242 



WM. L. OWEN 



1.63 parts of alcohol to one part of acetic acid, from mannite, 

 while from glycerin the ratio of alcohol and acid was 2.11 to 1. 

 Although B. saccharalis also forms alcohol and acetic acid from 

 mannite, the ratio in which these products are formed was not 

 determined in our experiments. 



ACTION ON SUGAR CANE JUICE 



B. saccharalis grows vigorously in cane juice, and apparently 

 induces a strong fermentation of its sugars. In order to deter- 

 mine its effect upon the composition of this substance, sterilized 

 cane juice was inoculated and the following results were ob- 

 tained. To one flask 1 per cent CaCoa was added, in order to 

 neutrahze acids formed during fermentation. 



I 



II 



III 

 IV 



TREATMENT 



Inoculated + 1 per 

 cent CaCOs 



Control + 1 per cent 

 CaCo3 



Inoculated 



Control 



56 



43 

 47 

 45 



It will be noted from the above table that while some of the 

 sucrose of the juice is inverted by the organism, a larger quanity 

 of reducing sugars is destroyed. This results in an apparent 

 increase in the purity of the inoculated flasks over the controls. 



The question of what role this species plays in growing cane, 

 and what effect its presence exercises on the composition of 

 the juice of such cane, led to some inoculation experiments 

 being conducted in 1914 and 1915 in the fields of the Sugar Experi- 

 ment Station. In the first series of experiments the cane was 

 inoculated by means of a small cork borer, and a pipette. The 

 inoculations were made in the following manner. Holes were 

 made in the cane with the cork borer, and 5 cc. of a water sus- 



