213 Mr. W. K. Sullivan on the nature of Lactic Fo-mentation. 



The mycelia of most fungi are so exceedingly alike in the 

 early stages of their development, that the free cells, beaded 

 threads, and ramuli composing ferments, crusts in skin diseases 

 {Purrigo, Favus, &c.), putrid matter, &c. may all be specifically 

 distinct. Botanists have not, however, yet determined this point ; 

 nor is it a problem of easy solution. Kiitzing, v^ho has devoted 

 great attention to this department of botany, in speaking, in his 

 ' Phycologia generalis,' of the lower forms of plants which occur in 

 fermenting fluids, and of the extreme difficulty of distinguishing 

 them into genera and species, says that he once attempted to 

 make the distinction, at a time when he had only investigated 

 and observed a few of those forms, but that the extraordinary 

 variety of the forms which a closer examination had made him 

 acquainted with, had frightened him from the task. 



This subject suggests two trains of investigation which I would 

 propose for the consideration of botanists and chemists. One 

 would be to cause the spores of well-determined species of fungi 

 to germinate in different kinds of solutions, both of inorganic 

 and organic bodies, and observe the character of the mycelia 

 formed, and the nature of the changes which take place in the 

 fluids. The second would be to follow out, as has been done in 

 the case of the yeast plant, the whole course of growth to full 

 fructification, of all the cellular plant-like substances observed 

 in the more definite characteristic kinds of fermentation and 

 putrefaction. Such investigations would throw light not only 

 upon the nature of fermentation and decay, but would open a 

 new field of inquiry regarding the chemical changes which take 

 place during the growth of plants ; for in these experiments we 

 should be able to operate as it were upon individual cells, every one 

 of which probably possesses the same initial physiological value. 

 Perhaps one of the results of the second investigation would be 

 that the myceloid substance of many fermenting and putrifying 

 bodies is formed of the mycelia of several species. 



But whatever theory of fermentation may ultimately be found 

 to be correct, I do not think the formation of lactic acid in the 

 experiment above described can be satisfactorily explained by 

 the hypothesis of J\l. Pasteur. I have recorded the result in the 

 hope of inducing him and others to investigate the subject fully, 

 and especially from the point of view just suggested. Very im- 

 portant results may be expected from the labours of such an 

 observer as M. Pasteur, in a field which appears to be one for 

 which he has a special predilection. 



