( 095 ) 



(|ii;iii(ilv ol' water conlaiiiiiiu' in siis|K'iisi(»ii liiiiiiiis. uardcMi soil oi-, still 

 i>ellei-, (lik'li-iniul. and il" we cnltix alc al 24 — 28°, (lie paper g-els covered 

 after 4 or 5 <lavs witli vellow isli-l»ro\vii spots wliicli, iiii('i-osco|)ieally, 

 are found to consist of bactoi-ia. Tlioso spots spread with iir(\il rapidit\-, 

 and it is liiuidv iiiterc^stin^' l(t ohscrxc^ liow in a short linKMlic wliil(> 

 lilterpaper is covered with the rnsty cuUiii'c. This is accompanied l)y 

 a decided <leconi|)osition of th(^ pa|ier tihi-e, which is shown in the 

 lirst |ilace l)y the tact that the papei- becomes (piilc soft and pnljty 

 jn>l on ihc spots (exposed to the action ol" thcHirowii liaclerinin, h)sino- 

 there all coherence and sinkinu' ilowii alonu' the edges of ihe jthos- 

 phale. The phenomenon hecomes still more jtrononnced, w hen instead 

 of tilterpaper, linen or cotton is used: after ahont 10 da\s. the affec- 

 ted spots of the originally sti-ong matei-ial have lost all power of 

 resistance and after 15 days lai-ge holes will he formed when care- 

 fully |touring water on them. 



Microscopically, it appears that a powei-ful desli-nction of the tihre 

 is taking [dace (tig. 3) due to the action of a hrown, \ cry mohile, 

 little i-od bacterium [lj((cillus ferriKjiin'iis tig. 4). The tibre is again 

 envelope*! by a mucus in which is found, in many cases, the 

 same micrococcus as mentioned altove (lig. 5 ami 6). Owing to the 

 cond)ined action of these two bacteria the fibre may disap])ear com- 

 pletely and leave behind a nnicus containing only micrococci ; wc then 

 obtain an image as shown iji fig. 7. In addition to amoebae and 

 monads other small bacteria are found, but there is no cpiestion of 

 the i)resence of anaërobics. which occui- in the hvdrogen or methane 

 fermentations, the action l)eing a |)urely aerobic one and taking 

 place very w"ell in lillerj»aper both sides of whi(di arc exposed to 

 the air. 



On transferring the browji s[)ots to pre\iously stcM-ilised |)aper discs. 

 between which JMgNH^PO^ has been sprinkled and which lia\e been 

 saturated with a steiile (),()5" , solution of K.,H1'0|, the phenomenon 

 remains constant. On inocculatiug them into the aboxe «lescribed cel- 

 lulose judp a culture is obtained resembling thai which aris(>s by 

 the direct action of ditch-mud or earth, but no spirallae are found 

 this lime, foi" these luMiig microaerophiloiis eamiot grow in ihe 

 aërobie enllure on the paper discs. ( )u the other hand the cultures 

 from ]>aper pulp wer<' occasionally capable ol |iroducing brow n spots 

 on pap<.M' discs, showing that in Ixdii ca^cs th<> desti'uction of the 

 cellulo-;e may be caused by the same nncrobe. I al>o noticed a few 

 times thai ihe discs were coxcred with cohn-h^ss s[)Ots caused by a 

 larger mucus->ecreliiig I'od, and as morcoxcr the paper pulpcultm'es 

 often are ojdv little colored, it must be assumed, that the aerobic 



