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diff --git a/old/thx0310.txt b/old/thx0310.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..27959e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/thx0310.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1076 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Origination of Living Beings +#13 in our series by Thomas H. Huxley + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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Huxley + + + + +In the two preceding lectures I have endeavoured to indicate to you the +extent of the subject-matter of the inquiry upon which we are engaged; +and now, having thus acquired some conception of the Past and Present +phenomena of Organic Nature, I must now turn to that which constitutes +the great problem which we have set before ourselves;--I mean, the +question of what knowledge we have of the causes of these phenomena of +organic nature, and how such knowledge is obtainable. + +Here, on the threshold of the inquiry, an objection meets us. There are +in the world a number of extremely worthy, well-meaning persons, whose +judgments and opinions are entitled to the utmost respect on account of +their sincerity, who are of opinion that Vital Phenomena, and +especially all questions relating to the origin of vital phenomena, are +questions quite apart from the ordinary run of inquiry, and are, by +their very nature, placed out of our reach. They say that all these +phenomena originated miraculously, or in some way totally different from +the ordinary course of nature, and that therefore they conceive it to +be futile, not to say presumptuous, to attempt to inquire into them. + +To such sincere and earnest persons, I would only say, that a question +of this kind is not to be shelved upon theoretical or speculative +grounds. You may remember the story of the Sophist who demonstrated to +Diogenes in the most complete and satisfactory manner that he could not +walk; that, in fact, all motion was an impossibility; and that Diogenes +refuted him by simply getting up and walking round his tub. So, in the +same way, the man of science replies to objections of this kind, by +simply getting up and walking onward, and showing what science has done +and is doing--by pointing to that immense mass of facts which have been +ascertained and systematized under the forms of the great doctrines of +Morphology, of Development, of Distribution, and the like. He sees an +enormous mass of facts and laws relating to organic beings, which stand +on the same good sound foundation as every other natural law; and +therefore, with this mass of facts and laws before us, therefore, seeing +that, as far as organic matters have hitherto been accessible and +studied, they have shown themselves capable of yielding to scientific +investigation, we may accept this as proof that order and law reign +there as well as in the rest of nature; and the man of science says +nothing to objectors of this sort, but supposes that we can and shall +walk to a knowledge of the origin of organic nature, in the same way +that we have walked to a knowledge of the laws and principles of the +inorganic world. + +But there are objectors who say the same from ignorance and ill-will. +To such I would reply that the objection comes ill from them, and that +the real presumption, I may almost say the real blasphemy, in this +matter, is in the attempt to limit that inquiry into the causes of +phenomena which is the source of all human blessings, and from which +has sprung all human prosperity and progress; for, after all, we can +accomplish comparatively little; the limited range of our own faculties +bounds us on every side,--the field of our powers of observation is +small enough, and he who endeavours to narrow the sphere of our +inquiries is only pursuing a course that is likely to produce the +greatest harm to his fellow-men. + +But now, assuming, as we all do, I hope, that these phenomena are +properly accessible to inquiry, and setting out upon our search into +the causes of the phenomena of organic nature, or, at any rate, setting +out to discover how much we at present know upon these abstruse +matters, the question arises as to what is to be our course of +proceeding, and what method we must lay down for our guidance. I reply +to that question, that our method must be exactly the same as that +which is pursued in any other scientific inquiry, the method of +scientific investigation being the same for all orders of facts and +phenomena whatsoever. + +I must dwell a little on this point, for I wish you to leave this room +with a very clear conviction that scientific investigation is not, as +many people seem to suppose, some kind of modern black art. I say that +you might easily gather this impression from the manner in which many +persons speak of scientific inquiry, or talk about inductive and +deductive philosophy, or the principles of the "Baconian philosophy." I +do protest that, of the vast number of cants in this world, there are +none, to my mind, so contemptible as the pseudoscientific cant which is +talked about the "Baconian philosophy." + +To hear people talk about the great Chancellor--and a very great man he +certainly was,--you would think that it was he who had invented +science, and that there was no such thing as sound reasoning before the +time of Queen Elizabeth. Of course you say, that cannot possibly be +true; you perceive, on a moment's reflection, that such an idea is +absurdly wrong, and yet, so firmly rooted is this sort of +impression,--I cannot call it an idea, or conception,--the thing is too +absurd to be entertained,--but so completely does it exist at the bottom +of most men's minds, that this has been a matter of observation with me +for many years past. There are many men who, though knowing absolutely +nothing of the subject with which they may be dealing, wish, +nevertheless, to