( 694 ) 



0\vinc: l<> tlic (lissuliition of tlic oollnloso tlie absorption of oxygen 

 ill iIk' ciilliires niav hecuuie x) strong, parlifiilarly when working 

 wil II liiic'k layers of cellulose pasle, tiial anaëroltie proeesses become 

 |)(»ssil)le. If, ii(»\\. iiilrales or niti-iles are siill incseiil in llic ciillnre 

 (lenitj-iticatioji wil! x't in. bul if liiese conipoiiiid^ are already decom- 

 posed, or if originally anollier sonrce of nilrogen had been added, 

 methane or hydrogen ferincnlaiioii becomes p(»ssible. in the last case 

 we microscopically obscrxc llic Ncry characleri>lic rod> with >|tores, 

 accumulating (»n llie lil)res. In iliis anaerobic siadium ihe spirillae 

 are for llie urealer pai'l expelled but the destruction is now much 

 more inlense than when it look |»lacc c\clusi\ely under aüj-obic 

 conditions so iliaf in a short liiiii' the paper pulp gels foi- the greater 

 jiai'l dissolved and lea\es liehind a bacterial mucu>. 



When iisijig as infectiiig malerial soil, instead of mud from ;\ 

 dilcli. \ve obseiNc on llie whole the same j)lienomena, only we 

 do nol lind llieii thai \ariely in species of spirillae noticed with 

 dilch-waler. As a rule a short, thick, graniilate(l spirillum with one 

 half w inding is then conspicuous and 1 have succeeded in preparijig 

 |>ure cultures (»f this sj)ecies, already observed previously ^). 



An exjierimeni witii sea water siiowed. that this also causes the 

 aerobic decomitosition of cellulose and an accumiilalioii of dillereiil 

 species of s|)irillae was obtained at the same lime, hi this case the decom- 

 position in the anaerobic stadium may also be caused by an anaerobic 

 s|)ore forming organism, which much resembles the iiacteria of the 

 methane and hydrogen ferinentalioii> but still presents a differeni >lia|>e. 

 I lia\e tried to isolate the bacteria comiecled with ti>e aerobic 

 deslriicli(»ii i»ul was not more successful than in (he dejiitritication 

 experiment. ( >ii sowing on br(>th-gelatin or broth-agar a mimber of 

 bacteria specie> wei'e found : il icircsiwnts. II. rnH onuiniiin', B. siih- 

 fi/is, li. nii'st'iiti'riciis and several others imkiiowji to me. but noJie 

 of these sj)ecies or none combination thereof was capable of attacking 

 cellnlose. 



( )iu' result that cellulose may be attacked by aerobic bacteria 

 widely occiirrinu- in nature, is coidirmed in a particularly conxincing 

 maimer by the following experimejif : 



111 a Lilass box are placed two discs of Swedish tilterpaper between 

 which has beeji spriid^led a little (piantily of powdered MgNHJ^O^ ; the 

 pa|)er is imbibed with a solution of 0.05 gram of KJIPOj in 100 cc. of 

 tcipwater. If noxv we introduce upon the plate thus prepared a little 



') Beijeri.nck. Ueber uligoiiiliophik^ Microben. Centrbl. f. Bakt. Abt. II, 1901 

 Bd. 7, S. 574. 



