Evolution of to-day ; a summary of the theory of evolution as held by scientists at the present time, and an account of the progress made by the discussions and investigations of a quarter of a century / by H.W. Conn.

  • Conn, H. W. (Herbert William), 1859-1917.
Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Evolution of to-day ; a summary of the theory of evolution as held by scientists at the present time, and an account of the progress made by the discussions and investigations of a quarter of a century / by H.W. Conn. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    Since, then, this is a logical impossibility, it is best to admit the fact and confine our conception of evolution to the realm where there is evidence for it. Now, at the beginning of life there is a break in the series. There is not yet the slightest evidence that living matter could arise from non-living matter. All of the most recent experiments have certified this conclusion. Scientists, perceiving it a logical necessity of these views to believe that life could have arisen from inorganic matter, have had natu- rally a great desire to prove this possibility. The fact that spontaneous generation is universally given up is therefore a testimony to the cogency of the conclusion and the honesty of the investiga- tors. But on the other hand, it is evident enough that while the experiments of Tyndall and others prove that life cannot arises pontaneously in the conditions under which they have performed their experiments—i. e., in closed flasks containing boiled solutions, they by no means prove that spontaneous generation could not have taken place under other different circumstances. We can know nothing as to what may have taken place under different con- ditions. It is equally possible for one side to claim that the experiments teach that life cannot arise spontaneously, and for the other side to claim that while it does not do so now, it might have been possible under very different circumstances in times past. In short, the question is not open to investi- gation. It is impossible to prove that spontaneous generation could never have occurred; and it is extremely improbable that the opposite view will