166 ORIGIN AND NATURE OF LIFE 



The work of Spallanzani is so remarkably 

 ingenious for the age in which it was performed 

 and has been so overshadowed by later 

 discoveries, that it seems just to quote it 

 briefly. 



The experiments of Redi and Valisneri, 

 mentioned above, had refuted the grosser 

 views of spontaneous generation, and it was, 

 strange to say, the discovery of the microscope 

 towards the end of the seventeenth century, 

 which temporarily rehabilitated the theory, 

 at least for microscopic animalculse. Armed 

 with the new instrument, any one, in a day 

 or two, could easily demonstrate for himself 

 the spontaneous generation of microscopic 

 eels in flour or vinegar, or produce myriads 

 of different and interesting live creatures in 

 rain water kept for a day or two in closed 

 vessels, or in a simple infusion of hay or other 

 organic material. The new wonders of the 

 microscope awakened enthusiasm all over 

 the scientific world, and disputants on both 

 sides fought and argued, for and against, 

 spontaneous generation, and religious feeling 

 was invoked on both sides. To-day, we may 

 be inclined to smile at the simple arguments 

 brought forward as weighty proofs, but it is 

 to be remembered how new all this territory 

 then was, how little orientation any one 



