i6 



THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



re- 



living organisms 



1 



and 



similarly, dead organic par. 



tides have been shown to be less and less numerous 

 the atmosphere in proportion to the elevation obtained 2" 

 In these latter experiments M 



of 

 all 



yeast-water (alone or sweetened), and of urine 

 three of them fluids, which, after having been boiled 

 are apt to possess only the second degree of fermenta- 

 bility. So that when we find M. Pouchet, in concert 

 with MM. Jolly 



ments, with the sole difFerence that they took stron<^ 



\0 



I 



Musset 



f 



\ 



tides 



and bis s 

 fertility 



of a F"^' 

 filtered fr< 

 for confiri 



'e partick 



Tk previously bai 

 fertile by tl 



organii 



^ Mt been whol 

 » ttat they 



are si 



infusions of hay— which experiment has almost inva- » is o«iy "^^F^^ 

 riably shown to possess the first degree of fermenta- Ji* Tlie same 

 bility— and that all their flasks, after a time, yielded | ps or organisms 

 organisms from whatever mountain elevation the air 

 had been taken, this combined evidence tends most 

 strongly against the view of M. Pasteur. As the 

 germs in the fluids and in the flasks, in each set of ex- 

 periments, had been previously destroyed by ebullition, 

 and since in each set, also, air of the same character 



^ The subsidence of the atmospheric particles has been demonstrated 

 by Professor Tyndall (' Proceedings of Royal Inst.' 1870, p. 11). After 

 speaking of experiments in closed flasks, in which the air has been 

 either calcined or filtered, Gerhardt (' Chimie Organique/ t. iv. p. 545) 

 says :— < Si dans les premieres experiences Fair calcine ou tamise s'est 

 mon'tre beaucoup moins actif que Fair non soumis k ce traitement, c'est 

 que la chaleur rouge ou le tamisage enleve a lair non seulement les 

 gernies des infusoires et des moisissures, mais encore les debris des 

 matieres en decomposition qui y sont suspendues, c'est-a-dire les ferments 

 dont I'activit^ viendrait s'ajouter \ celle deToxygene de Fair.' 



^ See M. Pouchet's ' Nouvelles Experiences sur la Generation Spon- 

 tanoe/ (&c., p. 69. 



t'^clianges. This 

 pointed out, by 



"^^^^tingsomeof 



\ 



II. 



onchef. 



