217 
nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur is shown from the determination 
of the sulphated ash from the fungous material at different periods 
of the development. 
50 ec. of a nutrient liquor of the composition: tapwater, 2°/, 
anhydrous glucose, 0.3°/, NH,NO,, 0.3°/, AH,PO, and 0.2°/, of 
crystallised magnesium sulphate was inoculated with traces of 
Aspergillus niger. With the fungous material obtained after 47 days 
at 32°—33°, which was then washed with distilled water, a sulphated 
ash determination was made. All the glucose was used up. I obtained 
in four cases 5, 5, 5.5 and 6 mgs of ash, respectively (table 1). 
Such a trifling quantity of ash made us already expect that the 
elements occurring in the sulphated ash would be present in young 
cells in larger quantities than in old ones. The proof therefore is 
given by the further experiments mentioned in table I. 
TABLE I. 
Nutrient liquor: 50 cc. of tapwater wherein dissolved 20/, anhydrous glucose, 
0.15 % NH, NOs, 0.15 % KH, PO, 0.1 % crystallised magnesium sulphate. 
Inoculated with Aspergillus niger. Temperature during cultivation 32/33° C. Quantity 
of ash') in mg., after moistening the fungous material with strong sulphuric acid 2). 
NUMBER OF DAYS AFTER INOCULATION. 
Four Nine | Sixteen | Forty seven 3) 
ct Do IE Wb 
by ere vee | 5 
Biest So ie Me 
ús 8 
On the ground of the above it was to be expected that if we 
remove a young, only just formed, fungous film from the nutrient 
liquor and place it on distilled water after having first washed 
away the adhering fluid, the utilisation of the intermediate products 
will go on to a considerable degree if, at least, the temperature 
does not alter (32°—33°). Yet the matter was not quite so simple 
as I suspected. The possibility existed that one or more of the 
elements are accumulated not in the young but in the old cells 
1) Ash entirely free from carbon. 
2) The figures with the same number of underlines belong to the same experimental 
series. 
5) In these experiments the inorganic nutriment was : 0,3°/9 NH4NOs, 0,3°/, KH,PO, 
and 0,2°/, crystallised magnesium sulphate. 
