ePaper 2 
44 EVOLUTION AND THE 
dence on a subject which had only a very subordinate 
importance for the argument,* he did his best to 
convince the public that there was no evidence justi- 
fying a belief in the present occurrence of Archebiosis 
—and that, on the contrary, the doctrine “omne 
vivum ex vivo” was still, not only in the ascendant, 
but “victorious along the whole line.” He showed, 
by what doubtless appeared to the majority of his 
audience a brilliantly conclusive chain of evidence, 
that the sole cause of putrefaction in certain expe- 
rimental fluids was, as maintained by Pasteur, their 
unperceived contamination with atmospheric germs. 
Professor Huxley, however, fell into the error which 
M. Pasteur had previously committed -— he ascribed 
to the presence and influence of germs of Bacteria, 
phenomena which have now been shown to be pro- 
ducible, and actually produced in many instances, 
by the mere dead organic particles which the air 
contains in such abundance. Speaking of living 
Bacteria germs, Professor Huxley summed up by 
saying :—“ Considering their lightness and the wide 
diffusion of the organisms which produce them, it is 
impossible to conceive that they should not be sus- 
pended in the atmosphere in myriads.” Had Pro- 
fessor Huxley himself made some careful and dis- 
criminating experiments on this part of the subject, 
* See Mature, Sep. 22 and 29, 1870. 
