•( '^OJ ) 



of our illnsiralioii sliows tlic iiiiaii'c of llic dcslnictiou l>_v Mi/ctxione 

 piU'ciuionles, in wliicli the striicliirc of the liltrillae and the said poros 

 are visible. 



The degree of destnielioii also iiiav he ascei'laiiied hv direct weighing. 

 A enhnri^ wiih Mz/coi/oiic pncc'mio'idi's was made on a (h)nl)h' disc 

 of lilterpajKM', two e(|nally hea\_v lillei's ser\ing as conti-ol. Aftei- 

 a cnhnre, hxstiug 40 (hivs, the discs, from which the strongly 

 develo|)ed mycelium was not remo\(>d, weighed 1.00 gram, whilst 

 the conli'olling discs weighed l.K) gram, showing that ahout 14"'^ of 

 the cellulose had disa|)|)eared. A similar experiment with Triclio- 

 clddnuii (isix'rmn gave a loss of 9 "/„. 'Hiese great losses oidy can 

 l)e explained by the oxidalioji of the products derixed from the 

 cellulose imder the inlbience of the resjniat ion process. The oxidati(»n 

 of celbdose also was stndied with tilterpapei- judp, naineh b\ 

 weighing the amount of carbon dioxide, liberated during a cultuj-o 

 of (Jli(U'l(>i))liii)i. l'uiiZ('((niini. In this experiment an oxidation of 

 about 4"/,, of the cellulose could be uoticed after a 28 days culture, 

 a quantity large eiutugh to remove all doubt about the desinidion 

 of the i-ellulose. 



No, growth or oidy a \ery small ojie, was obserxed wlieu culti- 

 vating the moulds ou: 



Tajiwater 100, agar 2, NH,N(), 0,05, KHJ^O, 0,05. 



but as soon as cellulose was added a strong dexelopment set in, 

 showiug in a surprisiug mamiei-, that agar is a less nuti-ient food lor 

 these moulds than cellulose. The cellulose used iu these experiments 

 nuist be very liuely dixided and was |)re|)ared by treatijig cottonwjol 

 with concentrated hydrochloi'ic acid, which causes the cotton fibi-es 

 to break uj) into very small fragments. A pre[>aration, which appeared 

 to be still more suitable was [)re{)ared as follows: Paj)ei- which has 

 been converted into soda-cellulose by the action of sli-ong soda-lye, 

 is readily soluble in sodium xajithogenate to a light yellow li(pn(l : 

 the "viscose" of Cross and 1)KVan'), which is jiuritied by pr(M-ipitation 

 with alcohol; on adding hydrochloric acid to its a(pieous solution 

 cellulose is precipitated iu a \qv\ pure condition. 1 haxc to thaid^ 

 Mr. DK JoNou ScuKFFKK, for a s|»ecimeu of this |)reparatiou, \n liicli 

 he |)re|)ared in the chemical laboratory of the I\)lytechnic School 

 at ])elft. 



I found that, wIkmi cultivating on this agarcellulosc, lli(> growth 

 entirely depends on the (piaiitity of llic cellulose added: with unich 

 cellulose a strong growth was obseivcd. 



1) Cross and Bevan, Cellulose, IS'Jo, p. iO. Lumluii, Longman Clrecu and Co. 



