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Pluto, v. 1, issue 3, July 1940

Page 4

                             D.P.U.P.C.P.I.
                         DEPARTMENT
                 FOR THE PROPAGATION
                OF UNDERSTANDING AND
     PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO PET IDEAS

                   Spontaneous Generation

                           By M. Spivis

   Spontaneous generation, a concept which has been discussed down through the ages. Many different conceptions have been advanced by the layman as well as the scientist.
   Probably the first idea of spontaneous generation was advanced by the Egyptians about the time the pyramids were built. They conceived their idea from the fact that mice issued in hordes from the cracks in the mud left by the receeding waters of the Nile river. They appearntly came from under the layer of silt as soon as the fissures appeared. Of course the appearance of mice, coming seemingly from nowhere, has long been disproved. This is also true of the later arguments on how flies appeared in media which had been protected from parent insects by means of cloth.
   It is universelly admitted that it is quite impossible for a complete animal or insect to be evolved in one step; but there is a theory on the possibility of a once celled (at the most a few cells) organism being created spontaneously from inert materials. This creation might be brought about by man or could possibly take place in nature. 
   Everyone knows that it is possible to produce synthetic compounds of living organisms. If it is possible to produce these compounds why is there not a possibility of constructing a simple organism and induce the spark of life. It is true that to combine the constituents of the simplest living cell would be an enormous task without furnishing the vital spark.
   As to what the spark of life is it would be difficult to even try to define. It might be a mixture of certain chemicals cosmic rays, the sun's rays, or something of which man has not the slightest idea.   Regardless of what life is, it stands a good chance of being discovered. 
   Man has been present on earth but the smallest fraction of an instant according to the geological time table. Life of one form or another has been on earth several millions of times longer than man existed. If this is the case, there has been millions of chances for life to evolve spontaneously without the knowledge of man. It is probable that conditions in ages gone by were more suited for new life than is the present. It was warmer then and the countless billions of simple life beings did not exist as they do today.
   What conditions are best suited for abiogenesis, you might ask.
                     Continued on Page 21.

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D.P.U.P.C.P.I. DEPARTMENT FOR THE PROPAGATION OF UNDERSTANDING AND PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO PET IDEAS Spontaneous Generation By M. Spivis Spontaneous generation, a concept which has been discussed down through the ages. Many different conceptions have been advanced by the layman as well as the scientist. Probably the first idea of spontaneous generation was advanced by the Egyptians about the time the pyramids were built. They conceived their idea from the fact that mice issued in hordes from the cracks in the mud left by the receeding waters of the Nile river. They appearntly came from under the layer of silt as soon as the fissures appeared. Of course the appearance of mice, coming seemingly from nowhere, has long been disproved. This is also true of the later arguments on how flies appeared in media which had been protected from parent insects by means of cloth. It is universelly admitted that it is quite impossible for a complete animal or insect to be evolved in one step; but there is a theory on the possibility of a once celled (at the most a few cells) organism being created spontaneously from inert materials. This creation might be brought about by man or could possibly take place in nature. Everyone knows that it is possible to produce synthetic compounds of living organisms. If it is possible to produce these compounds why is there not a possibility of constructing a simple organism and induce the spark of life. It is true that to combine the constituents of the simplest living cell would be an enormous task without furnishing the vital spark. As to what the spark of life is it would be difficult to even try to define. It might be a mixture of certain chemicals cosmic rays, the sun's rays, or something of which man has not the slightest idea. Regardless of what life is, it stands a good chance of being discovered. Man has been present on earth but the smallest fraction of an instant according to the geological time table. Life of one form or another has been on earth several millions of times longer than man existed. If this is the case, there has been millions of chances for life to evolve spontaneously without the knowledge of man. It is probable that conditions in ages gone by were more suited for new life than is the present. It was warmer then and the countless billions of simple life beings did not exist as they do today. What conditions are best suited for abiogenesis, you might ask. Continued on Page 21.