THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



Ill 



beings without any structural parts, simply 

 little specks of jelly, and the question before 

 us is whether or not there be any direct pass- 

 age between the non-living unci the living? 

 The, transition from one form of living matter 

 to another was well understood. The theory 

 of evolution is a great principle, and though 

 its precise manner of working may he doubted 

 by some, the struggle for existence and the 

 survival of the fittest can now scarcely any- 

 where be doubted. Matter continues and 

 changes its form. Is there a break in this con- 

 tinuity between the living and that which is 

 n )t Hying ( Can we to-day discover evidence 

 of not living matter being changed into living 

 matter without the intervention of life The 

 majority of biologists in Europe and America, 

 though profound believers in the process of 

 evolution, yet have refused to sanction the 

 doctrine of spontaneous generation, which the 

 experiments of the early biologists seemed to 

 prove. Those early experimenters said : — 

 " If we take a solution of putrid matter, con- 

 taining living organisms, put it into a Mask 

 and boil it, and hermetically seal it while 

 boiling, we destroy a' J life contained therein, 

 but, if after s»ine weeks, we re-open the flask 

 and find those living organisms there again, 

 we have demonstrable evidence that life lias 

 originated from dead matter." Well, there 

 are a thousand ways in which such an experi- 

 ment might be objected to, and, when the 

 experiments are conducted in the hands of 

 able men like Professor Tyndall, it is found 

 that living matter does not originate from the 

 iead. 



The lecturer then had thrown upon the 

 screen, by means of the oxy-hydrogen lantern, 

 largely magnified photographs of the sting of 

 a wasp, and the point of one of the finest 



needles. In the latter, the surface, which to 

 the naked eye, seemed even and highly point- 

 ed, was when brought under sufficient 

 magnifying power, found to be full of furrows 

 and indentures, thus showing the wide differ- 

 ence between the finest art and the work of 

 nature. Magnifying does not simply mean 

 an enlargement of the outline only, but a] s o 

 the bringing to view of structure which before 

 was invisible. The lecturer further illustrated 

 this by beautiful photographs of very minute 

 For aminifer ous shells, so small that the point 

 of a fine needle would be sufficient to cover 

 them ; yet these shells, minute as they are, 

 when brought uuder sufficient magnifying 

 power are found to be covered with the most 

 exquisite and perfectly arranged patterns. 

 And if, in some of these minute forms of life, 

 there seem to be things which we cannot 

 understand, it might, in some cases, be due 

 to our power of magnifying not being 

 sufficiently strong to see them. 



If you take a piece of dead iish, a piece of 

 bay, or a bit of beef; put it into a glass of 

 water, and set it on your mantle-shelf, you 

 will find in the course of a few hours, or per- 

 haps days, that it will be teeming with animal 

 life. Now, how did these minute animals get 

 there ? Were they originated in the dead 

 matter, or did they follow the general plan of 

 nature and proceed from something analog- 

 ous to eggs 1 In order tc answer this question 

 it is necessary to select some particular class ot 

 animals, and watch closely their transform- 

 ations ; this the lecturer set himself to do, 

 and it had taken him sixteen years to arrive 

 at his present conclusions. 



Tu be contiiuued, 



FOR SALE 

 BRITISH MACRO- AND MICRO-LEPIDOPTERA, 



Including man j that are Local and Rare. 

 Also, during each Month of the Season, Ova, Larvse, and Pupa; can be supplied. 



FOR PRICE LISTS APPLY TO 



JC. R. SHEPPAKD, 13, Limes Villas, Lewisham, Kent, S.E. 



