200 The Question of Organic Evolution. [April, 
These experiments, which, asthe author informs us, ‘‘ are 
merely two selected from several others in which even 
higher temperatures, were originally had recourse to in order 
to free the fluids and flasks generally from anything like a 
trace of living matter,’ are very important. If we would 
deny that in such cases life is produced, not ex ovo, only two 
courses appear to be open. We must either—which Dr. 
Bastian himself calls ‘‘the shortest way out of the diffi- 
culty ’—deny the facts, or we must, in the face of experi- 
ment, maintain that low organic forms, or their germs, can 
sustain a temperature of 275° F. without injury. This, as 
far as we are aware, has not yet been accomplished. On 
the contrary, numerous direct experiments prove that Bac- 
teria and their germs ‘‘ are uniformly killed by an exposure 
to 140° F. for five minutes.” Some authorities ‘‘ assume 
that the mere minuteness of the germs of Bacteria may serve 
to protect them from that destructive influence which heat 
exerts upon living matter generally.” This doctrine, we 
need hardly say, has not the shadow of a fact in its favour. 
Not less baseless is the notion that some germs may escape 
the destructive action of boiling water by being spurted 
out of the fluid on to the sides of the glass, when the pro- 
cess of boiling commenced. In a sealed flask this is utterly 
out of the question, since every part of the interior is a¢ted 
on by the steam. As to the assumed “ protective action of 
lumps,” we fail to see its validity. No matter how badly 
any kind of organic matter may conduct heat, a tiny par- 
ticle placed in a relatively large quantity of boiling water, 
and kept for above an hour at temperatures exceeding 212 F’., 
must be heated through and through to a point utterly in- 
consistent with the maintenance of organic life. 
As to the statements made by travellers concerning living 
insects found in hot wells, we quite agree with Max Schultze 
and Cohn that they ought to be received with extreme 
caution. But even if literally correct, they prove nothing. 
The animals found in such situations have been specially 
trained to withstand extraordinary temperatures by a pro- 
cess of natural selection. But the germs of Bacteria, &c., 
about which Dr. Bastian argues, have undergone no such 
training. The author calls attention to a very interesting 
fact, that the very process which Pasteur devised for the 
better preservation of wines, is based on the fact that at 
temperatures of about 140° F. (60° C.) organic germs and 
spores, ferments, &c., are destroyed ! 
Dr. Bastian deserves great credit for the manner in which 
he has narrowed the issue. Unless we can detect some 