damage the author of some view with which they think +fit to disagree. What they do, then, is not to go and learn something +about the subject, which one would naturally think the best way of +fairly dealing with it; but they abuse the originator of the view they +question, in a general manner, and wind up by saying that, "After all, +you know, the principles and method of this author are totally opposed +to the canons of the Baconian philosophy." Then everybody applauds, as +a matter of course, and agrees that it must be so. But if you were to +stop them all in the middle of their applause, you would probably find +that neither the speaker nor his applauders could tell you how or in +what way it was so; neither the one nor the other having the slightest +idea of what they mean when they speak of the "Baconian philosophy." + +You will understand, I hope, that I have not the slightest desire to +join in the outcry against either the morals, the intellect, or the +great genius of Lord Chancellor Bacon. He was undoubtedly a very great +man, let people say what they will of him; but notwithstanding all that +he did for philosophy, it would be entirely wrong to suppose that the +methods of modern scientific inquiry originated with him, or with his +age; they originated with the first man, whoever he was; and indeed +existed long before him, for many of the essential processes of +reasoning are exerted by the higher order of brutes as completely and +effectively as by ourselves. We see in many of the brute creation the +exercise of one, at least, of the same powers of reasoning as that +which we ourselves employ. + +The method of scientific investigation is nothing but the expression of +the necessary mode of working of the human mind. It is simply the mode +at which all phenomena are reasoned about, rendered precise and exact. +There is no more difference, but there is just the same kind of +difference, between the mental operations of a man of science and those +of an ordinary person, as there is between the operations and methods +of a baker or of a butcher weighing out his goods in common scales, and +the operations of a chemist in performing a difficult and complex +analysis by means of his balance and finely-graduated weights. It is +not that the action of the scales in the one case, and the balance in +the other, differ in the principles of their construction or manner of +working; but the beam of one is set on an infinitely finer axis than +the other, and of course turns by the addition of a much smaller +weight. + +You will understand this better, perhaps, if I give you some familiar +example. You have all heard it repeated, I dare say, that men of +science work by means of Induction and Deduction, and that by the help +of these operations, they, in a sort of sense, wring from Nature +certain other things, which are called Natural Laws, and Causes, and +that out of these, by some cunning skill of their own, they build up +Hypotheses and Theories. And it is imagined by many, that the +operations of the common mind can be by no means compared with these +processes, and that they have to be acquired by a sort of special +apprenticeship to the craft. To hear all these large words, you would +think that the mind of a man of science must be constituted differently +from that of his fellow men; but if you will not be frightened by +terms, you will discover that you are quite wrong, and that all these +terrible apparatus are being used by yourselves every day and every +hour of your lives. + +There is a well-known incident in one of Moliere's plays, where the +author makes the hero express unbounded delight on being told that he +had been talking prose during the whole of his life. In the same way, +I trust, that you will take comfort, and be delighted with yourselves, +on the discovery that you have been acting on the principles of +inductive and deductive philosophy during the same period. Probably +there is not one here who has not in the course of the day had occasion +to set in motion a complex train of reasoning, of the very same kind, +though differing of course in degree, as that which a scientific man +goes through in tracing the causes of natural phenomena. + +A very trivial circumstance will serve to exemplify this. Suppose you +go into a fruiterer's shop, wanting an apple,--you take up one, and, on +biting it, you find it is sour; you look at it, and see that it is hard +and green. You take up another one, and that too is hard, green, and +sour. The shopman offers you a third; but, before biting it, you +examine it, and find that it is hard and green, and you immediately say +that you will not have it, as it must be sour, like those that you have +already tried. + +Nothing can be more simple than that, you think; but if you will take +the trouble to analyze and trace out into its logical elements what has +been done by the mind, you will be greatly surprised. In the first +place, you have performed the operation of Induction. You found that, +in two experiences, hardness and greenness in apples go together with +sourness. It was so in the first case, and it was confirmed by the +second. True, it is a very small basis, but still it is enough to make +an induction from; you generalize the facts, and you expect to find +sourness in apples where you get hardness and greenness. You found +upon that a general law, that all hard and green apples are sour; and +that, so far as it goes, is a perfect induction. Well, having got your +natural law in this way, when you are offered another apple which you +find is hard and green, you say, "All hard and green apples are sour; +this apple is hard and green, therefore this apple is sour." That +train of reasoning is what logicians call a syllogism, and has all its +various parts and terms,--its major premiss, its minor premiss, and its +conclusion. And, by the help of further reasoning, which, if drawn +out, would have to be exhibited in two or three other syllogisms, you +arrive at your final determination, "I will not have that apple." So +that, you see, you have, in the first place, established a law by +Induction, and upon that you have founded a Deduction, and reasoned out +the special conclusion of the particular case. Well now, suppose, +having got your law, that at some time afterwards, you are discussing +the qualities of apples with a friend: you will say to him, "It is a +very curious thing,--but I find that all hard and green apples are +sour!" Your friend says to you, "But how do you know that?" You at +once reply, "Oh, because I have tried it over and over again, and have +always found them to be so." Well. if we were talking science instead +of common sense, we should call that an Experimental Verification. And, +if still opposed, you go further, and say, "I have heard from the +people in Somersetshire and Devonshire, where a large number of apples +are grown, that they have observed the same thing. It is also found to +be the case in Normandy, and in North America. In short, I find it to +be the universal experience of mankind wherever attention has been +directed to the subject." Whereupon, your friend, unless he is a very +unreasonable man, agrees with you, and is convinced that you are quite +right in the conclusion you have drawn. He believes, although perhaps +he does not know he believes it, that the more extensive Verifications +are,--that the more frequently experiments have been made, and results +of the same kind arrived at,--that the more varied the conditions under +which the same results have been attained, the more certain is the +ultimate conclusion, and he disputes the question no further. He sees +that the experiment has been tried under all sorts of conditions, as to +time, place, and people, with the same result; and he says with you, +therefore, that the law you have laid down must be a good one, and he +must believe it. + +In science we do the same thing;--the philosopher exercises precisely +the same faculties, though in a much more delicate manner. In +scientific inquiry it becomes a matter of duty to expose a supposed law +to every possible kind of verification, and to take care, moreover, +that this is done intentionally, and not left to a mere accident, as in +the case of the apples. And in science, as in common life, our +confidence in a law is in exact proportion to the absence of variation +in the result of our experimental verifications. For instance, if you +let go your grasp of an article you may have in your hand, it will +immediately fall to the ground. That is a very common verification of +one of the best established laws of nature--that of gravitation. The +method by which men of science establish the existence of that law is +exactly the same as that by which we have established the trivial +proposition about the sourness of hard and green apples. But we +believe it in such an extensive, thorough, and unhesitating manner +because the universal experience of mankind verifies it, and we can +verify it ourselves at any time; and that is the strongest possible +foundation on which any natural law can rest. + +So much by way of proof that the method of establishing laws in science +is exactly the same as that pursued in common life. Let us now turn to +another matter (though really it is but another phase of the same +question), and that is, the method by which, from the relations of +certain phenomena, we prove that some stand in the position of causes +towards the others. + +I want to put the case clearly before you, and I will therefore show you +what I mean by another familiar example. I will suppose that one of +you, on coming down in the morning to the parlour of your house, finds +that a tea-pot and some spoons which had been left in the room on the +previous evening are gone,--the window is open, and you observe the mark +of a dirty hand on the window-frame, and perhaps, in addition to that, +you notice the impress of a hob-nailed shoe on the gravel outside. All +these phenomena have struck your attention instantly, and before two +minutes have passed you say, "Oh, somebody has broken open the window, +entered the room, and run off with the spoons and the tea-pot!" That +speech is out of your mouth in a moment. And you will probably add, "I +know there has; I am quite sure of it!" You mean to say exactly what +you know; but in reality what you have said has been the expression of +what is, in all essential particulars, an Hypothesis. You do not 'know' +it at all; it is nothing but an hypothesis rapidly framed in your own +mind! And it is an hypothesis founded on a long train of inductions +and deductions. + +What are those inductions and deductions, and how have you got at this +hypothesis? You have observed, in the first place, that the window is +open; but by a train of reasoning involving many Inductions and +Deductions, you have probably arrived long before at the General +Law--and a very good one it is--that windows do not open of themselves; +and you therefore conclude that something has opened the window. A +second general law that you have arrived at in the same way is, that +tea-pots and spoons do not go out of a window spontaneously, and you +are satisfied that, as they are not now where you left them, they have +been removed. In the third place, you look at the marks on the +window-sill, and the shoemarks outside, and you say that in all +previous experience the former kind of mark has never been produced by +anything else but the hand of a human being; and the same experience +shows that no other animal but man at present wears shoes with +hob-nails on them such as would produce the marks in the gravel. I do +not know, even if we could discover any of those "missing links" that +are talked about, that they would help us to any other conclusion! At +any rate the law which states our present experience is strong enough +for my present purpose.