PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
287 
form usually first assumed being that of bacteria — vibriones and 
torulse — the first being the simplest. These bacteria, or specks of 
living matter, as they increase in size, acquire a structure, develop 
organs, and become animals, or vegetables of more or less complicated 
nature. These aggregate and form the “ proligerous pellicle” of 
Pouchet, which is composed of a dense mass of bacteria, generally end 
up, with some vibriones and toruhe imbedded in a pellucid gelatinous 
material. As two amoeba coalesce and form one, so these bacteria fuse 
and form organisms. It seems to me that the truth or error of these 
statements may be verified by most members of this Society, and that 
we shall not perform our duty as members of it, or take any respect- 
able rank among kindred societies, if we confine ourselves to the ex- 
hibition of petty things, and neglect the highest objects of microscopic 
study. 
Mr. G. F. Chantrell, hon. secretary, said he considered Dr. Bas- 
tian’s book one of the most valuable contributions to biology that has 
yet been made. It is a book that should be in the hands of every 
microscopist. It teems with strange and marvellous facts in infusorial 
life. Dr. Bastian has resuscitated the observation of several almost 
forgotten writers, and has verified some of their facts, which were 
little noticed at the time, and to which he has added a large number 
of his own observations. He agreed with Dr. Bastian that we are 
but on the threshold of our acquaintance with the marvellous hetero- 
genetic transformations, the discovery of which already affords material 
for revolutionizing the old foundations of botanical and zoological 
science ; — that the path opened must be followed by faithful and com- 
petent observers, true students who are willing zealously to watch and 
wait through eager hours whilst nature unfolds her secret processes, 
unblinded by any existing theories, and content to regard them as 
useful and modifiable aids to further progress. It was in the spirit of 
such a student he offered the following observations. He described 
the remarkable seed of the collomia plant, and the results he had ob- 
tained by keeping a single seed with a drop of distilled water in a 
live box. Almost immediately he had observed life, using a power of 
5 to 700 diameters, and in course of a few days the glass became 
crowded. A single seed was kept under observation for above a month 
(the water evaporated being supplied occasionally), and during the 
whole time paramecia abounded. After a while a remarkable change 
took place ; the paramecia had developed into six or seven different 
forms, of which he exhibited drawings. These died off, leaving a ring 
of dead substance, out of which soon appeared spots of granular 
matter, and these afterwards developed into perfect amoeba. Dr. Bas- 
tian states in the preface to his book, that the spontaneous generation 
theory rests upon the possibility of the de novo origin of bacteria, and 
that evidence of the most convincing character shows that bacteria are 
killed by a temperature of 140° Fahrenheit. Mr. Chantrell quoted, 
in opposition to this, Dr. Crace-Calvert’s experiments, showing that 
the greater portion of microscopic life was destroyed by a temperature 
of 200° F., but that black vibrios were not killed by 300°, and then 
instanced his own observations upon boiled vegetables. lie had fre- 
