In 1668 Francesco Redi did a series of experiments on spontaneous generation. He began by putting similar pieces of meat into ei
ght identical jars. Four jars were left open to the air, and four were sealed. He then did the same experiment with one variation: instead of sealing four of the jars completely, he covered them with gauze (the gauze will exclude the flies while allowing the meat to be exposed to air). In both experiments, he monitored the jars and recorded whether or not maggots (young flies) appeared in the meat. Refer to the paragraph on Redi's experiments. In both experiments, fies appeared in all of the open jars and only in the open jars. Which one of the following statements is correct?
A. The experiment was inconclusive because it did not nun long enough
B. The experiment supports the hypothesis that spontaneous generation occurs in rotting meat.
C. The expertment supports the hwpothesis that maggots arise only from eggs laid by adult flhes
D. The experiment was inconclusive because Redi used only one kind of meat
The experiment supports the hypothesis that maggots arise only from eggs laid by adult flies; that is only from reproduction and development.
Explanation:
The objective of this experimental set up by Francesco Radi was to demonstrate the concept of spontaneous generation. He concluded that, Maggots are not spontaneous generated from rotten meats, rather they are products of eggs laid by houseflies who visited the rotten meat to lay eggs. The maggots (larva) are products of complete metamorphosis, from egg to larva to pupa and adult. This is an indication that, new organisms are not formed form spontaneously, but are products of well-defined process of reproduction and development which in this case is a complete metamorphosis.
Based on this premise he concluded that, if maggots were products of laid eggs, then they should appear only when rotten meat is exposed to open air.However,if they are f products of spontaneous generation they should appear irrespective of the meat exposure to air or not.
