Introductory material
H. Borns translation
Stability of the species.—Theory of mutation.—Spontaneous generation.—Bathybius.—Panspermia.—The stand-points of Richter, Ferdinand Cohn, and Lord Kelvin.—The radiation pressure enables spores to escape.—The effect of strong sunlight and of cold on the germinating power.—Transport of spores through the atmosphere into universal space and through it to other planets.—General conclusions.
EXPLANATION OF ABBREVIATIONS, ETC.
The temperatures are stated in degrees centigrade (° C.), either on the Celsius scale, on which the freezing-point of water is 0°, or on the absolute scale, whose zero lies 273 degrees below the freezing-point of water, at -273° C. The equivalent temperatures on the Fahrenheit scale (freezing-point of water 32° F.) are added in brackets (° F.).
1 metre (m.) = 10 decimetres (dm.) = 100 centimetres (cm.) = 1000 millimetres (mm.) = 3.28 ft.; 1 kilometre (km.) = 1000 metres (m.) = 0.62 miles; 1 mile = 1.6 kilometres (km.).
Light travels in vacuo at the rate of 300,000 km. (nearly 200,000 miles) per second.