9 a proceedings of societies. 



The Liverpool Microscopical Society. 

 Ninth Meeting of the Session. 



The adjourned discussion on Mr. Newton's paper " On Spontaneous 

 Generation," and on Dr. Bastian's recent work on the ' Beginnings of 

 Life,' was resumed by Mr. Hamilton, F.R.C.S., who read a paper on 

 the subject, of which the following is an abstract: — After mentioning 

 Dr. Bastian's view, that life arises cle novo in animal and vegetable 

 infusions, he went on to say — The smallness of the vital material, 

 if we could trace it to its ultimate form, cannot be conceived. All 

 the experiments that have been hitherto made seem only to point to 

 latent forms, of which the earliest outgrowths which are perceptible 

 to the eye are monads and bacteria. The way in which they first come 

 into view, their rapid increase, the changes they undergo, seem to 

 indicate that life exists in forms so infinitesimal as to be far removed 

 from view. This being the case, what can heat do, carried to its 

 utmost limit, with the ultimate forms of matter? It tells upon its 

 matured 'development, and that, too, in an almost regulated proportion, 

 destroying the higher forms of life at a temperature which would not 

 affect simpler forms. The writer next went on to question the truth 

 of Dr. Bastian's statement that all organic matter, in the shape of 

 food taken into the stomach, was dead matter. He proceeded to show, 

 on the contrary, that because it was living material from the first 

 which was worked up into chyme and chyle, that it took an active 

 part in the process, not as a stone or a pieee of metal, either of which 

 if taken into the system will be ejected unchanged, because it is 

 really dead inorganic matter. In conclusion, Mr. Hamilton pointed 

 out the possibility of two forms of life being present in every Living 

 animal and vegetable — an embryonic life and a molecular or cell life. 



The Rev. W. H. Dallinger said he considered a question of that 

 sort too large for profitable discussion of the kind which they could 

 afford it. The Society knew that he had been, for the past four years, 

 patiently working and accumulating facts on this really great question. 

 But at the end of the time he was less prepared to sj)eak positively 

 than at the beginning. " Facts " of the most diverse complexion 

 could be produced on both sides ; and inferences diametrically oppo- 

 site could be drawn from them. Eventually, he should have much to 

 say on this subject ; at present he confined himself to a general glance 

 at Dr. Bastian's book. In the first place, he submitted that it opened 

 with an assumption. Life, it was argued, was evolved from the phy- 

 sical forces : life, in fact, was correlated with the known forces of 

 matter. Because "heat" is a "mode of motion," which, although we 

 have every reason to believe, is not proved, therefore life is a mode 

 of motion ! He protested that there were truly no scientific grounds 

 for such a dogma. There is something in life, even m its lowliest 

 forms, which distinguishes it from all the known powers of chemistry 

 and physics. The microscopic sting of the Tsetze fly inserts an 

 infinitesimal portion of fluid into the skin of a huge brute on the 

 African plain, and strikes it down to death. Can either chemistry 

 or physics explain its actions? Dr. Frazer has just completed 



