64 MEDICAL MYCOLOGY 



The ideal method would be one in which the reaction was studied quan- 

 titatively in special apparatus, a condition not attained except in purely 

 physiologic researches (cf. Kluyver 1914). 



Since comparatively few organisms ferment hexoses to carbon dioxide 

 and alcohol, in the majority of cases we are really interested rather in the 

 ability of the organism to attack and utilize sugars than in their fermentative 

 ability in the narrow sense of the term. Hence, a quantitative titration of the 

 sugar medium for the presence of accumulated acid is equally useful. In 

 fact, in the majority of "fermentations" mentioned for Monilia by Castellani, 

 the production of acid rather than of alcohol is meant. Probably this has 

 been done very roughly, since the author rarely mentions the indicator used 

 and never the relative amount of sugar converted to acid in a unit of time by 

 a definite number of organisms per cubic centimeter. Stelling-Dekker sug- 

 gests that more quantitative methods are useful, especially in the case of a 

 trisaccharide in which several organisms secrete raffinase which by hydrolysis 

 splits the rafSnose to mellibiose and fructose and is able to ferment the fructose 

 so produced but not to hydrolyze the mellibiose. Aichelburg (1932) reports 

 that slight acidity shows after one week with inulin but only after two weeks 

 with starch. For further consideration of the problems involved, especially 

 of the chemical reactions, the reader should consult some of the standard 

 works on biochemistry, or special monographs on alcoholic fermentation, such 

 as that by Harden. Maltose, fructose, and glucose are quite regularly fer- 

 mented by many species of yeasts while galactose, sucrose, and dextrin are 

 more variable. Inulin, raffinose, and mannite are often attacked by certain 

 species and should be tried in placing a strange Monilia. Lactose is attacked 

 by comparatively few fungi, but when it is attacked the amount of fermenta- 

 tion is apt to be large. Most of the other sugars are too rarely fermented 

 and too expensive to be used in most routine work. Ashford has shown that 

 ultraviolet light may destroy the normal fermenting power of Syringospora 

 psilosis (Monilia psilosis). 



Sometimes characteristic deposits may be evident upon cultivation in 

 connection with fermentation studies. Ashford 's laboratory usually tests fer- 

 mentation on 1-4% concentration of the sugar in peptone water, although 

 nutrient bouillon may be used. The pH is adjusted to about the neutral point, 

 and changes of acidity or alkalinity are noted. 



Animal and Human Inoculations and Recovery of Organisms From 

 Lesions. — The methods used for inoculations, both of animals and human 

 volunteers, are too well known by the medical profession to need discussion 

 here, and have little value in the hands of an experimenter without a good 

 medical training. The necessity of a thorough sterilization of the skin cannot 

 be too strongly emphasized, for mold spores from dust or clothing may be 

 picked up as a contaminant and, in some cases, even be considered as the etio- 

 logic agent. Perhaps the advice of Erwin F. Smith needs especial emphasis in 

 this connection. "I now endeavor to repeat all my own experiments several 

 times over and in the end I have a rounded out and better view than the one 



