The origin of life: experiments with superheated saline solutions in hermetically sealed vessels.

  • Bastian, H. Charlton.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The origin of life: experiments with superheated saline solutions in hermetically sealed vessels. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    would invariably be killed by momentary exposure in fluids to a heat of 70° C, or even less. Yet the organisms taken from these super-heated tubes are not dead organisms, but living Torulae and Bacteria, which must have been born therein, and which soon, under favourable conditions, begin rapidly to grow and multiply, Here, then, surely, we have the actual Origin of Life demonstrated as far as such a thing is possible. Happily, it can no longer be said, as was formerly the case, in reference to my early experiments, that the organisms found were dead, and had been there all the time. This was the criticism actually started by Huxley, and subsequently taken up by others, because of his strong disbelief at that time that any Bacteria could survive in boiled infusions, and his equal disbelief that they were capable of originating in such fluids (see Quart. Jotim. of Microscop. Science, Oct., 1870, pp. 359, 362). He suggested, in fact, that the organisms I had found in my experimental vessels were only organisms previously contained in the fluid, but killed by the heat to which they had been subjected. Nor is it possible for any reasonable person to suppose that, in taking the samples from the just-opened tubes by means of steri- lised pipettes, organisms could have been derived from the air during the passage of the sample (within the pipette) to the micro- scope slip. Looking to what has been immediately found on microscopical examination, and which is shown by the photographs (mostly taken within half-an-hour), any such view cannot be deemed worthy of serious consideration. In the face of the results of these experiments is it or is it not important that the experiments should be repeated by others? The Royal Society would appear to think that any confirmation of Natural Knowledge in this direction is not desirable. That may be so ; but I take a diflFerent view, and sincerely hope that others may repeat these experiments and seek to obtain similar results. All that will be needed are some tubes of soft soda glass, similar to those that I have employed, a strong can