--You next reach the conclusion, that as these +kinds of marks have not been left by any other animals than men, or are +liable to be formed in any other way than by a man's hand and shoe, the +marks in question have been formed by a man in that way. You have, +further, a general law, founded on observation and experience, and +that, too, is, I am sorry to say, a very universal and unimpeachable +one,--that some men are thieves; and you assume at once from all these +premisses--and that is what constitutes your hypothesis--that the man +who made the marks outside and on the window-sill, opened the window, +got into the room, and stole your tea-pot and spoons. You have now +arrived at a 'Vera Causa';--you have assumed a Cause which it is plain +is competent to produce all the phenomena you have observed. You can +explain all these phenomena only by the hypothesis of a thief. But +that is a hypothetical conclusion, of the justice of which you have no +absolute proof at all; it is only rendered highly probable by a series +of inductive and deductive reasonings. + +I suppose your first action, assuming that you are a man of ordinary +common sense, and that you have established this hypothesis to your own +satisfaction, will very likely be to go off for the police, and set +them on the track of the burglar, with the view to the recovery of your +property. But just as you are starting with this object, some person +comes in, and on learning what you are about, says, "My good friend, +you are going on a great deal too fast. How do you know that the man +who really made the marks took the spoons? It might have been a monkey +that took them, and the man may have merely looked in afterwards." You +would probably reply, "Well, that is all very well, but you see it is +contrary to all experience of the way tea-pots and spoons are +abstracted; so that, at any rate, your hypothesis is less probable than +mine." While you are talking the thing over in this way, another friend +arrives, one of that good kind of people that I was talking of a little +while ago. And he might say, "Oh, my dear sir, you are certainly going +on a great deal too fast. You are most presumptuous. You admit that +all these occurrences took place when you were fast asleep, at a time +when you could not possibly have known anything about what was taking +place. How do you know that the laws of Nature are not suspended +during the night? It may be that there has been some kind of +supernatural interference in this case." In point of fact, he declares +that your hypothesis is one of which you cannot at all demonstrate the +truth, and that you are by no means sure that the laws of Nature are +the same when you are asleep as when you are awake. + +Well, now, you cannot at the moment answer that kind of reasoning. You +feel that your worthy friend has you somewhat at a disadvantage. You +will feel perfectly convinced in your own mind, however, that you are +quite right, and you say to him, "My good friend, I can only be guided +by the natural probabilities of the case, and if you will be kind enough +to stand aside and permit me to pass, I will go and fetch the police." +Well, we will suppose that your journey is successful, and that by good +luck you meet with a policeman; that eventually the burglar is found +with your property on his person, and the marks correspond to his hand +and to his boots. Probably any jury would consider those facts a very +good experimental verification of your hypothesis, touching the cause +of the abnormal phenomena observed in your parlour, and would act +accordingly. + +Now, in this suppositious case, I have taken phenomena of a very common +kind, in order that you might see what are the different steps in an +ordinary process of reasoning, if you will only take the trouble to +analyse it carefully. All the operations I have described, you will +see, are involved in the mind of any man of sense in leading him to a +conclusion as to the course he should take in order to make good a +robbery and punish the offender. I say that you are led, in that case, +to your conclusion by exactly the same train of reasoning as that which +a man of science pursues when he is endeavouring to discover the origin +and laws of the most occult phenomena. The process is, and always must +be, the same; and precisely the same mode of reasoning was employed by +Newton and Laplace in their endeavours to discover and define the +causes of the movements of the heavenly bodies, as you, with your own +common sense, would employ to detect a burglar. The only difference +is, that the nature of the inquiry being more abstruse, every step has +to be most carefully watched, so that there may not be a single crack +or flaw in your hypothesis. A flaw or crack in many of the hypotheses +of daily life may be of little or no moment as affecting the general +correctness of the conclusions at which we may arrive; but, in a +scientific inquiry, a fallacy, great or small, is always of importance, +and is sure to be constantly productive of mischievous, if not fatal +results. + +Do not allow yourselves to be misled by the common notion that an +hypothesis is untrustworthy simply because it is an hypothesis. It is +often urged, in respect to some scientific conclusion, that, after all, +it is only an hypothesis. But what more have we to guide us in +nine-tenths of the most important affairs of daily life than hypotheses, +and often very ill-based ones? So that in science, where the evidence +of an hypothesis is subjected to the most rigid examination, we may +rightly pursue the same course. You may have hypotheses and +hypotheses. A man may say, if he likes, that the moon is made of green +cheese: that is an hypothesis. But another man, who has devoted a +great deal of time and attention to the subject, and availed himself of +the most powerful telescopes and the results