CHAPTER VI. 



MEANINGS ATTACHED TO TERM 'SPONTANEOUS GENERATION.' 



» 







The term should be discarded— being bad and insufficient. Includes 

 two fundamentally different sets of phenomena. Influence of 

 general views concerning ' Life.' Opinion^ of Bprdach. Meanings 

 of terms Homogenia and Heterogenia. Burdach, Buffon, Needham, 

 Pouchet, and others, never believed in Archebiosis. This, antago- 

 nistic to their general views concerning Life. Previous use of term 

 Heterogenesis therefore correct and may be retained. May occur 

 during Life of Organism as a whole, or after its death. Modes of 

 origin of living things. 



Views of earlier writers concerning ' Spontaneous Generation.' Aristotle, 

 Ovid, and others. Continuance of these views till time of Harvey. 

 Doubt as to his exact doctrine. Experiments and opinions of Redi, 

 Needham, Buffon, Spallanzani, and Bonnet. Views of other writers 

 at close of last and early part of present century. Contrast between 

 doctrines of Lamarck and Burdach. Observations of Pineau. 

 Views of Ehrenberg. Experiments of Schwann and Schultze. 

 V^ntings of M. Pouchet. Vigorous discussion excited thereby. 

 Labours of M. Pasteur. Modern aspects of discussion to be 



more fully explained hereafter. 



human 



knowledge 



increases concerning any 



department of science it almost always becomes 

 necessary to give up some terms or modes of ex- 

 pressions long in use, and which may not have seemed 

 faulty whilst the science was iji its infancy. Certain 

 ^f them, however, may gradually become less and les3 



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