Читать книгу The modes of origin of lowest organisms - Bastian Henry Charlton - Страница 4

It has been long known that Bacteria and Torulæ are frequently to be found within vegetable cells, taken even from the central parts of plants, whenever these are in a sickly condition or are actually dying. They are apt to exist also within epithelial cells taken from the inside of the mouth; and the frequency and abundance with which such organisms are met with in these cells, is almost in direct proportion to the malnutrition and lack of vital power in the individual who is the subject of observation. Then, again, in persons who have died of adynamic diseases, in the course of twenty-four or thirty-six hours (during warm weather) Bacteria may be found in abundance within the blood-vessels of the brain and of other parts, although no such Bacteria were recognizable in the blood of the individual during life.

In these cases we must, in order to account for the presence of the Bacteria and Torulæ, either suppose that such organisms, in an embryonic state, are almost universally disseminated throughout the various textures of higher organisms, both animal and vegetal (though they are only able to develop and manifest themselves when the higher organisms, or the parts of them in which the Bacteria or Torulæ are met with, are on the eve of death), or else we must imagine that when the vital activity of any organism, whether simple or complex, is on the wane, its constituent particles (being still portions of living matter) are capable of individualizing themselves, and of growing into the low organisms in question. Just as the life of one of the cells of a higher organism may continue for some time after the death of the organism itself, so, in accordance with this latter view, may one of the particles of such a cell be supposed to continue to live after even cell-life is impossible.

Now, to many persons, the latter seems to be a much simpler hypothesis than the former, and one, moreover, which is more in accordance with known facts. People’s views, however, on this subject are likely to be much influenced by their notions as to the possibility of Bacteria arising by a process of Archebiosis. Although some may be inclined to accept the doctrine of Heterogenesis, the same persons, being “vitalists,” may not readily believe in the doctrine of Archebiosis, because this implies the vivification of dead matter – the conversion of not-living elements into a living combination. Those, however, who do believe in Archebiosis will – if the necessary evidence be forthcoming – all the more readily yield their assent to the doctrine of Heterogenesis, because it is a much less novel thing to have to believe in the mere transformation of living matter, than in the possibility of its origin de novo.

Evidence of a tolerably satisfactory nature, however, is forthcoming, which may speak independently in favour of the doctrine of Heterogenesis.

It has been affirmed by Crivelli and Maggi6 that they have actually seen the particles within granular epithelial cells (taken from the back of the tongue of a patient suffering from diabetes) grow and elongate, so as to give rise to Bacteria, or fuse in longitudinal series, so as to form a Vibrio.7 And, moreover, as I have myself ascertained, if one takes healthy-looking epithelial scales scraped from the inside of the mouth, which appear to contain nothing but the finest granules, and places them with a little saliva in a “live-box” (and this within a damp chamber kept at a temperature of about 90° Fahr.), in the course of from 5 to 10 hours, the cells may be found to be studded throughout with motionless Bacteria. Of course it may be said that the granules originally seen in the cells were offcasts from pre-existing Bacteria8 which had gained access to the cell. And although, to many, this may seem an extremely improbable supposition, it is, nevertheless, one which it would be very difficult to disprove. The improbability of the notion is increased, moreover, when we find that Bacteria, and even Torulæ, will develop just as freely within closed cells taken from the very centre of a vegetable tuber, as they will in the midst of the more solid epithelial cell from the inside of the mouth. If it be urged that in this latter situation, there is the greatest chance of the cells being brought into contact with Bacteria, and that it must be considered possible for imaginary minute offcasts from these Bacteria to make their own way into the substance of the epithelial cell, I am quite willing to grant the desirability of taking such possibilities into consideration. But, at the same time, it seems all the less likely that the actual occurrence of the Bacteria is explicable on these grounds, because we find them developing just as freely within the cells freshly cut from the centre of a tuberous root, or we may find them already developed within these cells, if the root has begun to decay. To suppose that actual germs of Bacteria and of Torulæ are uniformly distributed throughout the tissues of higher organisms, is to harbour a hypothesis which would appear to many to be devoid of all probability – more especially when the heterogenetic mode of origin of larger and higher organisms is a matter of absolute certainty.