282 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. 



limpid liquid employed by M. Pasteur. The very next day the 

 liquid in tliese three glasses already showed indications of numer- 

 ous liaeteria, and its nuiddy a])pearancc contrasted with tlie 

 perfect transparency of that contained in the Uasks. 



The residts of the observations of tiie three series of closed 

 vessels, up to the 20th of July, and ajjain in November, are given 

 by M. Balard, in tiu-ee separate tables, and the final results ai*e 

 summed up as follows : — 



" Of nineteen llasks of the first series, filled with air taken in the 

 amphitlieatre, there are only five in which some organic develop- 

 ments were manifested ; fourteen remained unaltered. 



" The second series of flasks, full of air taken on the dome of 

 the amphitlieatre, presents tiiirteen which remained without alter- 

 ation, whilst only six gave origin to living beings. But the 

 proportion changes considerably in the flasks filled with air at 

 Bellevue ; out of the eighteen of these vessels, sixteen were 

 altered." 



" If we regard germs as the cause of the developments pi'oduced 

 in these exiieriments," says M. lialard, " we might l)eled to think 

 that near a meadow, under trees, in tlie midst of these numerous 

 sources for th(! production and dissemination of minutcseedsof all 

 kinds, the air would be more charged with them than in the heart 

 of a town; and, as we have just seen, the results of our experi- 

 ments are in accordance with this supposition." He adds the 

 curious fact that, whilst nothing but vegetation Avas px'oduced in 

 the flasks filled with air in Paris, seven of the Bellevue vessels 

 also contained infusoria. 



The four flasks, with their necks drawn out and bent, but left 

 open, Avere exhil)ited to the Academy in a perfectly unaltered 

 condition at the time of the presentation of M. Balard's report. 

 That gentleman calculates that, from the effect produced by 

 changes of temperature upon these vessels, the air contained in 

 them must have been renewed at least seven times in the course 

 of the experiment. But as the entrance of the air would be 

 effected slowly, it could deposit in the flexures of the tube any 

 matters which might cause the development of organisms in the 

 fluid. To ascertain whether this was really the case, the follow- 

 ing experiment was made : The bent tube of a similar flask, which 

 had been kept for three years bj'' M. Pasteur, was sealed at its 

 extremity with the blow-pipe. The flask was then violently 

 shaken, so that the liquid contained in it moistened some parts of 

 the tube. Within two davs, numerous organisms made their 

 appearance in the liquid, and especially in that retained in the 

 tube. 



" Thus," says M. Balard, "the facts observed by M. Pasteur, 

 and disputed by MINI. Pouchet, Joly, and ]\Iusset, are perfectly 

 exact. Fermeutescible liquids may I'emain without alteration 

 either in contact with confined air, or in contact with air which is 

 frequently renewed, and when, under the influence of this fluid, 

 living organisms are developed in it, this development must not 

 be attributed to the gaseous elements, but to solid particles of 

 which the air may be freed by various means, as M. Pasteur has 

 asserted." 