of the observations of +others, declares that in his opinion it is probably composed of +materials very similar to those of which our own earth is made up: and +that is also only an hypothesis. But I need not tell you that there is +an enormous difference in the value of the two hypotheses. That one +which is based on sound scientific knowledge is sure to have a +corresponding value; and that which is a mere hasty random guess is +likely to have but little value. Every great step in our progress in +discovering causes has been made in exactly the same way as that which I +have detailed to you. A person observing the occurrence of certain +facts and phenomena asks, naturally enough, what process, what kind of +operation known to occur in nature applied to the particular case, will +unravel and explain the mystery? Hence you have the scientific +hypothesis; and its value will be proportionate to the care and +completeness with which its basis had been tested and verified. It is +in these matters as in the commonest affairs of practical life: the +guess of the fool will be folly, while the guess of the wise man will +contain wisdom. In all cases, you see that the value of the result +depends on the patience and faithfulness with which the investigator +applies to his hypothesis every possible kind of verification. + +I dare say I may have to return to this point by-and-by; but having +dealt thus far with our logical methods, I must now turn to something +which, perhaps, you may consider more interesting, or, at any rate, +more tangible. But in reality there are but few things that can be +more important for you to understand than the mental processes and the +means by which we obtain scientific conclusions and theories.1 Having +granted that the inquiry is a proper one, and having determined on the +nature of the methods we are to pursue and which only can lead to +success, I must now turn to the consideration of our knowledge of the +nature of the processes which have resulted in the present condition of +organic nature. + +Here, let me say at once, lest some of you misunderstand me, that I have +extremely little to report. The question of how the present condition +of organic nature came about, resolves itself into two questions. The +first is: How has organic or living matter commenced its existence? And +the second is: How has it been perpetuated? On the second question I +shall have more to say hereafter. But on the first one, what I now +have to say will be for the most part of a negative character. + +If you consider what kind of evidence we can have upon this matter, it +will resolve itself into two kinds. We may have historical evidence +and we may have experimental evidence. It is, for example, +conceivable, that inasmuch as the hardened mud which forms a +considerable portion of the thickness of the earth's crust contains +faithful records of the past forms of life, and inasmuch as these +differ more and more as we go further down,--it is possible and +conceivable that we might come to some particular bed or stratum which +should contain the remains of those creatures with which organic life +began upon the earth. And if we did so, and if such forms of organic +life were preservable, we should have what I would call historical +evidence of the mode in which organic life began upon this planet. Many +persons will tell you, and indeed you will find it stated in many works +on geology, that this has been done, and that we really possess such a +record; there are some who imagine that the earliest forms of life of +which we have as yet discovered any record, are in truth the forms in +which animal life began upon the globe. The grounds on which they base +that supposition are these:--That if you go through the enormous +thickness of the earth's crust and get down to the older rocks, the +higher vertebrate animals--the quadrupeds, birds, and fishes--cease to +be found; beneath them you find only the invertebrate animals; and in +the deepest and lowest rocks those remains become scantier and +scantier, not in any very gradual progression, however, until, at +length, in what are supposed to be the oldest rocks, the animal remains +which are found are almost always confined to four forms--'Oldhamia', +whose precise nature is not known, whether plant or animal; 'Lingula', +a kind of mollusc; 'Trilobites', a crustacean animal, having the same +essential plan of construction, though differing in many details from a +lobster or crab; and Hymenocaris, which is also a crustacean. So that +you have all the 'Fauna' reduced, at this period, to four forms: one a +kind of animal or plant that we know nothing about, and three undoubted +animals--two crustaceans and one mollusc. + +I think, considering the organization of these mollusca and crustacea, +and looking at their very complex nature, that it does indeed require a +very strong imagination to conceive that these were the first created +of all living things. And you must take into consideration the fact +that we have not the slightest proof that these which we call the +oldest beds are really so: I repeat, we have not the slightest proof of +it. When you find in some places that in an enormous thickness of +rocks there are but very scanty traces of life, or absolutely none at +all; and that in other parts of the world rocks of the very same +formation are crowded with the records of living forms, I think it is +impossible to place any reliance on the supposition, or to feel oneself +justified in supposing that these are the forms in which life first +commenced. I have not time here to enter upon the technical grounds +upon which I am led to this conclusion,--that could hardly be done +properly in half a dozen lectures on that part alone;--I must content +myself with saying that I do not at all believe that these are the +oldest forms of life. + +I turn to the experimental side to see what evidence we have there. To +enable us to say that we know anything about the experimental +origination of organization and life, the investigator ought to be able +to take inorganic matters, such as carbonic acid, ammonia, water, and +salines, in any sort of inorganic combination, and be able to build +them up into Protein matter, and that that Protein matter ought to +begin to live in an organic form. That, nobody has done as yet, and I +suspect it will be a long while before anybody does do it. But the +thing is by no means so impossible as it looks; for the researches of +modern chemistry have shown us--I won't say the road towards it, but, +if I may so say, they have shown the finger-post pointing to the road +that may lead to it. + +It is not many years ago--and you must recollect that Organic Chemistry +is a young science, not above a couple of generations old,--you must +not expect too much of it; it is not many years ago since it was said +to be perfectly impossible to fabricate any organic compound; that is +to say, any non-mineral compound which is to be found in an organized +being. It remained so for a very long period; but it is now a +considerable number of years since a distinguished foreign chemist +contrived to fabricate Urea, a substance of a very complex character, +which forms one of the waste products of animal structures. And of +late years a number of other compounds, such as Butyric Acid, and +others, have been added to the list. I need not tell you that +chemistry is an enormous distance from the goal I indicate; all I wish +to point out to you is, that it is by no means safe to say that that +goal may not be reached one day. It may be that it is impossible for +us to produce the conditions requisite to the origination of life; but +we must speak modestly about the matter, and recollect that Science has +put her foot upon the bottom round of the ladder. Truly he would be a +bold man who would venture to predict where she will be fifty years +hence. + +There is another inquiry which bears indirectly upon this question, and +upon which I must say a few words. You are all of you aware of the +phenomena of what is called spontaneous generation. Our forefathers, +down to the seventeenth century, or thereabouts, all imagined, in +perfectly good faith, that certain vegetable and animal forms gave +birth, in the process of their decomposition, to insect life. Thus, if +you put a piece of meat in the sun, and allowed it to putrefy, they +conceived that the grubs which soon began to appear were the result of +the action of a power of spontaneous generation which the meat +contained. And they could give you receipts for making various animal +and vegetable preparations which would produce particular kinds of +animals. A very distinguished Italian naturalist, named Redi, took up +the question, at a time when everybody believed in it; among others our +own great Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood. You +will constantly find his name quoted, however, as an opponent of the +doctrine of spontaneous generation; but the fact is, and you will see it +if you will take the trouble to look into his works, Harvey believed it +as profoundly as any man of his time; but he happened to enunciate a +very curious proposition--that every living thing came from an 'egg'; +he did not mean to use the word in the sense in which we now employ it, +he only meant to say that every living thing originated in a little +rounded particle of organized substance; and it is from this +circumstance, probably, that the notion of Harvey having opposed the +doctrine originated. Then came Redi, and he proceeded to upset the +doctrine in a very simple manner. He merely covered the piece of meat +with some very fine gauze, and then he exposed it to the same +conditions. The result of this was that no grubs or insects were +produced; he proved that the grubs originated from the insects who came +and deposited their eggs in the meat, and that they were hatched by the +heat of the sun. By this kind of inquiry he thoroughly upset the +doctrine of spontaneous generation, for his time at least. + +Then came the discovery and application of the microscope to scientific +inquiries, which showed to naturalists that besides the organisms which +they already knew as living beings and plants, there were an immense +number of minute things which could be obtained apparently almost at +will from decaying vegetable and animal forms. Thus, if you took some +ordinary black pepper or some hay, and steeped it in water, you would +find in the course of a few days that the water had become impregnated +with an immense number of animalcules swimming about in all +directions. From facts of this kind naturalists were led to revive the +theory of spontaneous generation. They were headed here by an English +naturalist,--Needham,--and afterwards in France by the learned Buffon. +They said that these things were absolutely begotten in the water of +the decaying substances out of which the infusion was made. It did not +matter whether you took animal or vegetable matter, you had only to +steep it in water and expose it, and you would soon have plenty of +animalcules. They made an hypothesis about this which was a very fair +one. They said, this matter of the animal world, or of the higher +plants, appears to be dead, but in reality it has a sort of dim life +about it, which, if it is placed under fair conditions, will cause it +to break up into the forms of these little animalcules, and they will +go through their lives in the same way as the animal or plant of which +they once formed a part. + +The question now became very hotly debated. Spallanzani, an Italian +naturalist, took up opposite views to those of Needham and Buffon, and +by means of certain experiments he showed that it was quite possible to +stop the process by boiling the water, and closing the vessel in which +it was contained. "Oh!" said his opponents; "but