Some Bacterial Curiosities 47 



oxygen were an evidence of volition in its 

 simplest form way down on the lowest 

 border-line of life. 



Some forms of bacteria are exceedingly in- 

 vulnerable to the action of cold, and can not 

 only move actively about in very cold water, 

 but can remain alive for long periods fast 

 frozen in a mass of ice. Now a very curious 

 thing has been noticed in the ice which is 

 gathered in these regions and which we use 

 for domestic purposes, and that is, that the 

 so-called bubbly streaks which we usually 

 see in our ice blocks contain, as a rule, many 

 more bacteria than does the transparent ice 

 close by. 



It has been found, on cultivating the bac- 

 teria from the bubbly streaks, that the species 

 which was most abundant here is an oxygen 

 lover, and is also very mobile. Now the 

 bubbles which collect in streaks or layers in 

 the ice collect during the daytime, or when 

 the ice is not freezing very fast below, and 

 there is time for the air-seeking bacteria to 

 gather around them in great numbers. But 

 now, when a clear night or a cold snap comes 



