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THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



^ganises • 



^^s ou d 

 ^es fait 



) Ulij 



^umnt 



s 



fW !» 



r then w 



emtf 



This ssffi 



P^e, i;87,toii 



then all-porat 

 ebrated philosot 

 ncient Greek. Hi 



;tended tkiigl I 



;; yet, neve 

 )uls -endowed 

 .g that existeit 

 ill Y a mass of fe 



^Vhat s 

 ,\vhichwela«; 



.estedthein),"J 

 :tnne^ of * f 



ok ne^' , * 

 Stirling' P' 







271 



to be generally admitted ^ and, indeed, when speaking 

 of the position of the germ theory anterior to the 



labours 

 M. Miln 



M 



J 



propagules ou de germes d'Infusoires dans ^atmosphere 

 etait unc hypothese plausible pour expliquer Forigine 

 de ces etres d^une maniere conforme aux lois generales 



r 



de la reproduction • mais c'etait une supposition seule- 

 ment^ et I'on n'avait pu ni voir ni saisir ces corpuscles 

 reproducteurs/ 

 M. Pasteur was, however, not the first who had en- 



r 



are perhaps mi deavoured to obtain experimental evidence as to the 



truth of the panspermia hypothesis. As M. Pouchet 

 points out, he had been preceded by M. Baudrimont 

 nposed of corpoE and by M. Gigot, if not by others. The former shook 



up large quantities of air with small quantities of 

 water, and afterwards submitted the water to micro- 

 scopical examination without finding any recognizable 



eggs or spores 2. M. Gigot s, on the other hand, made 

 use of an aspirator in order to draw the air of marshy 

 districts through dilute sulphuric acid, and by this means 

 he filtered out a certain amount of organic de'hrts. 



M. Pasteur has^ however, endeavoured most assidu- 

 ously to take the c panspermic ' doctrine out of the re- 



r 



' * Anat et Physiol. Comp.' t. viii. p. 264. 

 See ' Observations des gtres Microscopiques de TAtmosphere Ter- 

 restre,' Compt. Rend, 185.:;, t. xli. p. 542. His observations did not accord, 

 therefore, with the recent marvellous statements of Mr. Dancer. 



Recherches Experimentales sur la Nature des Emanations Mar6- 

 cageuses; Paris, 1859. 



