^£ 



i ^l^e latte 



t 



nd i 



^y salt; ' 

 ^O'-e sharply i ' 



nervation 

 f what 



^-cel]s,ofalii( 

 •re to say b 

 ''.te from mimt 



ly, had not 



ion now to i 

 respects, aflJii' 

 ible influence'! 

 Diutional, or et 



le, I ex 



P.M. on 



the i| 



I 



i 



amnionic sef ; 



ntly ?^^' 



Afte!" 

 id was 



ca 



ovvers. 



aflf^ 



diet 



\nth 



[W 



iw 



,d to P^^ 

 s except 



dace ^^,^, 



in 



TJI£ BEGINNINGS OF LIFE 



289 



the bottom of the watch-glass was scrutinised in very 

 many situations with an immersion ^y objective. No 



1 " 



living thing of any kind was seen^ though scattered 

 over the bottom of the glass were a large number of 

 tiny crystals^ some larger and some smaller than 

 in diameter. Under the polariscope they gave the 

 most beautiful and varied colour reactions. The watch- 

 glass was then placed on a mantel-piece with a soft 

 surface (covered with velvet)^ a wine-glass^ with its 

 stem broken off, was inverted over it^ and this again 

 was covered 



a tumbler^ in order, as much as 

 possible, to prevent evaporation and keep out dust. 

 After twenty-four hours the bottom of die watch-glass 

 was again carefully examined with the xV' object-glass. 



There were the same 

 minute crystals — perhaps rather more numerous than 

 before— 



and no change was observable. 



-but no recognisable specks of protoplasm or 



The watch-glass was then 



other trace of living things, 

 replaced as before. The nex 



(J 



was hot and extremely sultry. The temperature was 

 about 85° F. in the shade, and a thunder-storm, 

 which seemed imminent during the whole of the day, 

 began about 7 p.m., and continued till the early 

 hours of the morning of the following day. At about 

 11.30 P.M. of this 1 6th of June, I again examined the 

 solution in the watch-glass — forty-eight hours after it 

 had been prepared. Then, what appeared to be Fungus- 

 spores were seen in all stages of development, scattered 

 over the whole of the bottom of the glass, and 



VOL. I. 



u 



/ 



