76 JOAN F. POWELL 



spores of Bacillus suhtilis, B. megatherium and B. cereus. Biochem. J. 

 58: 80-85. 

 Wynne, E. S. and J. W. Foster. 1948. Physiological studies on spore germi- 

 nation with special reference to Clostridium botulinum. I. Development 

 of a quantitative method. J. Bact. 55: 61-63. 



Discussion 



Jackson W. Foster 



You have all heard about carrying coals to Newcastle. Well, that is how 

 I feel in commenting on spore germination work done by Dr. Powell. Perhaps 

 henceforth this kind of action may not inappropriately be regarded as 

 carrying spores to Porton. My predicament is even worse than most of you 

 realize, when it is considered that the problem of germination has been 

 scarcely touched in my laboratory for the last five years. 



However, I could not sit through the series of excellent presentations we 

 have been privileged to hear up to this point without deriving some ideas of 

 a discussable nature. Consequently, my comments are based mainly on cer- 

 tain points brought out in the previous papers and discussions. I am, so to 

 speak, "playing it by ear," and if it appears that I am digressing from Dr. 

 Powell's work per se, discussion of which is my formal assignment, I trust 

 that you will regard what I have to say as being at least germane to this 

 conference. 



I view with detachment what appears to be an onrushing enthusiasm on 

 the part of some of the participants here to formulate definitions of the 

 process of germination. We ought to reflect whether we may be somewhat 

 premature in this desire. My own feeling is that we have a great deal more 

 to learn about the germination act before we start attaching monikers to 

 processes which currently are wholly mysterious. It is well and good to have 

 a glossarv of terms which denote features which are largely, if not exclusively 

 of operational significance at this time. The operational aspect is what was 

 implied, and no more, by use of the terms "germination outgrowth" and 

 "germination heat lability" or their equivalents, in some of the preceding 

 presentations. I think we know all too little about the nature of these 

 processes and it behooves this group of experts to deliberate the matter 

 seriously before deciding to recommend formal adoption of such terms and 

 subsequent incorporation into the scientific literature in this field. Any pro- 

 nouncement by this group is likely to be taken as "official." and I for one 

 feel we run the serious hazard of imposing an unwanted and unnecessary 

 legacy upon subsequent workers. As the phenomena we would purport to 

 describe now become less and less mysterious, I rather suspect that what will 

 happen is that we and our successors will be faced with the problem of con- 



