The question is fundamental and not fully understood until today: If there was no divine pointer at the beginning, how did life begin with dead matter? So how did primal, primitive life forms emerge and from them the animals and the humans?
Ernst Haeckel, Germany's most important proponent of early evolutionary biology, ventured far 150 years ago - and spread the theory of primordial mucus as a life donor: According to a gentle pulsating Glibber cover the seabed largely and constantly bring new life.
This may sound absurd today, but in retrospect it is a particularly interesting and curious piece of the history of science. The idea was based on the rich tradition of the generation, which should explain in ancient Egypt, why rotting flesh suddenly teeming with maggots and fly swarms of rotting fruits ascend. Slime, mud, and other debris therefore produced lesser creatures from the flea to the mouse.
The concept surprisingly lasted beyond the 19th century, only the catalog of the original species changed as needed. And when an explanation was sought for the post-Flood settlement of the earth, even man had to attribute this unworthy origin - if only temporarily.
Haeckel immediately jumped to the side of the British biologist Thomas Huxley, known as "Charles Darwin's Bulldog" - because he defended the theory of evolution so doggedly against any criticism. But he could also timidly. About the Urschleim he wrote to Ernst Haeckel in 1868: "I baptized Bathybius Haeckelii and I hope you will not be ashamed of your godchild."
The concern proved unfounded, Bathybius was finally a wish child. "Of course, I am particularly pleased with 'Bathybius Haeckelii' and very proud to be the godfather of his baptism," came the answer to London at once.
Ernst Haeckel, born in 1834, was a respected multi-faculty, active in Würzburg and Jena as a physician, zoologist, biologist, philosopher - and also as a draftsman. He became known above all for his "art forms of nature", unmatched elegant pictures of unicellulars, jellyfish, sea anemones and other creatures. So influential was this aesthetic that even Art Nouveau borrowed from the graceful lines.
The conquest of the deep sea
But Haeckel was not only concerned with the beauty of organisms, but also with their position in nature. He wanted to decode the evolution of life. Because thanks to the theory of evolution that Charles Darwin published in 1858, the species were no longer considered invariably created by the biblical god. Rather, it was now clear that they can arise, develop and go down again. Since then and until today it is wonderful to discuss and argue about how the family tree of life is structured in detail.
Haeckel missed out on an evolutionary update with his conviction of the oceanic mush as the basis of life. But there was one catch: from the rowing boat, the primordial slime on the seabed could hardly be caught with the net.
To Haeckel's luck was a technical revolution - instead of transporting messages between America and Europe for weeks by ship, should now be telegraphed. Samuel Morse delivered the technique. For this, however, only undersea cables had to be laid.
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DISPLAY
Susanne Wedlich
The book of slime (natural customers)
Publishing company:
Matthes & Seitz Berlin
Pages:
220
Price:
EUR 34,00
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It was a hugely complex undertaking, with decades of numerous failures, until finally a lasting stable connection existed. The basis of success was the initial survey of the Atlantic Basin with the mapping of its depth and nature. The British ship "HMS Cyclops" collected one sediment sample after another.
Some samples were for Thomas Huxley. The biologist had requested the material for scientific analysis from an officer and given precise instructions for conservation. Ample alcohol guaranteed that the samples arrived safely. And Huxley expected a surprise: in the preserved seawater lumps of a gelatinous mass, much like egg white, were embedded in the calcareous fragments.
No alcohol was no solution
Eureka! This structurally transparent matrix had to be Haeckel's original slime. The hunt was on, naturalists brought more Bathybius variants from the deep sea. A primitive form of Arctic waters has even been declared the ancestor of all primeval slime, biological genealogical trees were already in fashion anyway. Haeckel now felt fully confirmed, and Huxley committed himself to the cause with zeal. Only the cautious Darwin kept himself covered.
Those who were not quite convinced of the living nature of the blobs had to be vehemently taught to do better: the urine slime showed movement like an organism, the proud explorers sounded. In retrospect, one may assume that the phenomenon was particularly pronounced when the wobbly jelly was viewed on a staggering ship in neat swell.
The doubters should be right - the theory of Urschleim was granted in the academic world only a short life.
Haeckel's bad luck was that, in addition to the cable makers, science also conquered the deep sea. The research vessel "HMS Challenger" explored the seas and their inhabitants from 1872 to 1876 - thus establishing the discipline of oceanography. A new underwater world opened, because the rich yield also countless strange creatures belonged. Only one made himself scarce: the primeval mucus Bathybius, whose habitat and occurrence should decipher the "Challenger".
All samples came back empty on board. But it did not stay that way: If the material was preserved in alcohol according to Huxley's instructions, the well-known jelly again appeared. Thus, the urine slime turned out to be an artifact of the preparation, more precisely: calcium sulfate, which was precipitated in chemical reaction with the alcohol from the sea mud.
A slimy undead
It was a harsh blow to the followers of Bathybius, who was considered not only as the source of life, but also as the most primitive species and food in the dark, sparsely populated deep sea. Despite this disappointment, Huxley immediately rowed back: he baptized him and thought his young friend Bathybius would honor him - "but I'm sorry to say that over time he did not quite live up to the promise."
Huxley also apologized because he was undoubtedly primarily responsible for the mistake. His German colleague Haeckel, however, drew much less elegant from the affair. He chipped in blind love to the misshapen scion on all sides: The Challenger Expedition? Unsuccessful, because Bathybius just can not be found everywhere. Professor Huxley? He had put the death blow. The more genuine parent, however, does not give up his child as hopelessly, Haeckel etched.
Trial and error are inherent in science, and sometimes it takes an ambitious researcher to take a wrong path. But even Haeckel could not be faithful to his Bathybius forever; a few years later, the slimy zombie was finally buried.
Huxley's slime sample no longer exists. The "artificial" Bathybius of the "Challenger" expedition can be seen today at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, Scotland. Fitting for a primeval slime, which only echoes the echo of the history of science, the jelly has long been deposited as a delicate white veil on the bottom of the glass bottle (see photo gallery) .
