1887.] NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 67 



The closet was dark, but was generally opened once a day. The 

 temperature to which the bottles and their contents had been 

 exposed varied from the freezing point to the highest indoor 

 summer heat, probably about 85° F. Their contents had never 

 been frozen, so far as known. On the above-mentioned date 

 the liquid in several of the bottles was an extremely acid vine- 

 gar, and in these were the peculiar growths about to be de- 

 scribed. I will give an account of the bottles successively. 



Bottle No. 1. — This was an ordinary green glass wine-bottle 

 of about a quart capacity, with a neck a little over an inch in 

 external diameter, a base three inches in diameter, and having 

 a nearly flat bottom. The cork was loose, admitting access of 

 air. The surface of the liquid rose to within an inch of the 

 cork. When first observed, a solid cylinder of tough, white, 

 gelatinous material was standing upright in the bottle. Its 

 diameter was 22 mm., its length 215 mm. Another similar 

 cylinder stood alongside of this one, having the same diameter 

 and a length of 50 mm. This had evidently become detached 

 and fallen from the longer one at some time, and subsequently 

 the growth of the latter had been continued. 



Daring the time which has elapsed since July 25th, the larger 

 cylinder has twice been broken off in the bottle in the course of 

 moving it from place to place, and an additional length of gela- 

 tinous cylinder to the length of 85 mm. has been formed by 

 growth downwards from the surface of the liquid. The total 

 length of gelatinous cylinder made in this bottle during the two 

 and one quarter years has thus been 400 mm., about 16 inches and 

 its volume about 12 cubic inches. The cylinders are distinctly 

 stratified by an alternation of translucent with opaque layers. 



On the first day of examination the liquid was quite clear in 

 all parts of the bottle except the very bottom, where, by gently 

 shaking, considerable turbidity was noticed. As this bottle 

 made a fine museum specimen and it would have been necessary 

 to break the glass in order to extract the cylinders, it was left 

 intact and further examinations conducted on the others. 



Bottle No. 2. — A green glass pint bottle, sloping from the 

 mouth downwards, with no distinct neck and a conical bottom. 

 In this a gelatinous cylinder exactly resembling that in No. 1, 



