ORIGIN OF THE ANIMATE P TRIBES. 



97 



trie first of the above substances, employed ferro-cya.net of 

 potash, on account of its containing a larger proportion of 

 carbon, the principal element of organic bodies ; and from 

 this substance the insects were produced in increased 

 numbers A few weeks sufficed for this experiment, with 

 the powerful battery of Mr. Crosse , but the first attempts 

 of Mr. Weekes required about eleven months, a ground 

 of presumption in itself that the electricity was chiefly 

 concerned in the phenomenon. The changes undergone 

 by the fluid operated upon, were in both cases remarkable, 

 and nearly alike. In Mr. Weekes' apparatus, the silicate 

 of potash became first turbid, then of a milky appearance ; 

 round the negative wire of the battery, dipped into the 

 fluid, there gathered a quantity of gelatinous matter, a part 

 of the process of considerable importance, considering that 

 gelatin is one of the proximate principles, or first com- 

 pounds of which animal bodies are formed. From this 

 matter, Mr. Weekes observed one of the insects in the 

 v^ry act of emerging, immediately after which, it ascend- 

 ed to the surface of the fluid and sought concealment in 

 an obscure corner of the apparatus. The insects produced 

 by both experimentalists seem to have been the same, a 

 species of acarus, minute and semi-transparent, and fur- 

 nished with long bristles, which can only be seen by the 

 Aid of the microscope. It is worthy of remark, that some 

 of these insects, soon after their existence had commenc- 

 ed, were found to be likely to extend their species. They 

 were sometimes observed to go back to the fluid to feed, 

 and occasionally they devoured each other.* 



The reception of novelties in science must ever be re- 

 gulated very much by the amount of kindred or relative 

 phenomena which the public mind afteady possesses and 

 acknowledges, to which the new can be assimilated. A 

 novelty, however true, if there be no received truths with 

 which it can be shown in harmonious relation, has little 

 chance of a favorable hearing. In fact, as has often been 

 observed, there is a measure of incredulity from our igno- 

 rance as well as from our knowledge, and if the most dis- 

 tinguished philosopher three hundred years ago, had ven- 

 tured to develop any striking new fact which only could 

 harmonize with the as yet unknown Copernican solar 

 system, we cannot doubt the t it would have been univer- 

 sally scoffed at in the scientific world, such as it then 

 * See a pamphlet circulated by Mr. Weekes, in 1842. 



