ON THE DECOMPOSITION OF CELLULOSE BY AN 

 AEROBIC ORGANISM {SPIROCHAETA CYTO- 



PHAGA, N. SP.). 



By 

 HENRY BROUGHAM HUTCHINSON 



AND 



JAMES CLAYTON, 

 Board of Agriculture Research Scholar. 



(Rothamsted Exjierunenlal Stalion, Hurpenden.) 



The processes leading to the decomposition of cellulose and related 

 substances in the soil present many features of considerable theoretical 

 and economic interest. As is well known, cellulose displays a remarkable 

 inactivity towards the simpler solvents, but under the action of strong 

 acids it gives rise to the formation of less complex carbohydrates, sugars, 

 such as cellobiose, dextrose, etc. On the other hand, certain organisms 

 possess the faculty of attacking cellulose not only with great rapidity, 

 but they also appear to do so with the formation of products which are 

 not encountered in the purely chemical reactions. From the standpoint 

 of soil fertility, the question acquires considerable importance in view 

 of the enormous quantities of cellulose and its derivatives which, year by 

 year, find their way into the soil in the form of plant residues and organic 

 manures. As our acquaintance with the various soil processes extends it 

 is becoming more and more evident that the inter-relations between 

 carbon and nitrogen are not only exceedingly complex, but are also 

 vital in their effect on the crop producing power of the soil. 



The practical significance of some of these changes has already been 

 discussed in an earlier paper '^ in which it was shown that by supple- 

 menting the amount of readily decomposable organic matter in the soil 

 quite appreciable changes in the nitrogen content and in the fertility of 

 the soil may be induced. In the present paper we propose to confine 

 ourselves to the consideration of the processes whereby an inactive carbon 



1 Hutchinson, H. B., Tlua J ownial, 1918, 9, 92-111. 



