BPOm v/'./v'.!'//' 571 



lloalii :nl while doing so I wa 



that, ;it tin- ordinal .:i.-fT, uuch !) 



: fiveh tin.. 



kept seil.-ili'. 



>f lii;!it \v a- I'mind t" be a iim.-t .-earching tc.-t for 

 tier both in water and in air a test indeed 

 indefinitely imuv searching and MVere than that furni>hed by 

 I'Mucrfnl niicniscopc. With tin- aid of nticli a 

 li.-ani 1 .\\aniinrd air liltnvd hy cotton- w..,,! ; air 

 fi.r from agitation, 80 as to allow the floating matin- to 

 sul)-il-; calcined air, and air filtered 1>\ tin- dr. per cells of 

 the human lungs. In all cases the com- 



\!>n-iinnit> and those of Sehroeder. I'asteiir. and 

 Lister in regard to spontaneous generation \s,> 



air which they found inopera: proved ly the 



luminous, beam to be optically pure and therefore gn-r 



. orked at the subject h<ah by experiment and 



relleetion. on Friday evening, .lanuary vM, ls?', I brought 



.re the members of the lloyal Institution. Two or 



three months > ntly, for sufficient practical reasons, 



ured to direct public attention to the subject in a 



letter to the / ^ucli was my first contact with this 



important question. 



This let' i eve, gave occasion for the fust public 



.n in relation to this subject. He 

 diil me tin- honor to inform me, as others had inf< 

 ir. that the subject p. rtains to the biologi>: 

 ian." He expressed " an my reasoning, 



and warned me that before what I had done could be 

 undone i4 much invpa: in. f might be occasio 



With far less preliminary experience to guide and warn 

 him, fM far bolder than 1'ouchet 



in hi mor,. ad\ nturous ill his COM- 



elusions. \\ ith organic infusi 



of hi '-ocssor, but he did much more the 



atom- and mo|e.-u!es of inorganic^ liquids passing under 

 lanipulation into those mm mical 



compounds." which v. ling t hem " li\ ing 



organisms."* As regards the public who take an interest 



* ! i bacteria or allied or^anininH are prone to 



be engendered H :..,iuct-. < <n- in tin- 



be v era !MT U-HS 



rli.-n.i. 



