution of matter which led up to the emergence 

 of living beings. 



In the rest of this book I try to give a picture of this evolu- 

 tion as it appears in the light of the scientific evidence now 

 available. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY TO CHAPTER III 



1. T. H. Huxley. Rep. Brit. Ass.^ iSyo, Ixxxiii. 



K. V. Thimann. The life of bacteria. New York, 1955. 



2. J. Tyndall. Rep. Brit. Ass., iSy^, Ixvi. 



3. J.-B.-P. Ant. de Monnet Lamarck. Philosophie zoologique. 



Paris, 1809. 



4. J. O. DE LA Mettrie. Ocuvres philosophiques. Berlin, 1796. 

 D. Diderot. Pensees sur V interpretation de la nature. Lon- 

 don, 1754. 



5. J.-B.-P. Ant. de Monnet Lamarck. Systeme analytique des 



connaissances positives de I'homme restreintes a celles 

 qui proviennent de ['observation. Paris. 1820. Cf. 

 A. Studitskii. Uspekhi sovremennoi Biol., ^g, 3 



(1955)- 



6. (L 47)- 



7. F. Darwin. Lije and letters of Charles Dariuin. Vol. 3, p. 168. 



London, 1887. 



8. C. Darwin. On the origin of species by means of natural 



selection. London, 1859. 



9. E. Haeckel. Generale Morphologic der Organismen. Berlin, 



1866. 

 10. (L 60). 



