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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1929 
  

  

  with 
  much 
  justice 
  that 
  such 
  considerations 
  are 
  so 
  far 
  be3^ond 
  the 
  

   present 
  stage 
  of 
  science 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  entirely 
  without 
  vahie. 
  That, 
  

   I 
  think, 
  is 
  a 
  bad 
  argument 
  and 
  a 
  worse 
  philosophy. 
  But, 
  m 
  any 
  

   case, 
  a 
  dealer 
  in 
  mysteries 
  is 
  entitled 
  to 
  carry 
  on 
  his 
  dealings 
  as 
  far 
  

   and 
  as 
  best 
  he 
  may. 
  

  

  There 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  two 
  schools 
  of 
  thought 
  in 
  speculations 
  of 
  this 
  

   character. 
  The 
  late 
  Professor 
  Arrhenius 
  supported 
  the 
  theory 
  or 
  

   doctrine 
  of 
  Panspermia, 
  according 
  to 
  which 
  life 
  is 
  as 
  old 
  and 
  as 
  

   fundamental 
  as 
  inanimate 
  matter. 
  Its 
  germs 
  or 
  spores 
  are 
  supposed 
  

   on 
  this 
  view 
  to 
  be 
  scattered 
  through 
  the 
  universe 
  and 
  to 
  have 
  reached 
  

   our 
  planet 
  quite 
  accidentally. 
  You 
  will 
  remember 
  that 
  Lord 
  Kelvin 
  

   suggested 
  they 
  were 
  carried 
  here 
  on 
  meteorites. 
  But 
  against 
  this 
  

   idea 
  the 
  objection 
  has 
  been 
  urged 
  that 
  meteorites 
  in 
  passing 
  through 
  

   our 
  atmosphere 
  get 
  exceedingly 
  hot 
  through 
  friction 
  with 
  the 
  air. 
  

   Arrhenius 
  brought 
  forward 
  the 
  very 
  ingenious 
  idea 
  that 
  the 
  motion 
  

   in 
  and 
  distribution 
  through 
  space 
  of 
  these 
  germs 
  or 
  spores 
  were 
  

   caused 
  by 
  the 
  pressure 
  of 
  light, 
  which 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  very 
  minute 
  

   bodies 
  can 
  overcome 
  the 
  attraction 
  of 
  gravitation, 
  as 
  is 
  often 
  seen 
  

   in 
  the 
  tails 
  of 
  comets. 
  Many 
  objections 
  have 
  been 
  brought 
  against 
  

   this 
  theory 
  of 
  Panspermia. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  argued 
  that 
  either 
  the 
  cold 
  

   of 
  interstellar 
  space 
  or 
  the 
  ultra-violet 
  light 
  which 
  pervades 
  it 
  would 
  

   be 
  sufficient 
  to 
  kill 
  such 
  living 
  germs 
  or 
  spores. 
  Certainly 
  ultra- 
  

   violet 
  light 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  powerful 
  germicide, 
  though 
  many 
  spores 
  can 
  

   withstand 
  very 
  low 
  temperatures 
  for 
  long 
  periods 
  of 
  time. 
  Perhaps 
  

   the 
  chief 
  objection 
  to 
  this 
  doctrine 
  of 
  Panspermia 
  is 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  hopeless 
  

   one. 
  Not 
  only 
  does 
  it 
  close 
  the 
  door 
  to 
  thought 
  and 
  research, 
  but 
  it 
  

   introduces 
  a 
  permanent 
  dualism 
  into 
  science 
  and 
  so 
  prejudges 
  an 
  

   important 
  philosophical 
  issue. 
  

  

  If 
  the 
  living 
  has 
  arisen 
  on 
  this 
  planet 
  from 
  what 
  we 
  regard 
  as 
  the 
  

   nonliving, 
  then 
  various 
  extremely 
  interesting 
  points 
  arise. 
  It 
  is 
  

   already 
  pretty 
  certain 
  that 
  it 
  originated, 
  if 
  at 
  all, 
  in 
  the 
  primeval 
  

   ocean, 
  since 
  the 
  inorganic 
  salts 
  present 
  in 
  the 
  circulating 
  fluids 
  of 
  

   animals 
  correspond 
  in 
  nature 
  and 
  relative 
  amounts 
  to 
  what 
  we 
  have 
  

   good 
  reason 
  to 
  believe 
  was 
  the 
  composition 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  some 
  hundred 
  

   million 
  years 
  ago. 
  The 
  image 
  of 
  Aphrodite 
  rising 
  from 
  the 
  sea 
  is 
  

   therefore 
  not 
  without 
  scientific 
  justification. 
  We 
  have 
  seen 
  that 
  life 
  

   requires 
  for 
  its 
  existence 
  a 
  certain 
  amount 
  of 
  free 
  energy 
  or 
  nonequi- 
  

   librium 
  in 
  the 
  environment. 
  In 
  the 
  early 
  atmosphere 
  there 
  was 
  plenty 
  

   of 
  carbon 
  dioxide, 
  and 
  probably 
  also 
  some 
  oxygen, 
  though 
  nothing 
  like 
  

   so 
  much 
  as 
  at 
  present. 
  Volcanic 
  action 
  would 
  provide 
  plenty 
  of 
  

   oxidizable 
  substances, 
  such, 
  for 
  example, 
  as 
  ammonia 
  or 
  sulphuretted 
  

   hydrogen. 
  As 
  we 
  have 
  seen 
  previously, 
  certain 
  bacteria 
  could 
  

   therefore, 
  in 
  all 
  probability, 
  have 
  lived 
  and 
  assimilated 
  carbon 
  dioxide, 
  

   producing 
  organic 
  substances 
  such 
  as 
  sugar 
  and 
  proteins. 
  This 
  argu- 
  

   ment, 
  though 
  very 
  interesting 
  from 
  the 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  of 
  Panspermia, 
  

  

  