^'INEGAR-PLA.NT. 



C BU ] 



VITTiE. 



Penicillium. 



bearing strings of spores. 

 Magnified 250 diametera- 



exhausted liquid in 

 the dark for some 

 mouths, the acidity 

 of the vinegar dis- 

 appeared, the gela- 

 tinous layer becauio 

 greatly condensed, 

 and assumed a briglit 

 crimson tint, and re- 

 mained as a dull-red 

 membranous film, 

 somewhat like a 

 smear of blood when 

 di'ied upon paper. 



From tlie above 

 observations it woidd 

 appear that the vine- 

 gar-plant consists ofH'^f'cl.of a (■"•'""„ ^1^™«"* 

 the mycelium of Peni- 

 ciUinm glamum^ vege- 

 tating actively and increasing also by crops 

 of conklia or gemmre. This opinion is en- 

 tertained by Turpin, Berkeley, and other 

 observers; and the various genera and species 

 founded on the different forms of structm'e 

 occurring in it cannot be entertained : 

 among these are Ulcma, Kiitz., and species 

 of Hygrocrocis, Leptomitns, ike. But the 

 moniliform growth is at the same time 

 scarceK distinguishable from the Yeast- 

 plant by any satisfactory characters ; and 

 repeated observations strongly impress us 

 with the idea, that these objects are all 

 referable to one species, — the viuegar-plant 

 being the form of vegetative growth taking 

 place at low or ordinary temperatures in 

 highly saccharine liquids, while the true 

 yeast-plant'or Torida is formed in the more 

 rapid fermentation taking place at more 

 elevated temperatures. Another circum- 

 stance, mentioned under Penicillium, is 

 that we have foimd stale beer-gi'ounds, kept 

 at a rather low temperature, always ulti- 

 mately acquire a gelatinous crust, on which 

 PeniciUutm-hmt becomes developed. 



In Connexion with this subject may be 

 mentioned the objects called C'rijptoccoccus 

 <jh(tinif>, Fres., and the '^ blood on bread,*' 

 which appear nearly related to the red-co- 

 loured condition of the vinegar-plant abo^•e 

 mentioned. These are possibly merely forms 

 of the same plant; indeed we have observed, 

 on some fiom'-paste partially covered with 

 PeniciUium (jlaKciim, small circular patches 

 of a crimson tint, which under the micro- 

 scope were found to consist wholly of mi- 

 nute elliptical bodies, generally exhibiting 

 two internal gi-anules or "nuclei," and 



exactly resembling the articulations of some 

 of the moniliform structures of the vinegar- 

 plant, which readily separate into their 

 component cells. All these phenomena 

 require further investigation, to which long- 

 contiuued and constant observation must be 

 applied in order to ascertain with certainty 

 the relation the different objects bear to 

 each other. It is a kind of research occu- 

 pying much time, and demanding great 

 care and patience, but calculated to repay 

 the trouble far better than the amassing of 

 isolated characters of forms seen at different 

 periods and under special conditions. Fur- 

 ther particulars concerning various points 

 treated in this article will be found mider 

 the heads Fermentation, Oidium, Peni- 

 cillium, ToRULA, and Yeast. 



BiBL. Turpin, Mem. cle VInstifnf, xvii. 

 135 ; Berkeley, Jn. Hort. Soc. iii.91 ; Lindley'a 

 Med. Bot. 17; Fresenius, Beitr. z. Mycol. 

 Heft ii. 77 ; Slack, Tr. Mic. Soc. I860, 10. 



VIRGULA'RIA.— A genus of Pemiatu- 

 lidae (Alcyonaria). V. mirabilis is found in 

 British seas, and has a long rod-like support 

 to the short polype-bearing fringes. 



VIRGULI'NA, D'Orb.— A subgenus of 

 Bulimina, having outdrawn, very delicate, 

 and smooth biserial shells, with extremely 

 fine pores. The regular VirgnUnce are ty- 

 pified b}^ V, squamosa, those of less regular 

 growth by 7^'. Schreihersii. The only variety 

 taking on a sandy condition, becoming de- 

 licately rugose or subarenaceous, is V.Hemp- 

 richii, common in the Indian seas and in 

 some Tertiary and Cretaceous strata, having 

 muddy dull shells of very variable growth, 

 and presenting passages of form between V. 

 Schreihersii and Bulimina proper. See Bo- 

 LiviNA and Bulimina. Common, recent 

 and fossil. 



The extreme subcylindrical modification 

 of Virgtdina is PleurostomeUa, Reuss ; the 

 bi-uui-serial modification is Bifarina, P.«&J. 



BiBL. 'Ehrenher'2,Mikro(/.: Parker& Jones, 

 Phd. Tr. civ. 075; Aim.' N. II. 4. ix. 284, 

 299. 



VIS'CUINr, Tjinn.— A genus of Lorantha- 

 ceje (Dicotyledons). 



T^. album is the mistletoe, alluded to under 

 Embryo-sac, Liber, and Ovule. 



\TTREOUS HUMOUR or bod v. See 

 Eye. 



VITT^ of the valves of the Diatomacese. 

 — These are internal projections or inflections 

 of the valves, forming imperfect septa; they 

 appear as dark lines, visible mider ordinary 

 illumination. 



