FUNGI. 291 



circumstances, and which he named Monas prodigiosa. 

 We now term it Micrococcus prodigios7is. It has been 

 observed, not only on bread, but on the Host, on 

 milk, paste, and on all alimentary or farinaceous 

 substances exposed to damp heat."^ 



The spherical cells of which the substance is com- 

 posed, examined under the microscope, are seen to 

 be filled with a reddish oil, which gives to them a 

 peach-blossom tint, and when transferred to raw 

 meat they assume a splendid fuchsia colour, resem- 

 bling spots of blood. The plant is only developed 

 in the dark, and the nitrogen necessary for its nutri- 

 tion must be derived from the air, especially when 

 developed upon bread. About 1886 an epidemic 

 appearance on the Conti- 

 nent was attributed to this 

 source. Pieces of cooked 

 meat presented a singular 

 carmine-red colouration, and » 

 stained vividly the fingers or 

 linen with which they came 

 in contact. These phenomena 

 prevailed regularly foraperiod 

 of three months. Food cooked overnight was found 

 the next morning covered with red patches, and it 

 then underwent rapid alteration (Fig. 57). Coincident 

 with a sudden and considerable fall in the tempera- 

 ture, the epidemic ceased, and has not reappeared.^ 

 Rev. M. J. Berkeley has also referred to the same 



* E. L, Trouessart, "Microbes, Ferments, and Moulds," p. 127, 

 (1889). 

 ' Pharmaceutical Journal (Jan. 39, 1887), p. 610. 



a 