what do you know you +may be doing when you heat the air over the water in this way? You may +be destroying some property of the air requisite for the spontaneous +generation of the animalcules." + +However, Spallanzani's views were supposed to be upon the right side, +and those of the others fell into discredit; although the fact was that +Spallanzani had not made good his views. Well, then, the subject +continued to be revived from time to time, and experiments were made by +several persons; but these experiments were not altogether satisfactory. +It was found that if you put an infusion in which animalcules would +appear if it were exposed to the air into a vessel and boiled it, and +then sealed up the mouth of the vessel, so that no air, save such as +had been heated to 212 degrees, could reach its contents, that then no +animalcules would be found; but if you took the same vessel and exposed +the infusion to the air, then you would get animalcules. Furthermore, +it was found that if you connected the mouth of the vessel with a +red-hot tube in such a way that the air would have to pass through the +tube before reaching the infusion, that then you would get no +animalcules. Yet another thing was noticed: if you took two flasks +containing the same kind of infusion, and left one entirely exposed to +the air, and in the mouth of the other placed a ball of cotton wool, so +that the air would have to filter itself through it before reaching the +infusion, that then, although you might have plenty of animalcules in +the first flask, you would certainly obtain none from the second. + +These experiments, you see, all tended towards one conclusion--that the +infusoria were developed from little minute spores or eggs which were +constantly floating in the atmosphere, which lose their power of +germination if subjected to heat. But one observer now made another +experiment which seemed to go entirely the other way, and puzzled him +altogether. He took some of this boiled infusion that I have been +speaking of, and by the use of a mercurial bath--a kind of trough used +in laboratories--he deftly inverted a vessel containing the infusion +into the mercury, so that the latter reached a little beyond the level +of the mouth of the 'inverted' vessel. You see that he thus had a +quantity of the infusion shut off from any possible communication with +the outer air by being inverted upon a bed of mercury. + +He then prepared some pure oxygen and nitrogen gases, and passed them by +means of a tube going from the outside of the vessel, up through the +mercury into the infusion; so that he thus had it exposed to a +perfectly pure atmosphere of the same constituents as the external air. +Of course, he expected he would get no infusorial animalcules at all in +that infusion; but, to his great dismay and discomfiture, he found he +almost always did get them. + +Furthermore, it has been found that experiments made in the manner +described above answer well with most infusions; but that if you fill +the vessel with boiled milk, and then stop the neck with cotton-wool, +you 'will' have infusoria. So that you see there were two experiments +that brought you to one kind of conclusion, and three to another; which +was a most unsatisfactory state of things to arrive at in a scientific +inquiry. + +Some few years after this, the question began to be very hotly discussed +in France. There was M. Pouchet, a professor at Rouen, a very learned +man, but certainly not a very rigid experimentalist. He published a +number of experiments of his own, some of which were very ingenious, to +show that if you went to work in a proper way, there was a truth in the +doctrine of spontaneous generation. Well, it was one of the most +fortunate things in the world that M. Pouchet took up this question, +because it induced a distinguished French chemist, M. Pasteur, to take +up the question on the other side; and he has certainly worked it out in +the most perfect manner. I am glad to say, too, that he has published +his researches in time to enable me to give you an account of them. He +verified all the experiments which I have just mentioned to you--and +then finding those extraordinary anomalies, as in the case of the +mercury bath and the milk, he set himself to work to discover their +nature. In the case of milk he found it to be a question of +temperature. Milk in a fresh state is slightly alkaline; and it is a +very curious circumstance, but this very slight degree of alkalinity +seems to have the effect of preserving the organisms which fall into it +from the air from being destroyed at a temperature of 212 degrees, +which is the boiling point. But if you raise the temperature 10 degrees +when you boil it, the milk behaves like everything else; and if the air +with which it comes in contact, after being boiled at this temperature, +is passed through a red-hot tube, you will not get a trace of +organisms. + +He then turned his attention to the mercury bath, and found on +examination that the surface of the mercury was almost always covered +with a very fine dust. He found that even the mercury itself was +positively full of organic matters; that from being constantly exposed +to the air, it had collected an immense number of these infusorial +organisms from the air. Well, under these circumstances he felt that +the case was quite clear, and that the mercury was not what it had +appeared to M. Schwann to be,--a bar to the admission of these +organisms; but that, in reality, it acted as a reservoir from which the +infusion was immediately supplied with the large quantity that had so +puzzled him. + +But not content with explaining the experiments of others, M. Pasteur +went to work to satisfy himself completely. He said to himself: "If my +view is right, and if, in point of fact, all these appearances of +spontaneous generation are altogether due to the falling of minute +germs suspended in the