56 THE GERMINATION OF THE ENDOSPORE 



1876, with a bacillus isolated by him from an infusion of hay. This fact defi- 

 nitely proved that the bacteria belong to the vegetable kingdom, since spore 

 formation exclusively characterises the sub-kingdom Thallophyta, and is unknown 

 in animals. A more accurate account of this important process was given two 

 years later by OSKAR BREFELD (I.) for Bacillus subtilis ; two years subsequently 

 by|A. PRAZMOWSKI (I.) for Clostridium butyricum; in 1882 by HANS BUCHNER 

 (II.) for B. anthracis ; then by DE BARY (I.) for his B. megatherium, and by 

 others. 



