( ()fM) ) 



decM)iii|K>sili(»ii of cellulose may We caused h\ Iwo micr(>l>es al leasl, hut 

 anionji,' these the hrowii piuineiil hacteriuni is the most couspiciious. 



Ou using' sea water as iiitectiuu' material, similai' hrowu spots were 

 ohserved. Wheu these were transfei-red to paper without a<i<litiou 

 of S"/,, XaCU they caused no destructiou, which sliows that we are 

 dealing here with a s[)ei-ific sea bacterium. 



I ha\e made se\eral experiments with xai'ious culture matei-ials 

 in oi-der to isolate this wvy intei-esting cellidose-deötroyiuu- brown 

 j)ignient i)aclerium, which 1 was j)ai-ticularly anxious to accomplish 

 after ha\ing observed, that the crude bacteria-mixture as grown on 

 dilierenl culture me(lia ofl(Mi again produces spots when s|)read 

 over pa|)er, which shows that on these media the said i)acterium had 

 kept alive. l>ut I was again unsuccessful in isolating a sj)ecies which 

 either alone or in cond)inalion with other bacteria was capable of 

 causing the brown spots on papei'. Though I succeeded in isolating 

 from these spots a l>row ii and a yellow bacleiMum. w liicli as a rule, 

 were present in large numbei-s. yet, as in the case of the deniti-ilica- 

 tion process, no destruction of cellulose could be induced by their pure 

 cultures. The exj)lanalion of this circumstance has not yet been found. 



The aerobic destructiou of juire ccllidose and also the moi'c 

 diflicult deslruction of the liguilied cell walls,'] on which we cannot 

 ejiler in this in\-estigation, must, like the dejiitrilication (which is only 

 possible with non liguilied cellulose and takes j)lace out of contact 

 with air) j)lay an important |)arl in the disappearance» of vegetable 

 substances in nature. The well known fact that wooden |»iles, when 

 pai-tly immersed in water are attaidved exactly at the |)lace of contact 

 between the water and the air, the breaking (►f ropes, when susj)ended 

 in water, exactly at its sui-face and also the aëi-obic decay (»f \\(»od 

 must be attributed maiidy to the action of aerobic destroyers, van 

 Skm s (I.e. jo;]) who was ac(piainted with these facts, did not deny 

 the possibility of a decomposition by aëi-obic bacteria but th(tughl 

 it very uidiKely "as no phenomenon ever pointed to such a fact." 



Thai the above-described yellowish-bi-ow ii pigmt'Ul bacterium plays 

 indeed an important part in the (lisa|)peai'ance of the cellulose, is 

 shown by the following exjteriment. 



On ()ctobei- 14, Jl)()'2 wei'c i)uried in the garden of the bacteriolo- 

 gical laboratory at about 15 cm. i>eIow the suiTace a linen cloth 

 with a red coloi-ed border, and in i\no other })laces four sheets of 

 lillerpa|>ei\ all in a horizontal [»ositio)i. Left in the soil untouched 

 during the recent winter and on exhuming them March '2'2, 11)03 



') TliP greiil slabilily oC wiiod-ccllnldsc towards inicrol)ic life is directly (i|i)ii>sed 

 to till' rradv tiocuiiipusitiuii ol wouil iia|ici' tllldi'f iliriuicul iiilliiences. 



