HOW LIFE CAME TO EARTH 193 



inoculation into suitable material, and growth 

 there, than by starting afresh from simpler 

 bodies. It would form a fixed starting point 

 for further development, just as at the stage 

 of living things each new species would form 

 a fresh point of departure. A labile equili- 

 brium, stable and capable of reproducing 

 itself with suitable conditions of material 

 and environment of energy, would so be set 

 up, but requiring a long period of time for 

 re-development if once the type were lost. 



The only observer who has claimed to have 

 obtained experimentally the evolution of 

 living organisms from inorganic sources is 

 Dr. Charlton Bastian, who was earlier an 

 opponent of the views of Pasteur, and a 

 controversialist with Huxley in regard to 

 spontaneous evolution. Bastian claims that 

 when either of two mixtures of inorganic 

 constituents, which he describes in detail, 

 is sterilized at a temperature of 110° to 115° C, 

 in a hermetically sealed tube, and then allowed 

 to remain for a considerable period of time, 

 varying from three to six months, micro- 

 organisms of many types appear which were 

 not originally present, such as micro-cocci 

 torulae, vibriones, and moulds. The solutions 

 used were as follows : — (a) sodium silicate, 

 ammonium phosphate, dilute phosphoric acid, 



