} 
382 G. Child on the production of Organisms in closed vessels. 
in atmospheres either of common air passed through red hot 
tubes or of various gases, and the result at which I arrived was 
was employed. One experiment only appeared to have pro- 
duced a result which could not be reconciled with the rest, viz. 
in which some meat and water had been boiled and sealed up 1n 
an atmosphere of nitrogen. In this, some organisms were found ; 
but so completely was this result unlike that found in the whole 
of the rest of the series, that I felt convinced that some error 
must have been made in the experiment itself. 
The experiments now to be described have a narrower range 
than the others. With the exception of a few, which were 
mere repetitions of the experiments of nitrogen just referred to, 
and which were undertaken solely with the view of seeing 
whether the experiment just mentioned were correct or not, 
they are confined to the single object of observing whether or 
not organisms are found in close vessels containing vegetable 
matter and water sealed up in an atmosphere of common alr 
tions of the apparatus used in the former ones. ‘That now em- 
ployed consists of a porcelain tube, the central part of which 
is filled with roughly pounded porcelain; one end is connected 