atmosphere,--why, I ought not only to be able to +show the germs, but I ought to be able to catch and sow them, and +produce the resulting organisms." He, accordingly, constructed a very +ingenious apparatus to enable him to accomplish this trapping of this +"germ dust" in the air. He fixed in the window of his room a glass +tube, in the centre of which he had placed a ball of gun-cotton, which, +as you all know, is ordinary cotton-wool, which, from having been +steeped in strong acid, is converted into a substance of great explosive +power. It is also soluble in alcohol and ether. One end of the glass +tube was, of course, open to the external air; and at the other end of +it he placed an aspirator, a contrivance for causing a current of the +external air to pass through the tube. He kept this apparatus going +for four-and-twenty hours, and then removed the 'dusted' gun-cotton, +and dissolved it in alcohol and ether. He then allowed this to stand +for a few hours, and the result was, that a very fine dust was +gradually deposited at the bottom of it. That dust, on being +transferred to the stage of a microscope, was found to contain an +enormous number of starch grains. You know that the materials of our +food and the greater portion of plants are composed of starch, and we +are constantly making use of it in a variety of ways, so that there is +always a quantity of it suspended in the air. It is these starch +grains which form many of those bright specks that we see dancing in a +ray of light sometimes. But besides these, M. Pasteur found also an +immense number of other organic substances such as spores of fungi, +which had been floating about in the air and had got caged in this way. + +He went farther, and said to himself, "If these really are the things +that give rise to the appearance of spontaneous generation, I ought to +be able to take a ball of this 'dusted' gun-cotton and put it into one +of my vessels, containing that boiled infusion which has been kept away +from the air, and in which no infusoria are at present developed, and +then, if I am right, the introduction of this gun-cotton will give rise +to organisms." + +Accordingly, he took one of these vessels of infusion, which had been +kept eighteen months, without the least appearance of life, and by a +most ingenious contrivance, he managed to break it open and introduce +such a ball of gun-cotton, without allowing the infusion or the cotton +ball to come into contact with any air but that which had been subjected +to a red heat, and in twenty-four hours he had the satisfaction of +finding all the indications of what had been hitherto called +spontaneous generation. He had succeeded in catching the germs and +developing organisms in the way he had anticipated. + +It now struck him that the truth of his conclusions might be +demonstrated without all the apparatus he had employed. To do this, he +took some decaying animal or vegetable substance, such as urine, which +is an extremely decomposable substance, or the juice of yeast, or +perhaps some other artificial preparation, and filled a vessel having a +long tubular neck with it. He then boiled the liquid and bent that +long neck into an S shape or zig-zag, leaving it open at the end. The +infusion then gave no trace of any appearance of spontaneous +generation, however long it might be left, as all the germs in the air +were deposited in the beginning of the bent neck. He then cut the tube +close to the vessel, and allowed the ordinary air to have free and +direct access; and the result of that was the appearance of organisms in +it, as soon as the infusion had been allowed to stand long enough to +allow of the growth of those it received from the air, which was about +forty-eight hours. The result of M. Pasteur's experiments proved, +therefore, in the most conclusive manner, that all the appearances of +spontaneous generation arose from nothing more than the deposition of +the germs of organisms which were constantly floating in the air. + +To this conclusion, however, the objection was made, that if that were +the cause, then the air would contain such an enormous number of these +germs, that it would be a continual fog. But M. Pasteur replied that +they are not there in anything like the number we might suppose, and +that an exaggerated view has been held on that subject; he showed that +the chances of animal or vegetable life appearing in infusions, depend +entirely on the conditions under which they are exposed. If they are +exposed to the ordinary atmosphere around us, why, of course, you may +have organisms appearing early. But, on the other hand, if they are +exposed to air from a great height, or from some very quiet cellar, you +will often not find a single trace of life. + +So that M. Pasteur arrived at last at the clear and definite result, +that all these appearances are like the case of the worms in the piece +of meat, which was refuted by Redi, simply germs carried by the air and +deposited in the liquids in which they afterwards appear. For my own +part, I conceive that, with the particulars of M. Pasteur's experiments +before us, we cannot fail to arrive at his conclusions; and that the +doctrine of spontaneous generation has received a final 'coup de +grace'. + +You, of course, understand that all this in no way interferes with the +'possibility' of the fabrication of organic matters by the direct +method to which I have referred, remote as that possibility may be. + + + [Footnote] 1 Those who wish to study fully the doctrines of + which I have endeavoured to give some rough and ready + illustrations, must read Mr. John Stuart Mill's 'System of + Logic'. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Origination of Living Beings +by Thomas H. Huxley + diff --git a/old/thx0310.zip b/old/thx0310.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..43008e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/thx0310.zip |