ANNUAL ADDRESS, MDCCCLXX. 7 



rude shocks. A quarter of a century back a man would 

 have been laughed at who professed a belief that living 

 beings could originate from dead organic matter, inde- 

 pendently of germs derived from the air or other medium. 

 Now the doctrine of omnis ex ovo has been much discussed, 

 especially in France, by M. Pouchet on the unorthodox 

 side and M. Pasteur on the other. In England several 

 men of note, Owen for instance, have sided with the former. 

 On the other hand, you know that Professor Tyndall has 

 beautifully shown how the atmosphere swarms with organic 

 particles. I have examined the bacteria and monades in 

 infusions of hay, ergot of rye, bread, and bruised oats at 

 stated periods, and under the same circumstances. Animal- 

 cules of different appearance in each case are seen to 

 abound, so that if the germs are derived from the air it 

 must swarm with those of all these kinds, as well as with 

 the germs of all others that can originate from an exposure 

 of any infusion or decaying matter to the air. Here again 

 we may, if we choose, believe in the doctrine of spontaneous 

 generation ; nay, deny the doctrine of a special creation 

 of animals and vegetables, even if we are literalists, and 

 thereto it is sufficient to refer to the 1st chapter of Genesis. 

 Earth and water "brought forth" vegetables and animals 

 by the divine fiat. With man it was not so. He, 

 agreeable to what Mr. Wallace and others on different 

 grounds have concluded, appears not to have descended 

 from a lower form, but to be an especial creation. 

 These are deep subjects, and I am diffident in expressing 

 an opinion with respect to them. 



We have already in our past meetings had opportunities 

 of referring to the doctrine that from the beginning the 

 earth has undergone a continuous series of changes, much 

 the same and not more violent than we ourselves witness 



