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gations have been made. I instituted a number of experi- 
ments, of which I will mention here a few results :— 
(a.) 800 cc. of a five per cent. grape-sugar solution were 
left standing in a glass-stoppered bottle, which was opened 
from time to time; soon the presence of micro-organisms 
could be detected under the microscope, and a smell of 
butyric acid could be recognized; after a lapse of two 
months, the quantity of decomposed sugar amounted to 9°3 
per cent. of the whole. 
(6.) A similar quantity of the same solution, as in (a.), 
remained entirely unaltered, after the addition of 0°5 grms. 
phenol. 
(c.) A mixture of 300 ce. sugar solution of the same 
strength and 30 c.c. yeast (2°16 grms. dry substance) under- 
went a regular and complete fermentation, but after addition 
of 05 grms. phenol, another sample (d.) went on much 
slower, and after two weeks, only 59°5 per cent. of the sugar 
was decomposed by fermentation; on application of 1 grm. 
phenol, the fermentation was still more retarded, but 5 grms. 
stopped it entirely. 
An interesting contribution to the understanding of butyric 
fermentation, seems to have been made by Béchamp, when 
he announced small fungi appearing like vibrating dots, which 
-are able to produce butyric fermentation in sugar solutions. 
Béchamp calls these ‘ microsyma crete.” Simultaneously 
Béchamp said that the residue of chalk insoluble in acids (08 
per cent.) consists of a body, containing carbon and nitrogen, 
the real substance of the “‘microsyma crete.” It seemed to 
me interesting to investigate this residue. 100 grms. of chalk, 
dissolved in hydrochloric acid, left behind 0°82 grms. residue 
and this consisted of silica, oxide of iron, alumina, lime, 
water, and a slight trace of a humus-like substance; the 
quantity of which was too small to be determined. In order 
to obtain a clearer insight into the fermenting properties of 
the chalk, 50 grms. of it were mixed with 300 c.c. of a five 
per cent. sugar solution and left to itself (e). After a few 
