jgg BOTANICAL GAZETTE [march 



germinated so that the surface was covered from the beginning with 

 a film of fungus. In the cultures containing the stronger solutions 

 of CH 3 COOK, sometimes less than a hundred colonies were formed, 

 but these were able to grow with sufficient vigor to produce a yield 

 equal to that of the flasks in which more spores had germinated. 



All the potassium acetate cultures formed spores, but those in the 

 concentration of 0.05 GM. per liter produced them most abundantly. 



DISCUSSION 



A general survey of these data shows that alcohol, acetic acid, and 

 the substances from which the acetic acid radicle CH 3 COO- is easily 

 derived are assimilated by Penicillium glaucum. In the case of 

 alcohol the addition of mineral acids stimulates growth, but HN0 3 

 produces greater stimulation than HC1. The esters of alcohol with 

 mineral acids are valueless as a source of carbon, and their lack of 

 nutritive value is not due to any toxic properties. The substances 

 which possess the greater food value among the foregoing are, in gen- 

 eral, those which are readily oxidized. To what extent will these data 

 enable us to correlate the mode of assimilation of these compounds 

 with the known chemical reactions of the substances ? 



The first possibility that presents itself is that alcohol enters into 

 combination with substances in the protoplasm by virtue of its disso- 

 ciation into ethylidene and water 



CH 3 CH 2 OH ±5 CH 3 CH= +HOH, 

 which, as Nef 10 has shown, takes place completely at about 650 C. 

 At ordinary temperatures dissociation into ethylidene and water takes 

 place to a very slight extent, probably less than 0.01 per cent. The 

 dissociation, however, is enormously increased by a combination of 

 alcohol with other substances, as with metals or mineral acids, and 

 also by the action of enzymes and other catalytic agents. The alco- 

 holates are dissociated to so great an extent at ordinary temperatures 

 that they burn spontaneously in the air. Ethyl nitrate dissociates at 

 about 200 C. ( ?) and potassium ethyl sulfate at 250 C. Ethyl sulfuric 

 acid and ethyl sulfate dissociate at low temperatures, so that ether 

 formation begins in a mixture of alcohol with a little sulfuric acid at 



10 Nef, J. U., On the fundamental conceptions underlying the chemistry of the 

 element carbon. Journ. Am. Chem. Soc. 26:1549-1577. 1904. 



