The Bions: An Investigation into the Origin of Life
Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
Journal of Orgonomy Vol 10 no. 1
The American College of Orgonomy
Editorial Note:
The Journal is proud to present the first English translation of Die Bione, a landmark monograph first published in Oslo in 1938 and still, today, decades ahead of its time.
The momentousness of Reich's discoveries set forth here cannot be over-estimated. While the scientific world still clung to the dictum that "every living thing comes from living matter," Reich began to probe the origins of life from a functional point of view. He has already enunciated his orgasm formula of tension-charge-discharge-relaxation as specific to all living phenomena and encompassing every aspect of the autonomic life functions from ameba to man. In a series of human experiments, he had shown empirically the existence of an organismic energy (which he still thought of as "bioelectric" energy) and had proved that the subjective feelings of pleasure and anxiety were nothing other than one's perceptions of this objective, measurable energy, as it flowed from the core to periphery and periphery to core, respectively. This to-and-fro movement of energy represented the basic life function of pulsation (contraction-expansion), mediated through respiration in man and experienced as pleasure or anxiety whenever a certain energy threshold was reached.
Going from macrocosm to microcosm, Reich now ventured into the riddle of biogenesis. His intent was to set up processes in various substances that would replicate the four-beat fundamental formula. He found that both organic and inorganic matter, when made to swell, disintegrated into fluid-filled vesicles charged with energy and visible only at magnifications upwards of 2000x. Preparations were first sterilized or autoclaved at critical temperatures to rule out the presence of prior life forms. The resulting vesicles gave off a bluish glimmer and showed such properties as pulsation, locomotion, internal vibration, Gram-positive reaction, division, fusion, and the ability to paralyze and destroy bacteria and small protozoa. Reich described his discovery as "a minute quantity of matter, containing a quantity of energy derived from the matter…not complete living beings but only carriers of biological energy…forms of transition from non-living to living." He called the vesicles "bions" and spent many hours observing them and taking time-lapse films. To accomplish this required a virtuoso grasp of microscope technique and mastery of a thousand technical problems. A monumental film (which this writer has seen and which now reposes in the Reich archives) shows the bionous disintegration of a grass infusion and its subsequent reorganization into protozoa. This led inevitably to his discovery of an identical process in the formation of cancer cells and to the historic Experiment XX, the natural organization of protozoa from a sterile solution of bion water which had been autoclaved, frozen, and then thawed.
Reich was quick to caution that he had not created life from the non-living, but had demonstrated "the natural process by which protozoa and cancer cells develop spontaneously from vesicularly disintegrated matter." It took but one giant step for Reich to realize that the energy emanating from the bions was the same "bioelectricity" found in all living organisms from man to ameba, that it permeated everything and was cosmic in nature. In one stroke, orgone energy, as he now called the cosmic life energy, emerged from the shadowy domain of man's intuition and entered the realm of scientific investigation.
BGK
Introduction
It is not without concern that I make public my current experimental results on the origin of the vegetative life. This has nothing to do whatsoever to do with the correctness and accuracy of the data, though an insignificant error or inept wording might well be found here and there. There are no results in this comprehensive, if not final, report that have not been confirmed hundreds of times. Observations that could not be verified were omitted. I have tried to describe the experimental method as clearly as possible in order to render replication feasible. The basic facts, such as the vesicular disintegration of matter due to swelling, or the cultivation of bions, are inescapable when the directions are followed with some measure of accuracy. I am aware that one can explain these very facts in a way that differs from my own interpretation. For this reason, I have carefully separated the data section in the first part from the interpretation in Part Two.
I am concerned about the possibility of being branded presumptuous in my ensuing hypothesis. I did not step outside the framework of reference laid down by eighteen years of clinical work on the vegetatively sick organism and ten years of intensive study of the pertinent literature in biology and physiology. The sections dealing with colloids and the dialectic materialistic method of investigation were in my desk drawer for many years, completed but unpublished. They were attempts to correlate my clinical experiences as a psychotherapist with my general biological studies. When I had to review Kraus's book on human pathology (Syzygiologie) for a scientific journal in 1926, I immediately recognized, on the basis of my orgasm theory, its tie-in with psychoanalytic knowledge.
