436 THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



atmospheres [J52'2 F]. No film was formed. The flask 

 was opened on the forty-first day. Monads and Vibrios 

 were found, some of the latter moving across the field. 

 No putrefaction ; the solution had an alkaline taste.' 



In 18683 Prof. Cantoni, of Pavia, also made some 

 experiments in concert with Profs. Balsamo and Maggi, 

 in which hermetically sealed flasks containing various 

 organic solutions or infusions were heated to tempera- 

 tures ranging from ioo-ii7C (2i2-242'6F), in a 

 Papin's digester '. Amongst other fluids they tried a 

 solution of yolk of egg, and with reference to this Prof. 

 Cantoni says 2 : c We began by observing that this 

 solution, enclosed with plenty of air in a flask hermeti- 

 cally sealed and heated to io5-no, produced a large 

 number of Vibrios in two days. We heated it in 

 different experiments to 112, 114, 116, 117, and 

 always obtained the same result^ if the temperature of the 

 air was from 25 to 27.' Experiments were similarly 

 conducted with other organic fluids, which led to the 

 following results: c The juice from meat sufficiently 

 concentrated produces Vibrios if heated to 112, but 

 not if heated to 114, cow's milk of good quality pro- 

 duces them if heated to ii3*5, and remains unpro- 



1 I was for a long time unable to procure a sight of Prof. Cantoni's 

 valuable papers, but he has lately been kind enough to send them to me. 

 Having merely seen references to them in journals,- I was led on a 

 former occasion (' Nature,' No. 48, 1870, p. 432) to state that he had 

 obtained positive results at 242-6 C, instead of 242 -6 F. I much 

 regret that the mistake should have occurred. 



2 ' Gazzetta Medica Italiana-Lombardia,' Serie VI. t. i, 1868. 



