[To THE EDITOR OF TER "SPECTATOR.")
Sin,—In the review of Mr. Drummond's book, entitled " Natural Law in the Spiritual World," I notice that the writer refers to the theory of " Biogenesis " as the now certain scientific doc- trine of biogenesis, that' life can only come from the touch of life." Would you permit me to point out that, so far from that doctrine being generally accepted as " certain " by scien- tific men at the present time, I believe that even Professor Tyndall himself would willingly admit that in past epochs the lowest forms of life may have originated in non-living matter. The experiments made some time ago did not prove that abiogenesis never occurs, still less that it never has occurred, but only. that, under certain special conditions, the production of living out of certain non-living matter does not take place.
The views of Professor Huxley on this subject are, I think, that although we have no knowledge of any link between living and non-living matter, he should expect to find that the evolu- tion of living protoplasm from non-living matter did occur in remote periods when the earth was passing through various physical and chemical conditions. There are, however, other scientific men who hold that abiogenesis has not only occurred in past epochs, but that it does also take place at the present time, and that they have themselves succeeded in producing living out of non-living matter.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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