I had no idea that ten years later I would be able to verify hypotheses in natural science and methodology of dialectic materialism to such an extent. I knew, of course, that the orgasm theory pointed toward the problem of organic life. We are not dealing with an accidental discovery, but a long-term development of work on the problem of vegetative life functions. The foundation for a theory of biogenesis, slated to unfold subsequently, was uncovered step by step. I must admit that the facts I came across seemed unbelievable to me at first. However, one fact followed another. Every single one confirmed the idea that had come to me previously in my work with patients concerning the life functions and their disturbances. At the time I published the experimental data on the electrical function of sexuality and anxiety in 1937. [Footnote 1]
I already had in my possession the cultures resulting from my bion research. And now that I have decided to release this material for publication, I have already obtained further data in a related field, which confirm and amplify the previous results.
The technique employed in the experiments does not differ from the usual bacteriological sterilization procedures. However, the experimental setup, my way of thinking things through, and my interpretations diverge considerably from the usual. The experimental format was always geared to the basic sexual formula that I discovered in my research on sexuality. Thought processes follow laws that are consistent with dialectic materialism. The doctrine set forth by Hegel, which Marx had extended to materialism and Engels had first applied to the natural sciences, now found new application in psychology and in sexual functioning. Many of its theories were thereby strengthened. New insights were gained: for example, the formulation of the "dialectic materialistic doctrine of evolution." From Freud I took over the idea of equating life drives and sexual drives. After I had succeeded in refuting his theory of the death instinct and in developing the orgasm theory, the door was open to experimental biology. Consequently, the experimental evidence for the identity of sexual energy and life energy processes is at the same time a confirmation of Freud's hypothesis.
I am especially grateful to Professor Roger du Teil for the invaluable friendship he extended in this endeavor. Whatever the outcome of his efforts to steer the world of biology and bacteriology toward this work, his active collaboration in the research had become an organic part of the whole. It is clearly apparent in this paper.
I am also aware that the experimental solution to the question of spontaneous generation only partially fills the hiatus existing throughout the scientific world. Hence, there is going to be strong opposition. However, evidence, counter-evidence, and new evidence are part of the essence of scientific work. Furthermore, every objection begets progress if the fundamental problem is approached correctly.
I set forth the historical development of the problem in my paper "Dialectical Materialism in the Investigation of Life Functions" (Zeitschr. F. pol. Psych. U. Sexok., H. 3, Bd. IV, 1937). It also reviews the relevancy to sociological questions. I postponed a detailed discussion of many studies and follow-up questions pending until later publications.
Professor Harald Schjelderup merits great credit for having made possible and actively promoting the preliminary electrophysiological experiments at his university's Institute of Psychology. Without his overall efforts, more difficulties would have piled up.
We grappled with tremendous financial problems in setting up the entire laboratory. It would not have been possible to perform the experiments at another otherwise occupied institution. I could never have done it by myself. The Rockefeller Foundation in Paris had refused to give any support. Therefore, my special and heartfelt thanks to all those friends who pushed through the difficult birth of this project: in particular, my friend Sigurd Hoel, whose advice often prevented me from losing faith in this project; our friend Dr. Odd Havrevold, who equipped the research laboratory, lent a helping hand everywhere, and obtained funds; my assistants in the bacteriological, micro film. And physiochemical work, whose initiative helped me carry on through many vicissitudes. Much could not have been accomplished without active financial support from the Institute through my colleagues in the characteranalytic field; they helped to engineer the entire setup, and they remained loyal: Dr. Lotte Liebeck; Dr. Nic Hoel; Dr. Ola Raknes; Dr. Tage Philipson; Dr. Leunbach; Ellen Siersted.
The efforts of people who themselves did not possess any funds would not have been sufficient. Large contributions from Mr. Lars Christensen (Oslo), and Mr. Rolf Stenersen (Oslo), as well as Constance Tracey (London) were crucial in supporting the endeavor.
The biological laboratory alone required about 60,000 Norwegian krone for equipment. At the moment, the operation costs about 2,000 krone per month.
The whole work was greatly aided by the efficiency of my office workers, especially my secretary Gertrud Brandt, who tirelessly tended the orderly handling of my extensive activities. The bookkeeping was done by our publication manager Harry Proll, whose painstaking care is readily apparent.
The Institute was founded by Norwegians. The superlative Norwegian hospitality provides the fertile territory and foundation for my work, for whose leadership I assume full responsibility: Norway, a country that basically still knows how to hold at bay the mental anguish of the world.
© 2008 The American College of Orgonomy. All rights reserved.
