On the Origin of Life. By Lionel S. Beale. 81 
worm is connected with a large funnel suspended above. An india- 
rubber tube is adjusted to d, and led into a suitable receptacle. Into 
the funnel is now poured a quantity of weak spirit, just strong 
enough not to freeze at 0°F. (one part methylated alcohol and two 
parts water is sufficient). This of course runs through the worm, 
and is thereby reduced to a low temperature (say 10 J F.). Then 
it fills the chamber c, running in as we saw at the lower tube e, 
and out at the upper tube d into the vessel placed for its recep- 
tion. As soon as most of the spirit has come through, the india- 
rubber tube conveying it away is compressed, and the contents of 
the vessel are returned to the funnel (this time at a very low tem- 
perature). After this has been repeated a few times (in about fifteen 
minutes) the sections may be cut with a razor with perfect facility. 
The instrument is provided with two legs Ic, which with the 
handle form a tripod upon which it stands very conveniently. The 
upper plate a, is prolonged into a beak Z, which is rested upon a 
table or block, while the instrument, being grasped by the handle, re- 
mains completely under the control of the operator. The vulcanite 
handle, from its non-conducting properties, prevents the heat of the 
hand influencing the result or the cold of the instrument affecting the 
hand. The spirit, of course, does over and over again, and is there- 
fore no appreciable expense. Two steel guide-rods are introduced 
into the cylinder to prevent the piston rotating. In practice I fin d 
that if the screw is kept well oiled, there is no necessity for the 
introduction of spirit around the piston-rod, as recommended by 
Dr. Rutherford. 
The advantages claimed for the instrument are, that it enables 
us to make fine sections of the softest tissues at once, and while 
they are in the fresh state. It is very handy, and when the subsi- 
diary apparatus is once arranged, can be employed at any time with 
little trouble. It can be used as an ordinary section-cutter, and 
indeed for this purpose seems peculiarly adapted, as the arrange- 
ments before referred to enable it to be retained under the control 
of the left hand, an advantage not possessed by any other form of 
section machine with which I am acquainted. The microtome can 
be procured from Mr. Hilliard, Renfield Street, Glasgow. — The 
Lancet , June 19, 1875. 
IX . — On the Origin of Life. By Lionel S. Beale, M.B., F.R.S.* 
The far-fetched conjectures seriously advanced by some physical 
speculators concerning the origin of life serve to show what extreme 
difficulty has been experienced by those who have attempted to con- 
struct a plausible hypothesis by which the conversion of the non- 
* Portion of a lecture delivered before the Royal College of Physicians. 
