THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



383 



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destructive influence of a moist temperature of aia^'R 

 On such evidence as this he attempted to raise the 

 possible limit of vital resistance by iS^F^ and sought 

 to establish the rule that living organisms might survive 

 in neutral or alkaline solutions, which had been raised 

 to any temperature short of 330^ F. He did not seem 

 to appreciate the fact that he had less warrant for the 

 assumption that the organisms met with in these neutral 

 or alkaline fluids had been derived from ^ germs ' which 

 had resisted the temperature of %\q.''Y^ than he or his 

 opponents would have had in falling back at once upon 

 the counter assumption^ that the evolutional tendencies 

 of neutral or alkaline fluids exposed to high temperatures 

 were greater than those of similar fluids when in an 

 acid state ^ ; such neutral or alkaline fluids being, as 

 was now seen, capable of overcoming the restrictive 

 conditions in Schwann's experiments and of giving 



^ This omission on the part of M. Pasteur is all the more remarkable 

 in the face of facts which must have been well known to such an accom- 

 plished chemist. Thus, Gerhardt says (' Chimie Organique/ t. iv. p. 

 547)- — 'Beaucoup de matieres qui seules ou k I'etat humide ne 

 s oxydent pas k I'air, eprouvent une combustion d^s qu'elles se trouvent 

 en contact avec un alcali, Ainsil'alcoholpur se conserve a Tairindefini- 

 mcnt et sans s*aigrir ; mais, si Ton y verse un peu de potasse, il absorbe 

 promptement de I'oxygene et se convertit en vinaigre et en une matiere 

 rt$sineuse. II est clair, d apres cela, que la potasse doit favoriser 



brune 



certaines fermentations, puisqu'elle favorise Tabsorption de Toxyg^ne et 

 que la presence de celui-ci d^veloppe les ferments.' He also says (loc= 

 cit, p. 556) : — ' On salt, que les viandes et les substances vegetales 

 mariees dans le vinaigre sont preservees de la decomposition, au moins 



pour un certain temps 

 effet que le vinaic:re.' 



* * 



. La plupart des acides produisent le meme 



