84 ORIGIN OF LO WES T OR GA NISMS. 



was unaltered, and on microscopical examination no 

 Bacteria, or other living things, were found.* 



No. XL VI. Hay Infusion, after forty-eight hours, showed 

 no change, though, in seventy-two hours, there was per- 

 ceptible a very small amount of a dirty greyish deposit. 

 By the fifth day the deposit had slightly increased, and 

 on the seventh day there was a trace of turbidity in the 

 fluid. It did not undergo much further change, so that, 

 on the twelfth day, the flask was opened. The vacuum 

 was found to have been very slightly impaired ; the 

 odour of the fluid was almost natural, and its re-action 

 was slightly acid. On microscopical examination of the 

 deposit, Bacteria, Vibr tones, short Lcptothrix filaments, 

 and Torulce, were found, though not in very great 

 abundance. 



No. XL VII. Hay Infusion + ^V P art f Carbolic 

 Acid showed no apparent change for the first four days. 

 On the fifth day there was a small quantity of powder- 

 like sediment, and one dirty greyish-coloured flake. 

 On the seventh day there were more small flakes at the 

 bottom, and a slight general turbidity of the fluid. On 

 the twelfth day, the turbidity and deposit having in- 

 creased, the flask was opened after it had been first 

 ascertained that the vacuum had only been slightly 

 impaired. The re-action of the fluid w r as still strongly 

 acid. On microscopical examination of some of the 

 deposit, there was found, amongst granular flakes and 

 aggregations, a large number of Torulce cells, of most 

 various shapes and sizes ; also in the midst of the 



* For other experiments showing a similar sterility, induced 

 by a slight acidification with acetic acid, see 'Nature,' 1870, 

 ^- 37? PP- 226 and 227. 



