CHAPTER II 

 PHENOMENA OF LIFE 



i. ORIGIN OF LIFE 



THOSE who are inclined toward the study of living organisms 

 will find an abundance of material on every hand. Darwin 

 raised five hundred and thirty-seven plants from three spoon- 

 fuls of mud which he scooped up at the edge of a pond. A recent 

 naturalist has collected from four square feet of meadow over a 

 thousand objects representing living animals or their remains. 

 If we go to the depths of the sea, or to the tops of the mountains, 

 or even penetrate the darkness of the caverns beneath the earth, 

 we always find forms of animal life which have become adapted 

 to almost every conceivable condition of existence. 



The great abundance and rapid multiplication of living animals 

 led the ancients to formulate some curious theories with regard 

 to the origin of life. Even at this enlightened day it may be 

 helpful to us to review some of their peculiar ideas. Many of 

 the scholars of that period believed that every animal was origi- 

 nally created by divine providence. A favorite theory with 

 those who did not accept this idea of special creations, was that of 

 spontaneous generation. This was a universally accepted dogma 

 from the time of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) 

 until 1668 when Redi overthrew it with his careful observations. 



Ancient naturalists believed that frogs and toads arose from the 

 muddy bottom of ponds under the influence of the sun, and that 

 insects originated from dew. Those who did not accept these 

 and other equally absurd views were subject to ridicule by their 

 contemporaries. Before Redi performed his simple but remark- 

 ably effective experiments, no one had thought of testing the 



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