Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-11-19

Spontaneous Generation.
The doctrine of spontaneous genera |
ton, or the production of life without
antecedent life, is an old one. The early |
Greeks received it without question. Ar
istotlc held that all shell-fish, many in
sects, and even cells, We're spontaneously |
generated i'll the mud that maggots
were the spontaneous product of putrid
flesh. Redi, however, proved that mag
gots are only the yGGn. iii . lie laid
down the fundamental proposition that
there is no life without nntecetlent life.
The discussion which followed led to the
almost complete overthrow OF the doc
trine of spontaneous generation.
But the invention Of the microscope,
and the discovery of infusoria by its aid,
revived the doctrine and renewed the dis
cussion. In the year 1857, Andrew Cros-
by, an Irish professor, announced that as
the result of his experiments, he was
able to create living beings by Lis own
act. This was accomplishedby enclosing
i'll glass vessel, containing n solution Of
sugar, certain pieces of brick through
which current of electricity was passed.
The announcement produced wonderful
connection excitement ran high and
discussion waxed warm. The followers
of Lamarck, whose system of doctrine
was galvanized into new life about this
time by the appearance OF the ''Nestiges
of Creation" were exceedingly elated,
and warmed up in their zeal. and all
vanced to the conflict with great assur-
ance. They proclaimed that the Monas
CrosJii, us the new found production
was to be known, proved conclusively
that the forces of nature, light, heat and
electricity, operating on dead matter were
competent to originate living beings.
But others repeated the experiments OF
Mr.. Crosby, and it was soon proved that
the germs of the NoHaS CTOSbU existed
previously in the pores of the brick, and
that the product itself belongedto an old,
well known species of lnfusorla. Conse-
quently the little stranger, i'll name at
least, had to be stricken from the list Of
existing animals.
The controversy excited by this discus
sion was carried into the French Acade-
my of Sciences, where a sharp conflict on
the subject of spontaneous generation
has been wagel almost ev, II since The
members were divided into two parties,
one tsnd much the larger, holding that
the forces of nature can and do produce
a French chemist, opposed this notion
with all his powers, and to his stubborn
resistance, We owe some of the most i'm
portant discoveries of modern times.
With his microscope and pen he fought
the doctrine till he ACHIEVED n most tri-
umphant victory The last opposer
was finally driven from the field. He en-
tered upon n most painstaking examina-
Of la for oil
and demonstrated that many processes
previously regarded as chemical were
really biological in their character The
| appearance of living forms in infusions
Of meat, sugar, hay and other similar
substances, under circumstances that
seemed to preclude the presence of pa
rent forms, was very common occur
renee But there was one condition es
sential to success i'll all these experiments,
however performed the infusion must
| be brought into contact with the atmos-
| pheric air. Just moments contact, or
a simple pin-hole perforation for the al
mission of air, WIS sufficient but the
vivifying principles of the air must be
admitted, and in few weeks or months
the solution would swarm with infuso-
rial life. Pasteur called in question the
/
that the air is filled with infusorial germs,
and that the briefest contact with the air,
or the most minute perforation, was suf-
ficient to SOW the seeds for an abundant
harvest of these low forms of life. He
filled bottles with boiled infusions, but
passed the air admitted to them over red
hot pounded glass. The infusions re-
manned sweet with no appearance of III
fusorial life Again, he admitted pure
oxygen, artificially generated, to his in
fusions and no life appeared. He also
caused the air to pass over pumlce stone
moistened with sulphuric acid, and enter
his bottles without any sign of life fol
lowing. In still other experiments he
caused the air in entering his bottles to
bubble up through various liquids con-
tanning strong oxydizing substances, and
they rarely gave any indications of life.
These experiments were objected to by
Pouchet on the ground that these chemi-
Gals not only destroy germs, but they
disturb the polarity of the air molecules
SO that life is no longer produced con-
tact with natural air is requisite" To
meet this objection Pasteur took his bot
ties of infusions to the top of Mont Blanc,
entirely above the germ-laden atmosphere
of lower attitudes, and having boiled
them. exposed them, while cooling, To
the air. He then sealed them up anu
brought them to Paris, where they re-
manned sweet and free from all indica-
tons of any form of life.
As still further proof, he next boiled
meat in Il glass retort, and then had the
neck Of it drawn out into long, fine
tube, which was reeled into coil. AL
lowing this to cool gradually, the air
slowly passed through the tube into the
vessel, depositing all living germs ON the
sides of the tube in its passage into
where the solution was. Here it remain
ed for months in direct contact with the
meat and liquid without any faint, putre-
faction or germinal life appearing upon
it. Such is brief outline of the course
of experiments which NJ. Pasteur pur-
sued to establish the doctrine that all
life comes from some antecedent life, and
| that there is no living being in existence
/ but that has sprung from some pre-exist-
ing living germ. Twenty years of his
life he devoted to the solution of this
problem twenty years fpeering through
the microscope. by which he sacrificed
his health and his life, but that brought
him MS complete victory as ever crown
ed the labors Of any hero. When his
lust report was to be presented to the
Academy he was carried into the cham
Der where it was sitting an almost blind
paralytic, from his devotion to his labors.
The last c,ivil Of his opponents was an
swered, and the doctrine was established,
that no form of life is ever generated
from dead matter simply by the action Of
the forces of nature, i'll the absence of
living germs. lie demonstrated at least
that the ordinary air is rife with living
germs that are constantly finding their
way upon and into every solid and liquid
substance exposed To heslightest breath,
and wherever they find Il suitable indus
they spring forth into active life. 1t is
| thus that the moulds and smut and rust
that attack our plants and stores of all
kinds, spring forth i'll suchcountless null
titudes as ii by magic, when atmospheric
influences are favorable to their develop
ment. Thas also originate the parasites
that produce most diseases of both man
and beast: This source seems to be am
ply adequate 10 produce all the living
forms thai appear so suddenly and mys-
teriously 1T times, without attrlbutlng
them 10 spontaneous generation.
That tl,, forces of nature can or even I
do produce living beings i'll the absence |
of parent germs, Is not only contrary 10 /
the results of the most careful scrutiny, /
but it is also contrary TO all our knowl-
edge of the operations of those forces.
We know not that electricity can. under
any circumstances, originate life; but We