101 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS- [September so, 1S71. 
the air and cany off all the germs the air may have 
contained. The clip Gr is first left open, then this closed 
and the clip K opened, which allows the gas to 
through the water in the vessel L. _ iUr about fifteen 
The gas should he passed^ J^dsed and the distillation 
minutes. Thn clip ^ifiT operation is complete, the gas 
■carried ^opjrairT passed through the apparatus, and the 
Connection with the tube I broken by closing the clip 
K. The water is drawn off through the siphon F. The 
long tube acts as a safety-tube, and is made so long that 
the absorption is noticed in ample time to close the clip 
before any air can enter through that tube. 
The water has to be redistilled three or four times 
before it is obtained free from germs, and must be kept 
in the apparatus in which it is distilled until wanted, to 
prevent any contact with air. 
Some water which had been distilled on the 20th of 
November, 1870, being still free from life on the 7th of 
December, was introduced by the siphon H into twelve 
small tubes, and left exposed to the atmosphere for fifteen 
hours, when the tubes were closed. Every eight days 
some of the tubes were opened and their contents exa¬ 
mined. On the fifteenth, therefore, the first examina¬ 
tion was made, when no life was observed; on the 
twenty-third two or three other tubes were examined, 
and again no life was detected; whilst in the series 
opened on the 2nd of January, 1871 (that is to say, 
twenty-four daj^s from the time the tubes were closed), 
two or three black vibrios were found in each field. 
Being impressed with the idea that this slow and 
limited development of protoplasmic life might be attri¬ 
buted to the small amount of life existing in the atmo¬ 
sphere at this period of the year,* a second series of 
experiments was commenced on the 4th of January. 
The distilled water in the flask being still free from life, 
a certain quantity of it was put into twelve small tubes, 
which were placed near putrid meat at a temperature of 
21 ° to 26° C. for two hours, and then sealed. On the 
10 th of the same month the contents of some of the 
tubes were examined, when two or three small black 
vibrios were observed under each field. This result 
shows that the fluid having been placed near a source 
of protoplasmic life, germs had introduced themselves in 
two hours in sufficient quantity for life to become visible 
in six days instead of twenty-four. Other tubes of this 
series were opened on the 17th of January, when a 
slight increase of life was noticed ; but no further deve¬ 
lopment appeared to take place after this date, as some 
examined on the 10th of March did not contain more 
life than those of the 17th of January. 
This very limited amount of life suggested the idea 
that it might be due to the employment of perfectly pure 
water, and that the vibrios did not increase from w r ant 
of the elements necessary for sustaining their life. I 
therefore commenced a third series of experiments. 
Before proceeding to describe this series, I would call 
attention to the fact that the water in the flask had 
remained perfectly free from life up to this time, a period 
of close on sixteen weeks. 
f microzyma were distinctly seen in each 
ew^ViDrm 27th other tubes were examined, and 
{mowed a marked increase in the amount of life. In this 
series life appeared 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 wmre examined at the 
same time, but in no instance was life detected. I be¬ 
lieve 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 introducing 
developed life. 
The quantity of life produced in the above-recited ex¬ 
periments being comparatively 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 appa¬ 
ratus 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 jjure 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 considerable 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 reproduc¬ 
tion. 
As the weather had become much warmer, and a 
marked increase of life in the atmosphere had taken 
place, some of tbe same albumen solution as had been 
employed in the above experiments was left exposed in 
similar tubes to its influence, when a large quantity of 
life was rapidly developed and continued to increase. 
This result appears to show that the increase of life is 
not due to reproduction merely, but to the introduction 
of fresh germs; for, excepting this fresh supply, there 
appears to be no reason why life should increase more 
rapidly in the open than in the closed tubes. 
In concluding this paper I have great pleasure in re¬ 
cognizing the able and persevering attention with which 
my assistant, Mr. ’William Thompson, has carried out 
these experiments. 
On the 9th of February 100 fluid grains of albumen 
from a new-laid egg were introduced, as quickly as pos¬ 
sible 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 21st the 
contents of some of the tubes were examined, when a 
* Dui’ing the intense cold of December and January last 
I found it took an exposure to the atmosphere of two days at 
a temperature of 12° C. before life appeared in solution of 
white of egg in the pure distilled water, whilst as the weather 
got warmer the time required became less. 
GLYCERIZED COTTON FOR DRESSING WOUNDS. 
Professor Gubler, at a recent meeting of the Academic 
de Medecine, exhibited some specimens of wadding pre¬ 
pared by saturating it with a certain quantity of gly¬ 
cerine, which he had found to render it permeable to all 
medicinal liquids, without causing it to lose any of its 
suppleness and lightness. He suggested that in this 
state it might prove a useful substitute for charpie, in 
the event of a scarcity of that article. Dr. Delaborde 
has already employed it with advantage. In order to 
prepare this dressing, it is only necessary to pour a small 
quantity of glycerine over the square sheet of wadding, 
and afterwards express it as strongly as possible.— 
Journal de Fharmacie et de Chimie. 
