A NEW SPECIES OF ALCOHOL FORMING BACTERIA 245 



The test for oxydase and catalase in cane juice becomes very feeble 

 after ten or twelve hours, and with the disappearance of enzymic 

 power, the number of bacteria begins to undergo a sudden increase. 

 But it is more especially within the body of the cane itself that this 

 germicidal action is most evident, and this we might expect not only 

 from the colloidal and adherent character of the enzymes which ren- 

 ders them resistant to expression, but from the facts of localization, etc. 



From this we must conclude that B. saccharalis possesses cer- 

 tain defensive properties which enable it to develop in spite of 

 exposure to the germicidal action of the enzymes within the 

 interior of the sugar cane. The prevalence of this interesting 

 species in the interior of borer infested cane, and its predomi- 

 nance therein, further emphasizes the ability of B. saccharalis to 

 overcome the defensive properties of the plant. 



