II. Observations on hermetically-sealed flasks opened on the alps. In a letter to Professor Huxley, Sec. R. S. By Professor Tyndall, LL. D., F. R. S

My Dear Huxley,—Though the question of “Spontaneous Generation” is, I believe, practically set at rest for the scientific world, you may possibly deem the following facts of sufficient interest to be communicated to the Royal Society. I brought with me this year to the Alps sixty hermetically-sealed flasks, containing infusions of beef, mutton, turnip, and cucumber, which had been boiled for five minutes in London and sealed during ebullition. They were packed in sawdust, and when opened at the Bel-alp the drawn-out and sealed ends of six of them were found broken off. These six flasks were filled with organisms, the remaining ones were pelluci and free from life.