The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-09-06
Insects Brought Into
Boing---CouId the
Globe People
Itself?

If the earth were devastated of all or
ganized life by some great cataclysm of
nature. could nature again populate the
globe? Surprising the last protoplasmic
germ cell were destroyed, would this mean
that the world thenceforward for countless
ages would be utterly abandoned and
desolate-until the action of the elements
had reduced it to nothingness and sent it
whirling through space as meteoric dust?
Western philosophy is practically agreed
upon the theory of Weismanns eternal
cell, protoplasmic speck, as the basis of
all animal life, but the appearance OF the
first cell is not accounted for. This theory
is correct as far as it goes, but Oriental
philosophy, while recognizing the eternal
cell as accounting for one phase of exist
ence, asserts that manifested or physical
life is but single link in the chain Of
being, and that the real life center is on
subjective planes, and affirms that not
only can all original life disappear from
the earth, and the latter be again popula-
ted, but that this actually aid occur many
times in the early history of our globe,
each success creation" bringing
higher degree of development.
Life itself is eternal and may never be
annihllated, but its manifestation in or
through any given body is dependent
on the individual organism, or rather
upon its power Of cohesion When the
body wears out the life force either goes
into some other body or flies back to the
body of the planet itself. Every atom of
matter in the globe is a reservoir of lat
ent life, which may become active under
proper conditions and evolve higher and
higher forms.
One illustration of this may be found in
the case of volcanic islands upheaved from
ocean depth, a thousand miles from any
other island, but which in the course of
ten or fifteen years are found to bear hun
dreds of varieties OF vegetable life. West
ern science Offers the theory that the seeds
must have been carried there by the winds.
In the absence of knowledge of the real
laws of life this is, of course, the only
theory that can be advanced, but when
some of the varieties are found to be diff
ferent from any elsewhere known, this
explanation at once falls to the ground.
Again, artesian-well borings in America
have penetrated some OF the early geologi-
cal strata, and from the dirt brought up
from these have also grown new varieties
OF plant life. In reply to this it may be
urged that the seeds are from plants that
grew in former ages, and whose vitality
has been preserved through the geological
ages; and in support of this argument it
can be shown that wheat taken from
mummies thousands OF years old has been
planted and produced crops.
The Eastern scientist, however, will hold
that in both cases the plants are not due
TO ordinary seeds, but rather to the ex-
banding of the life-force within the min
eral atom, which because of the existing
conditions is enabled to advance from the
mineral up to the vegetable kingdom, and
that under other conditions the Iife-force
would also manifest itself in the lower
forms of the animal kingdom, these latter
being, perhaps, the 'celr' OF Weismann.
1t is not necessary, however to limit
ourselves to the speculatlons of Oriental
metaphysics as to the ability of nature to
spontaneously generate physical life
animal life. Professor Crosse of Broom
field, England, has reported a series
OF experiments In detail before the
British Association, in which he had pro-
duced insects by the action of electricity
upon silica in connection with various
acids. Electricity is one phase of the life
force which pulsates through the so-called
'inanimate" nature and through all
animated beings, and its action upon the
minerals used in the experiments was
sufficient 10 awaken the latent life in the
stone.
Professor Crosse says in his report: an
the course of many endeavors to form ar
tiicial minerals by long-continued cleo
trio action on fluids holding in solution
y rae4,
purpose, l had recourse to every variety
of continuance l could think of. Among
other contrivances constructed wooden
frame with three shelves. Each shelf was
about seven inches square. The upper
one was pierced with an aperture in which
was fixed funnel of Wedgwood ware,
within which rested a guard basin. When
this basin was filled with fluid strip of
flannel wet with the same was suspended
over the edge of the basin and inside the
funnel, which, acting as a siphon, con-
veyed the fluid out of the basin, through
the funnel, in successive drops.
"The middle shelf of the frame was like
wise pierced with a smaller funnel OF
glass, which supported a piece of some
what porous red oxide of iron from Vesu-
vius Immediately under the dropping of
the upper runner. ms stone was ept con-
stantly electrified by means of two platina
wires on either side of it connected with
the poles OF voltaic battery of nineteen
pairs of fve-inch zinc and copper-ziuc
plates in TWO porcelain troughs, the cells
of which were filled with water. The
lower shelf merely supported a wide
mouthed bottle to receive the drops as
they fell from the second funnel. When
the basin above was nearly emptied the
fluid was passed back from the bottle into
the basin without disturbing the position
OF the stone.
1T was by mere chance that I selected
this volcanic substance, nor do believe it
had the slightest effect in the production
ofthe insects to be described The fluid
with which filed the basin was made as
follows: l reduced piece of black flint to
powder, having first exposed 1t to red
heat and quenched it in water to make it
friable. OF this powder took two ounces
and mixed it thoroughly with six ounces