60 ORGANIC EVOLUTION CONSIDERED 



to propagate its kind. Dead protoplasm may have 

 the same chemical composition that living protoplasm 

 has, and even living protoplasm may be wholly unable 

 to produce other protoplasm. 



Did nature in her laboratory, through the second- 

 ary agencies of matter and force alone, create the 

 first living organism, with the wonderful power of 

 propagating its kind? 



If she has done this we are absolutely ignorant of 

 the fact. There is no case of analogy from which we 

 can conclude that she thus creates living beings from 

 dead matter. Besides this, the facts, so far as 

 known, point in the other direction. It should be 

 remembered that spontaneous generation is a neces- 

 sary part of the theory of evolution as held by most 

 evolutionists. 



If natural forces acting on matter in the usual way 

 ever created living beings, I know of no reason why 

 this process should not have continued through all 

 time since the first living being appeared. It is not 

 commonly claimed that spontaneous generation is 

 taking place at present. A few years ago the scien- 

 tific world was much agitated over the subject. Dr. 

 Bastion thought that, beyond doubt, he had shown 

 that spontaneous generation takes place from organic 

 infusions. Then followed Tyndall with almost a 

 thousand experiments, in which he proved to the 

 satisfaction of the scientific world that spontaneous 

 generation does not take place from organic in- 

 fusions; that, so far as experiments show anything, it 

 is that a living organism must have had a parent 

 organism. 



It will be noticed that in these experiments he and 

 others used water which already contained organic 

 matter. The protoplasm necessary to form the body 

 of the new living organism was ready made and at 



