Fermentations by Organisms 831 



B, at 10 atmospheres of air, upright. 



July 29. Decompressed. The appearance of A has not changed. 

 B is violet colored, with a colored precipitate, abundant, adhering 

 to the vessel. 



October 4. Tasted. A, good taste, quite good bouquet. 

 B, colorless, bouquet lost, smells flat. 



6. Molds. 



In a great number of experiments, generally made with another 

 purpose, several of which have already been reported, I have ob- 

 served that oxygen at high tension kills microscopic organisms, 

 animal or vegetable, besides ferments. Liquids suited to the de- 

 velopment of infusoria contain no trace of them after a certain time 

 in compressed oxygen; they are completely purified of them, when 

 they already contained them, both animal and vegetable, both 

 simple monads and the highest infusoria in the series. 



Evidently these facts have only a slight importance, considering 

 all those which we have already enumerated, and so we shall not 

 give a report of any special experiment. The universality of the 

 fatal effect of oxygen at high tension has been sufficiently estab- 

 lished by all the experiments reported hitherto. It would be a 

 strange philosophy to imagine — and yet eminent intellects have 

 made this serious mistake in the matter of so-called spontaneous 

 generation — that microscopic dimensions can give special powers 

 to beings of that size, and authorize in their favor infringements 

 of the most general rules of nature. 



Quite naturally molds have behaved like the so-called higher 

 plants. And yet it seems worth while to report here a few experi- 

 ments which deal principally with them. These data may be useful, 

 in fact, in solving questions relating to the general theory of fer- 

 mentations. 



Experiment CCCCLIII. June 26, 1874. Two pieces of wet bread, 

 measuring a few cubic centimeters, are placed: 



A, in a large flask closed with a cork stopper. 



B, in a small flask closed similarly but with a cork pierced by a 

 hole. Taken to 15 superoxygenated atmospheres. 



July 21. A has for several days been in deliquescence and is cov- 

 ered with green mold. 



B, white, firm, very fresh in appearance; no vegetation. 



January 18, 1875. A is only shapeless fragments, in which there 

 is no sugar left; neutral to litmus. 



B presents exactly the same appearance as on July 21. When 

 opened, it has a slight acid odor, agreeable, which is not that of acetic 

 acid, but is like that of lactic acid. It turns litmus a deep red ,and 

 owes this effect to an acid which resists prolonged boiling and com- 



