, 1877-07-09

tnfusuns 1,nl lost In Kew Gnrdcns Qcncrattyc
energy. wlfyh Tiny IM+ecfsrd In the thfnrntory
81 tlLu Royal institution, or thcts dcW,1tment In
ron ol It's nlr. With view of making nearer
home experiments similar those nalo At Few,
ahed was Greeted on tho roof OF tho
Royal tnstltu,iu,1.. Chambers vcrn pre-
i.isions which lati never been permitted 10 cou,e
near tic laboratory. The frat experiments fall
eli utterly, tho Dir Of tllo shcd proving eenahly
as inicctive as that Of the laboratory !tseli Tho
cause Of this wes not far to seek, rrof. Tyn-
dal's asslstanta Ind passed from the laboratory
~ the she'd, and from the she'd To the laboratory
unconscious eareters Of intcctloas* Thn. shed
was subsequently ,li4lnfecteti, anu u1tnfcctcd
exposure of the tnfusIons. The result was that
they remained pellueEa and without any trace Of
bacterial l!fo. Nov, rod thirty teet long
those - the laboratory. Al one end Of this rod
five minutes boiling rendered The tnfusions bar
rcn: at tho other end tho same nfualona resist
cd ls0 minutes boiling. Shall VIC then Infer thnt
SPONTANEOUS generation AMI at thu other DO mott
Or that nt ono end We have obsttnatcly infectivr
and nt Tho other end comparatively uninfcctive
nlrl It Is needless TO dwell upon the at,-
;' an a. '%s eas e q, q ,fas. e.. o sf
tlisease: TLcro Is not phenomenon Of tho
one which does not find its parallel among the
phenomena of the other. Whcrc, then, nfc wo
;insed ths orsan!tins ot patreiset!on, sitsr ,he
ordcal 10 which tho tnfuslons in tic laboratory
had been expoecda prof. Tvndafl rendered it
Visible. Placing small truss VI old and dGsic-
undrr q lortzontal hca,n u Light sent through
tho tlaskcnc1 theatre Of the Nnyal Institution.
TN heating the hay clouds OF lne dust rosa Into
the beatD. That was tho contagiun,. Mingled
Ind spread plague among tho inlu.ons, a.-
eerttng their vitality after e1posurn for hours to
a boiling t,cat Washing these germs from tho
hay We obtain On infcct!7o virus, which, Il COM
perfectly sterillzcd Infusion OF ykind, canscs
It in twenty l.nuts to swarm with rutrcfactive
organisms. 1t may be, for auEht the Professor
knew, tho contaEfum 0f hay-fcyer. Certain 1t
this catarrh, vtbrtos smllar 70 those developed
the fever sp Is III s Low W would these s obstnaie
germs act 10 tho wards Of .. hosplta1i
and sores of living nHenl Wonll they succumb
to ordinary alslnfcctantsi These ore questions
Of the gravcst import, which tho enlightened
10 ss~er tor I .e o. .appose s 81H suneh hUM Of
this hay shaken III the air Of an establishment
devoted to tho preserving Of meats and vcgota-
bles, Ia 1t not probable that tho ordinary pro-
sss Soa z sSy Ess ss sssoy ,e
may bc adtlcd TINT n wtry hay from Gutdforl
which did not xppear to DO old proved almost a.
tInuously for four hours, these desIccatcd germs
tlclcd tive six, and, in ono instances eight hours'
boiling. Ne now turn to another aspect OF Tho
question: following the plnIn Indications Of the
Is i've 'sag sgy.ss q ts es Ts 's;ss %
. moment .aso were described as rcsist-
orc tniafascd and resistant tha alglt organ: :
sms .;t' whch p spring from them H. arc plsstc and
cyor committed 1y biological writers on this
question consists III tho confoundng uf tho germ
and IL ottspring. The actlve bacteria developed
from those obstinate @ germs arc destroyed at
,lsct unon these facts. For all known germs
there exists period uf lncuhatEon during wlicl,
they prepare themselves for csncfEc',ce rs the
fin!ahcd osgsn!sms, which havo been proved 80
we'll wisi'u 1t, the Infusion be. boiled for tho
fraction OF a m,nutc, ovcn before tho boiling
point Ia rcaclc1 Mt al, tho softcned germs which
afo then appsoac'ilng their ,phsse Of s!nsl DC
each suercssiyo heating viii destroy tho germs
then aoftencd, until! alter sufficient number Of
heating. ths last living germ vii disappear;
i q sts9iiss.son ''"f here Do described t ''ne ta.
falllb'e; a temperature. moreover, tar below tho
boiling point salilces for sterilization. Prof.
Tynda1l allowed infuslons OF mutton and tur.ilp
con'patent to reAIss llvo hours' continuous boil
tug, hut which had hcea reduced to utter bar.
rellucss by the proper application Of tenpera-
tura OF leo degrees Fahrenheit Nunhcr1css
observations Indicated that okFgsn was ncccs-
vcW. A thick scum would often collect upon
tho top OF an infusion which scum, greedy OF
oxygen, and approprtatinv 1T permitted no tface
Of the gas to reach tbs infusion underneath,
which rumatncl on this account aa pellucld as
tltsttlicd water. 1lcnco tho idea Of sterilIxing
Tho infttslons BY depHgtng them Of air. This
Maa done with perfect succeha. 5nbjecttnQ an
infusion for four OF Ave hours to Tic action OF
70 one mlnu.e's boiling with Efaw 70 artlneu|sh
lts already expiring life, In thu great majority
Of cases ger,ns wore dsatroyed. A minute thus
accomplished What 500 minutes In tho presence
a. air failed to accomplish. Hcrs, As In
MI other Cases, cd and deslecated hay Infusion
proved most intrattablo. Nor ia tho effect hero
mentioned TO be Ascrtbed to tncro suspension
o. tho llfs OF tho 9ermsi they are deprived Of
life By hoIng deprived Of air, Tor when after a
iniusions It falls TO revive them. 1t u obvious
that these remarks also apply 10 tntusions
purged of aiE by boiling. There 10 a singular
similarity tcswceu tho vital actions Of these
Frivat!on OF oxygen stiles both low and high.
and excess Of oxygen poisons both. Prof. Tyn-
dali exhibited infusons Of beef and mutton
which had hccn subjected for iaAny. xoeks to
which wcro swect, transparent, aud without
truce Of lisu- In connection With this subject,
the Professor referred to tho beautiful expert-
.aent. Of ~; Paul Bert, sna concluded l. hls
think It necessary to summarize what has been
here brought before you. III fAct, the whols
discourse ia but summing up Of eight months
Of inss.saat M Labor; From ths beginning to the
shadow OF evidence In favor OF tlc doctrine of
spontaneous. generations. There ts, on tho con-