286 



NATURE 



\Aug. 8, 1872 



phate in distilled water was heated to a temperature of 

 295 '-307' F. for four hours. It was at first colourless and 

 clear, and being carefully watched was found after some 



days to become slightly flocculcnt ; a small speck then 

 appeared, which grew for several days till it could be seen 

 with the naked eye. On being opened and examined, the 







--n\. 









/./ 



® 







Fig. I. — Some of the most Common Primordial Forms op Life : Bacteria, Torul.i^, &c. (x 800) 



speck was found to be the remarkable fungus represented 

 in Fig. 4. 



Besides this class of experiments, others have been made 



with the same infusion heated to different temperatures, 

 by which it has been ascertained that for each substance 

 there is a different maximum, if heated beyond which no 



!. — Other Early Forms of Life from Organic Infusions. 



/.. Different kinds of simple Leptothrix 



Spiralla. d. Mycelial Filaments of an Incipient Fungus (Hallier). 

 or Rtycelia Filaments (Pasteur). 



Branched Lcptothri 



organisms appear. The juice of meat, for instance, pro- 

 duced Vibrios if heated to 112° C, but none if heated to 

 114'C. Cows' milk produces them, if heated to ii3'5 C., 



but remains unproductive if heated to ii4'5 C. ; while a 

 decoction of pumpkin produces them at iio'C, and not 

 at 112° C. Prof. Cantoni naturally asks why, if the Vibrios 



Fig. 3.— Bacteria, Torul/e, Fumgus-Mycelium, and Spokes of Diffe>!en 



from a Neutralised Turnip Infusion ( x 



are produced from germs, it requires such different amounts 

 of heat to kill them in different solutions ; and why these 

 hypothetical germs should require such a vastly higher 



temperature to Icill them than suffices to destroy their 

 parents ? A large number of comparative experiments 

 made by Dr. Bastian further shows that the presence or 



