1871.] Mr. F. Crace-Calvert on Protoplasmic Life. 



471 



flask had remained perfectly free from life up to this time, a period of close 

 on sixteen weeks. 



On the 9th of February 100 fluid grains of albumen from a new-laid egg 

 were introduced, as quickly as possible and with the greatest care, into 

 10 ounces of pure distilled water contained in the flask in which it had 

 been condensed, and an atmosphere of hydrogen kept over it. On the 

 16th some of the fluid was taken out by means of the siphon H, and 

 examined, and no life being present, twelve tubes were filled with the fluid, 

 exposed to the air for eight hours, and closed. On the 2 1st the contents of 

 some of the tubes were examined, when a few vibrios and microzyma were 

 distinctly seen in each field. On the 27th other tubes were examined, and 

 showed a marked increase in the amount of life. In this series life ap- 

 peared in five days, and an increase in ten, instead of requiring twenty-four 

 days, as was the case when pure water only was employed. 



Albumen therefore facilitated the development of life. Of course the 

 contents of the flask were examined at the same time, but in no instance 

 was life detected. I believe that these three series of experiments tend to 

 prove the fallacy of the theory of spontaneous generation ; for if it were 

 possible, why should not life have appeared in the pure distilled water, or in 

 the albuminous solution, which were kept successively in the flask B, as well 

 as in the fluids which were contained in the tubes, and had been exposed to 

 the atmosphere or near animal matter in a state of decay, and had thus 

 become impregnated with the germs of protoplasmic life ? What gives 

 still further interest to these experiments is, that, having operated during 

 the severe weather of last winter, when little or no life existed in the 

 atmosphere, I was able to impregnate the fluids with germs without intro- 

 ducing developed life. 



The quantity of life produced in the above-recited experiments being com- 

 paratively small, I was led to infer that this might be due to the influence of 

 the atmosphere of hydrogen employed to displace the air in the apparatus 

 used for obtaining the water. I therefore, on the 2nd of March, prepared 

 a solution of albumen similar to that before employed, but expelled the air 

 out of the apparatus by pure oxygen ; and as the contents of the flask 

 B were free from life on the 8th of March, a series of small tubes were 

 filled and exposed for twenty-six hours to the atmosphere near putrid 

 matter, and then sealed. Several of these tubes were opened on the 11th, 

 and immediately examined, when only a few cells were observed in each 

 field. A second lot was opened on the 14th, and they showed con- 

 siderable increase of life, there being two or three vibrios under each field. 

 A third quantity was opened on the 25th, when no increase had taken 

 place. This latter result tends to show that although oxygen appears to 

 favour the development of germs, still it does not appear to favour their 

 reproduction. 



As the weather had become much warmer, and a marked increase of life 

 in the atmosphere had taken place, some of the same albumen solution as 

 vol. xix. 2 o 



