tion that the reproductive apparatus of a flowerless plant produces a multitude of minute grains, termed spores, from which are developed new and perfect individuals. In the flowering plants, the organs of reproduction are distinctly visible. The gay blossoms that gladden our sight in the spring and summer months, constitute that portion of a flowering plant which is the chief end of its whole life: in the flower region is produced the seed, the germination and growth of which are to give origin to a new plant. Rudimentary seeds are produced in the central part of the flower, and these are fertilized, when the plant has reached maturity, by grains of ripened pollen-dust, which are carried by the wind or by insects. The young seed thus fertilized becomes a new center of growth. It expands and multiplies by division and sub-division, then begins to form the various organs according to the species, until fully developed into embryo. And the embryo, after germination, becomes matured into a perfect plant similar to the parent. Two modes of generation are recognized as occurring among animals. These are oviparous generation and viviparous germination. Oviparous generation is that form in which the female produces eggs from which the young are hatched, as in fishes, reptiles, and birds; while viviparous generation is that in which the young are brought forth alive and fully developed, as in quadrupeds and the human species. It was thought by the ancients that there was a fundamental difference in the modes of generation of the oviparous and the viviparous animals; but recent discoveries have shown that there is no such imagined difference, "for all animals whatsoever, even the viviparous, and man himself not excepted, are produced from ova." Aristotle, who has been called the father of natural history, recognized still another mode of generation as occurring in the organic world. He believed that certain low forms of life, such as worms, insects, parasites, maggots, were produced spontaneously, without parents, from the soil, or the water, or decaying animal and vegetable substances. And for two thousand years after this noted philosoper, it was believed, that shellfish of all kinds were produced without parents; that eels issued from the "fat coze" of the Nile; that tadpoles were formed in lake mud by the vivifying action of the sun; that caterpillars were begotten by the leaves on which they fed; and that winged insects, serpents, rats, mice, and even higher animals, were generated without an ancestry. If a piece of flesh be left exposed, it will putrify; and there will appear in it myraids of little worms, or maggots. They seem to spring suddenly into life, without cause; hence, it is not surprising that those who had no experimental check upon this phenomenon, should receive it as evidence of spontaniety. But in the year 1668, one Francisco Redi, physician to the grand dukes of Tuscany, applied himself to the examination of this apparent anomaly. He observed that there were always multitudes of buzzing flies around putrifying flesh; and he guessed that the maggots were due, in some way, to the agency of the flies. He put, therefore, some meat in a jar, and covered it closely with paper; and he found that, though the meat became decomposed, there were formed no maggots in it. Redi then put meat in another jar and covered it with a very fine gauze. As the meat decayed, the putrid odors rose through the gauze, and flies swarmed over it. They alighted on it, and deposited their eggs; and in a short time maggots were hatched on the gauze, while in the meat there was found none. Thus this celebrated physician showed that maggots, instead of being produced without parents, are really hatched from eggs laid by perfect insects, and become themselves finally developed into perfect forms similar to their parents. Redi was followed by Vallisneri, Schwammerdam, and Reaumur; and the results of their extended researches banished forever the notion of spontaneous generation in higher forms of life, from the minds of scientific men. When the microscope was invented and came into scientific. use, there was revealed to view a vast world of life till then undreamed of. Animal and vegetable infusions, left exposed to the air, were found to abound in tiny creatures much too small to be seen with the unaided eye. Stagnant water was found to teem with these minute organisms; it was estimated by Leenwenhalk, one of the first microscopic observers, that there were 500,000,000 germs in one drop of foul water. The individuals of this newfound world of life were so small that scientists found great diffi culty in studying them; and it was obviously difficult to assign to these microscopic forms a germinal origin. Hence, many investigators began to entertain again the notion of heterogenesis, or spontaneous generation. The scientific world became soon divided into two contending parties. Both sides were led by men of renowned excellence; and for many years it was questionable on which side was found the greatest