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PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
Various other subjects were alluded to, and at the close a very 
cordial vote of thanks was passed to Dr. G. Thomson, on the motion 
of Dr. Platt, seconded by Mr. Pullinger. A very instructive evening 
was spent by the company. 
Liverpool Microscopical Society. 
The eighth meeting of the present session of this Society was 
held last month, in the Eoyal Institution, Colquitt Street, the Eev. 
William Banister presiding. An adjourned discussion took place on 
Mr. Newton’s paper “On Spontaneous Generation,” and on Dr. Bastian’s 
work, “ The Beginning of Life.” 
In the absence of the President, from indisposition, 
The Eev. W. Banister opened the discussion. He said, — The 
subject for our consideration this evening is one of the most interesting 
in the whole range of microscopic study. There is a mystery about 
life — where it is, how it begins, and where it ends (I mean materially, 
not theologically), which fascinates all students of nature. One objec- 
tion to Dr. Bastian’s views, perhaps, is that they tend to solve this 
mystery, and to take a good deal of sentimentality out of our notions 
about it. I do not, however, think there is any probability of our 
solving the mystery. Even if all Dr. Bastian states is true, it only 
proves that animal and vegetable life, in its lowest form, is substan- 
tially the same, but it does not tell us where the vitality that animates 
an aggregation of bacteria comes from ; still less does it account for 
the possession of so wonderful a property by each individual bacterium. 
There are two ways of proving, as far as possible, whether living 
matter can arise de novo without the previous existence of “ germs.” 
The one is to submit the infusions to so great a temperature that all 
vitality must be destroyed ; the other is to examine the air minutely 
to see whether the “ germs” exist in it in sufficient abundance or not. 
Both these tests require delicate and costly apparatus, and great skill, 
experience, and patience in the use of it. Those who do not possess 
these requisites must be content to accept the statements of those who 
do, provided they have reason to believe that the experiments have 
been carefully conducted and conscientiously interpreted. This may 
be ascertained by a comparison of the results arrived at by different 
experimenters of repute, and by a personal examination of such minor 
details as may be observed by students who possess moderately good 
instruments. If the facts observed, as far as they go, bear out the 
statements made, we are justified in believing that such statements as 
we are not able personally to verify are honestly in accordance with 
apparent fact. I say apparent, advisedly. The higher the powers 
used the more danger there is of error in the interpretation of what we 
seem to see. This is all that I have attempted to do ; and I am bound 
to say that so far as I have observed, all the initial developmental 
changes which Dr. Bastian describes do take place. Dr. Bastian’s 
theory is that in a fermentable solution there is a change from a 
diffused imperceptible state to a concentrated perceptible state, the 
