308 ROMANCE OF LOW LIFE AMONGST PLANTS. 



took up the subject when almost everybody believed 

 in it or accepted it, including the celebrated Dr. 

 Harvey. And although this latter is often quoted 

 as an opponent of spontaneous generation, he un- 

 doubtedly believed in it. And yet Dr. Harvey 

 contended that every living thing came from an egg, 

 or ovum ; by which he intended to convey, as Pro- 

 fessor Huxley has expressed it, that " every living 

 thing originated in a little rounded particle of orga- 

 nized substance," Probably the enunciation of this 

 proposition gave rise to the impression that Harvey 

 was an opponent of the generally accepted view. It 

 was at this time that Redi made his attack in a very 

 simple manner. " He merely covered the piece of 

 meat with some very fine gauze, and then exposed it 

 to the same conditions. The result of this was that 

 no grubs or insects were produced ; he proved that 

 the grubs originated from the insects who came and 

 deposited their eggs in the meat, and that they were 

 hatched by the heat of the sun. By this kind of 

 inquiry he thoroughly upset the doctrine of spon- 

 taneous generation, for his time at least." 

 I This occurred at a period when the microscope, as 

 a scientific instrument, was unknown. But when that 

 discovery was sufficiently elaborated to show that an 

 immense number of minute things could be obtained, 

 almost at will, from decaying animal and vegetable 

 matter, the theory of spontaneous generation revived 

 again. If we look into the early guides to the use of 

 the microscope, we shall find instructions for decoc- 

 tions of ordinary black pepper, or hay, which if 

 steeped in water, would in the course of a few days 



