l % 2 [Proc. B.N.F.C, 



next considered. These are the organisms found in decaying 

 infusions of organic matter, and are of various forms — sometimes 

 short staff-like bodies, sometimes spiral structures; all exhibit 

 movements plainly due to their vitality. The result of their life 

 is putrefaction; but some hold that they are rather the effect 

 than the cause. If an infusion of hay or turnip be boiled and 

 kept in a moderately warm place exposed to the air, it soon 

 becomes turbid with Bacteria. The question arises — Where did 

 these bodies come from? This is the great subject of discussion 

 of the present day — the question of spontaneous generation. 

 After tracing the experiments of Redi, Needham, Buffon, Spallan- 

 zani, &c, the reader referred to the test experiment appealed to 

 by both the advocates and opponents of spontaneous generation. 

 Fill a flask with some organic infusion, boil it, and, while the whole 

 flask is filled with steam, either hermetically seal the flask, or plug 

 it with cotton wool. Now, Pasteur and his followers, including Pro- 

 fessors Huxley and Tyndall, assert that the solution will remain 

 clear and lifeless, keep it as long as you will. Bastian affirms that in 

 such a flask living organisms will soon appear, being formed by some 

 chemical or other process from the particles of the infusion. Both 

 analogy and the weight of the evidence are opposed to this belief, and 

 the probabilities are strongly in favour of the doctrine held by the 

 other side, that life always proceeds from pre-existing life, " Omne 

 vivum ex vivo." Many diseases, such as scarlet fever, cholera, 

 cattle plague, are supposed to be due to germs of the organisms 

 previously described contained in the atmosphere or in food or 

 drink. Hence the subject has important practical bearings. The 

 study of these minute organisms, and the question as to their 

 origin, force on the mind, whatever view may be taken, a convic- 

 tion of the existence and intelligence of a great First Cause, the 

 source of all life, and fountain of all power. 



