CHAPTER V 



THE INDUSTRIAL MICROBIOLOGIST 



This ^period however important it may have been from a 

 scientific point of view - - has to be regarded as the most difficult of 

 his life. Only one very fond of the country can conceive how dreadful 

 it was to BEIJERINCK to exchange rural Wageningen for a small 

 factory town, devoid of all natural beauty, as Delft was in those days. 

 Delft with its famous past, its old canals and buildings, with its 

 mausoleum of WILLIAM THE SILENT and of the Kings of Holland, Delft 

 of VAN LEEUWENHOEK, had become a declining provincial town. 



His sisters remained in Wageningen, and therefore BEIJERINCK had 

 to resort to a life in lodgings. Very soon after arriving in Delft he 

 deeply regretted his decision and, since he never sought company, he 

 led a life lonely in the extreme. He also regretted having thrown away 

 his chance of a professorship at the Agricultural College at Wagenin- 

 gen for a career which in his opinion was difficult and full of uncer- 

 tainties, and in which he w r as afraid of not being able to live up to ex- 

 pectations. He was subject to prolonged fits of depression, and his 

 ever-sympathetic sisters often had need to encourage him. They came 

 to see him frequently, visiting sometimes the laboratory. It may be 

 interesting to quote from the diary of Miss H. W. BEIJERINCK. "He 

 sits there surrounded by a number of retorts, bottles and glass boxes, 

 gas ovens and heating apparatuses, so that it looks like the workshop 

 of an alchemist. He is especially occupied with the investigation of 

 bacteria which have an unfavourable influence on yeast cells and tries 

 to cultivate the latter in such a way that they are free from bacteria". 



Still there were bright spots, for, though BEIJERINCK did not get on 

 well with his colleagues, he formed a close friendship with a young 

 technologist, F. G. \VALLER, a future Chairman of the Board of the 

 Yeast and Spirit W T orks. This was a friendship which lasted till BEIJE- 

 RINCK'S death. 



Afterwards BEIJERINCK used to tell that his first practical sugges- 

 tion caused loss to the factory. He suggested to VAN MARKEN that the 

 distillery slop should be used as food to pigs. VAN MARKEN appointed 

 a veterinary specialist, and ordered a number of pigs, which greedily 

 ate the stuff, but which for some reason developed black teeth, 

 making them unmarketable. It was a good thing for BEIJERINCK that 

 at that time Mr. WALLER was about equally unfortunate in his work 

 for the factory. 



