Fuly 7, 1870] 
NATURE 
FACTS AND REASONNIGS CONCERNING THE 
HETEROGENOUS EVOLUTION OF LIVING 
THINGS * : 
1h 
A.—ELxperiments in which the fluids employed were raised to a 
temperature of 100° C. for from 10 to 20 minutes before the flask 
was hermetically sealed. 
a. Fluids employed being filtered infusions containing organic 
matter in solution. 
1. LZufusions either slightly alkaline or neutral. 
Lxperiment t.—A flask containing filtered beef-juice iz varwo, 
which had been hermetically sealed twelve days previously, after 
the fluid had been boiled for 15 minutes, was opened on January 7, 
1870. 
The solution itself was clear, and there was no pellicle on its 
surface, although there was a slight flocculent deposit at the 
bottom of the flask. The end of the flask having been broken 
off and its contents shaken, the first drop which was examined 
with a magnifying power of about 600 diameters + showed the 
most unmistakeable living organisms. There were mere moving 
é c 
Se ZN 8 
°O SP 
lic. 6.—Mouads, Bacteria, and other organisms met with in first 
experiment. 
oo. 
Zr 
° 
Aa , 
oh 
PbO 
ll 
specks or monads (a) ; several active organisms made up of two 
minute sphericles (4); a few medium sized, actively moving 
bacteria (c); an actively moving spheroidal body zgto0" in 
diameter (¢) ; and several simple cellular bodies with a mode- 
rately thick cell wall, but apparently containing only fluid con- 
tents. These latter bodies varied in size from yy" to sa'gy” in 
diameter. Most of them were simply ovoidal (e), one or two of 
them were seen to be more irregular in shape, either having pro- 
jections (/), or even, as in one case, presenting projections some- 
thing like cilia. 
In the second drop of fluid examined, with the exception of a 
little granular matter, there were only seen several small but 
very active bacteria (¢). 
Experiment 2,—A flask, containing a mixed infusion (rather 
weak) of beef, carrot, and turnip, «7 vacuo, which had been her- 
metically sealed fourteen days previously, after the fluid had been 
boiled, was opened on December 23, 1869. The first two or 
three drops showed a large number of actively moving monads ; a 
number of moving particles having an altogether irregular shape ; 
bacteria distinct and moving, though less numerous ;_ a number 
of spherical Zorwla-like cells of different sizes, containing a 
central dot (@); and a number of bodies mostly in the form of 
Fic. 7.— Torude and other organisms met with in second experiment. 
parallelopipeds with rounded angles (4), though some were quite 
irregular in shape—these containing granules of various sizes, with 
sometimes large and altogether irregular protoplasmic-looking 
masses. : 
Experiment 3.—A flask containing a weak decoction of beef 
and carrot 7 vacuo, which had been hermetically sealed thirty- 
nine days before, after the fluid had been boiled, was opened on 
January 18, 1870. 
This flask had been allowed to remain so long before it was 
opened because the fluid within showed no noticeable signs of 
change. There was no pellicle, and only a very small amount of 
granular material at the bottom of the flask. 
On microscopical examination no distinct living things were 
* Continued from p. 177. 
+ An objective of this power was used throughout these investigations ; 
it was an “‘immersion” glass (No. 9) of Nachet’s make. All the objects 
mee drawn, therefore, as seen with a magnifying power of about 600 
‘iameters, 
193 
found. Only a small quantity of motionless granular matter 
was seen. 
Experiment 4.—A flask containing an infusion of hay, to- 
gether with a few grains of phosphate of soda, zz vacuo, which 
had been hermetically sealed seventeen days previously, after 
the fluid had been boiled, was opened on January 25, 1870. 
The fluid itself was not turbid or cloudy, though it had become 
darker in colour. The bottom of the flask was irregularly lined 
with granular and slightly flocculent material. 
On microscopical examination of two or three drops, there 
were seen many actively-moving monads; some bacteria of 
medium size; many quite irregularly-shaped particles in active 
movement ; many flattened bits of protoplasmic-looking material 
with irregular and slightly curled edges, slowly moving, and 
ranging in size from yytpy" to sary” in diameter (other 
masses of this kind were distinctly hollow though mostly irreg- 
ular in shape); and lastly there were several large irregular 
masses of fibres, the nature of which could not be determined. 
2. Infusions having an acid reaction. 
Lxperiment §5.—A flask containing a filtered infusion of 
turnip 7 vacue, which had been hermetically sealed only five 
days previously, after the fluid had been boiled, was opened on 
December 15, 1869. 
On the second day after the flask had been sealed, the pre- 
viously clear solution began to exhibit a cloudy appearance. 
The next day a reticulated scum was seen on the surface of the 
fluid, which gradually became more manifest on the two following 
days. When the neck of the flask was opened, its contents 
were found to emit a most fcetid, sickly odour. 
Microscopical examination revealed a very large number of 
bacteria and vibrionic-looking rods, some straight and others 
bent, some motionless and others exhibiting languid move- 
ments. These, mixed up with a thickly interlaced network 
Fic, 8.— Bacteria, Vibrios, and Leftothrix fitaments, met with in a Turnip- 
infusion which had been only five days zz vacuo. 
of Leptothrix filaments, constituted the reticulated pellicle which 
was seen on the surface. The Zeffothrix fibres were partly 
plain, and partly segmented ; they had a precisely similar ap- 
pearance to the vibrionic-looking filaments, with which in thick- 
ness they also closely agreed. The long filaments seemed, in 
fact, to be only developed forms of the shorter rod-like filaments. 
A large nucleated ovoid cell was also seen, 75,” in its longest 
diameter, as well as a smaller vesicle, enclosing a rod-like body. 
Experiment 6.—A flask containing an infusion of turnip z7 
vacuo, which had been hermetically sealed seventeen days pre- 
viously, after the fluid had been boiled for 20 minutes, was 
opened on January 25, 1870. ‘The fluid never exhibited any dis- 
tinct turbidity, and no peilicle formed on the surface ; there was, 
however, an irregular covering of the bottom of the flask by 
fine granular matter, with here and there a small patch of fila- 
mentous-looking substance. No bad odour was perceived on 
opening the flask. 
Unfortunately just as I was proceeding to examine the con- 
tents microscopically, nearly all the fluid was lost, including the 
filamentous-looking masses. Examination of a few drops of the 
fluid which remained showed a very large number of monads and 
bacteria ; only a few of them were isolated and displayed move- 
ments; they were for the most part aggregated, either into 
spherical masses or else in the form of portions of a broken 
layer which presented traces of a secondary organisation similar 
to that represented in Fig. 1. ; 
Experiment 7.—A flask containing an infusion of turnip 77 
vacuo, which had been hermetically sealed seven days pre- 
viously, after the fluid had been boiled for 20 minutes, was 
opened on February 4, 1870, 
