MECHANISM OF DEATH 



279 



During the second minute, again 90% of all living cells 

 die, which leaves 10% or 10,000 cells alive. In this 

 way, the number of cells decreases as is shown in Table 

 78. 



If we compare the number of cells dying per unit time, 

 with the examples given for seeds and fruit-flies, 

 a difference in principle will be noticed. 



That this order is typical for most causes of death of 

 bacteria, will be shown all through this part of the book 

 dealing with death; the evidence regarding the order 

 of death is also summarized in Table 84, p. 295. Only 

 two experiments shall be mentioned here (Table 79), as 

 parallels to the afore-mentioned experiments with multi- 



Table 79. — Death of Bacteria by Heat and by HgCl^ 



cellular organisms, one on the death of Bad. typhosum 

 by heat, by Chick (1910), and another on the death of 

 spores of B. anthracis by mercuric chloride, by Madsen 