evidence. However, in 1777, the celebrated Abbe Lazzaro Spallanzani published results of experiments, that entirely overthrew many of the convictions of the heterogenists. Spallanzani charged his flasks with organic infusions, sealed their necks with a blow-pipe, subjected them to the heat of boiling water, then to a temperature favorable for the development of life. He found that after many months there were no signs of life in the infusions. The results of Spallanzani were corroborated by those of other experiments; and, in 1837, the celebrated investigator Schwann showed further that putrifaction itself "is due to decomposition of organic matter attendant on the multiplication therein of minute organisms." Professor Cohn, of Breslau, says that "no putrification can occur in a nitrogenous substance if its bacteria be destroyed and new ones prevented from entering it. Putrification begins as soon as bacteria, even in the smallest numbers, are admitted either accidentally or purposely." And during the ten years extending from 1859 to 1869, Professor John Tyndall conducted a series of experiments by which he proved that the bacteria, or germs, of putrifaction and disease, are carried about with the floating matter of the air. A beam of light reveals that the air is filled with particles of dust. Professor Tyndall admitted air from which the floating matter had been removed, into sterilized organic infusions; and they remained for many years as pure and fresh as when they were first put into their containing flasks. In this way the number of beings in which spontaneous generation was thought possible, gradually diminished, until it is now held by the most eminent scientists that spontaneous generation is a thing unknown and impossible in nature. The facts that we have just briefly touched have led to the recognition of a great law as existing in the organized world; namely, that "organisms reproduce others, which at maturity closely resemble their parents." This law has been established by observation prolonged throughout the whole length of man's experience; and the fossil remains found imbedded in the strata of the earth's crust, indicate that the same great law prevailed among ancient forms of life. But these facts teach further that, not only are all living things endowed with power to reproduce their kind, but new organisms are produced only through the exercise of the reproductive powers. An organism is born into the world; we naturally infer that the germ of that new life was produced by parent life; and in no instance has this inference been shown to be at fault. It may, therefore, be affirmed as equally true with the above-stated law, that an organism cannot come into existence by its own force, but originates in a seed, or germ, produced by a parent organism. (Part Two in December Number.) A MOTHER'S PRAYER. FOR THE IMPROVEMENT ERA. Father in heaven! in thy loving kindness, Stay with my boy, who is out in the world; May he be strong to resist all temptation; Through thy sweet mercies, be ever secure. Thou gavest him to me, a part of my being; NEED OF DEVOTION IN OUR MEETINGS.* BY EDWARD H. ANDERSON. When the associations for mutual improvement were first organized, President Brigham Young gave this general outline of their aim and purpose: Let the keynote of your work be the establishment in the youth of individual testimony of the truth and magnitude of the great latter-day work; the development of the gifts within them, that have been bestowed upon them by the laying on of hands of the servants of God; cultivating a knowledge and an application of the eternal principles of the great science of life. We want you to meet together and bear testimonies of the truth. Many think they haven't any testimony to bear, but get them to stand up, and they will find that the Lord will give them utterance to many truths that they had not thought of before. It is our desire that these institutions should flourish, that our young men may grow in the comprehension of, and faith in, the holy principles of the gospel of eternal salvation, and furthermore, have an opportunity to bear and be encouraged in bearing testimony to, and speaking of, the truths of our holy religion. Let the consideration of these truths and principles be the groundwork and leading idea of every such association; and on this foundation of faith in God's great latter-day work, let their members build all true knowledge by which they may be useful in the establishment of his kingdom. Each member will find that happiness in this world mainly depends on the work he does, and the way in which he does it. It now becomes the duty of these institutions to aid the holy priesthood in instructing the youth of Israel in all things commendable and worthy of the acceptance of Saints of the Most High God. I have been appointed by the General Board to call attention to these items that lie like the foundation stones of our organiza *Spoken in the Seventh Annual Conference of the Y. M. M. I. A., Salt Lake City, May 31, 1902. |