1872.] 



Evolution of Life from Lifeless Matter. 



145 



of soda. The examination was made in the same manner. No trace of 

 life was discernible. Time kept 78 days. Heated to 110°C. 



Exp. IV. Tube containing phosphate of soda and tartrate of ammonia, 

 perfectly exhausted. Sealed on August 6th, 18/0. Heated to 140° C. for 

 four hours. Opened October 8th. 



Seven drops of liquid were taken from the tube, but no trace of living 

 matter was discernible. The first drop contained a cotton-fibre and a small 

 brown mass, identical in nature with that before mentioned. On October 

 12th a renewed examination was made with a higher power, ^ inch, by Ross, 

 kindly lent by Mr. Savory, which, with the eyepiece used before, gave an 

 enlargement of about 600 diameters. A diligent search revealed nothing 

 beyond what was before noticed. The contents of the tube were then 

 allowed to run into a flask cleansed first with acid bichromate and then 

 rinsed twice or thrice with hot distilled water, and finally dried in an air- 

 bath. The flask and its contents were closed against dust of a coarse kind, 

 which, though not floating in the air, might have fallen into the liquid. 

 By inverting a small beaker over its mouth, it was allowed to remain with 

 the unopened tubes at a temperature of 25° C. On November 3rd a small 

 fungoid growth was noticed in the liquid, and on November 7th this had 

 increased to | inch in diameter. It proved to be a mass of Pencillium with 

 abundance of mycelium-filaments interlaced. The fellow tube, sealed 

 on August 6th and unopened, had nothing in it that the eye, aided by a 

 lens and a powerful light, could detect. Several other tubes were prepared, 

 but no further examination was made with the microscope. In no case, 

 however (and some of the tubes had been sealed nearly six months), was 

 any sign of life perceptible. 



Unfortunately a very serious illness for some time prevented the con- 

 tinuance of my experiments. This work was done in the chemical laboratory 

 of the Royal Institution. I cannot, therefore, omit giving my best thanks 

 to Dr. Odling, and also to Prof. Tyndall, for their kindly interest and 

 advice. 



Part II. 



Modification of Experiments. 



In the renewed examination of liquids kept some time in sealed tubes, 

 commenced in July 1871, a slight modification in the original method of 

 proceeding was used. A bell-jar was chosen, the upper mouth of which 

 was ground perfectly flat at the edge. Instead of inserting a bung with a 

 hole in it to receive the tubes, a metal disk, with a wide metal tube placed 

 eccentrically and projecting half an inch, was luted on to the mouth of the 

 jar by means of grease, or, better still, what is known in pharmacy as 

 resincB ceratum. The glass sealed tube was then slipped into an india-rubber 

 conical stopper, or rather ring*; for tbe thickness of it was so slight that 



* These things are made and sold for the purpose of fixing the taps into beer- 

 barrels. 



