146 
powdered marble could not replace the chalk, the latter only 
containing the “microsyma.” It will be seen very clearly, 
that a small quantity of phenol is easier absorbed by the 
porous chalk than by the powdered marble. On the other 
hand, leaving the creosote or phenol entirely out in both 
cases, the fermentation proceeds equally well after the chalk 
as well as the marble had been exposed for a short time to 
the atmosphere. 
3. That in the presence of a lime salt, the fermentation 
is accelerated, when once initiated by the spores of the air, 
the development of the cells being much favored by the 
neutralization of the butyric acid, and by the presence of a 
lime-salt in solution, as butyrate of lime. Compare (a.), (e), 
and below (2). 
4, That the nitrogenized matter necessary for the devel- 
opment of the cells is not originally present in the chalk, but 
is derived from the sugar, which always contains traces 
of it.* 
In order to furnish a further proof that phenol absorbed by 
porous bodies has no antiseptic qualities, 50 grms. of pow- 
dered charcoal, which, for some time, had been exposed to 
the air, were brought into 800 c.¢ of a 5 per cent. sugar 
solution, which had been previously boiled, and was allowed 
to cool in a well-stoppered flask and 05 grms. phenol 
added; after a few days, the development of gas bubbles 
could be observed, the phenol smell disappeared and butyric 
acid could be distinctly recognized by the odor; after four 
weeks, 23'1 per cent of the sugar was decomposed. Doubt- 
less the presence of a small quantity of carbonate of lime 
would have accelerated the fermentation. In another experi- 
ment, 5 grms. phenol were employed, under similar circum- 
stances, but then, not the slightest fermentation could be 
* The fungoid growth, observed by every chemist in the solution of 
tartaric acid, contains in the dried mass 3°5 per cent. nitrogen, besides 
some sllica, carbon, etc., even when the acid is commonly considered 
as “ pure.” 
