PASTEUR. 33 



Pure lactate of lime Grams 75.0 



Phosphate of ammonia u 0.5 



Phosphate of potash " 0.4 



Chloride of magnesium a 0.3 



Sulphate of ammonia " 0.2 



Sulphate of soda a trace. 



Pasteur has also cultivated, individually, many other organ- 

 isms, and noted their peculiarities. The extreme high tem- 

 perature borne by the spores of the ordinary moulds is very 

 wonderful. For instance, the Penicilliurn Glaucum grew 

 after being exposed for a considerable time to a dry heat 

 of 248 F. and 257 F. It was the same with the spores of 

 other mucidiues. At 266 F. the power of growth was lost 

 in them all. 



Spores of the bacterium lactis were destroyed at 250 F. 



Pasteur also made many experiments to determine the 

 prevalence of germs in the air. He placed fermentable 

 fluids in flasks, boiled, and sealed them while hot; after 

 they were cold he broke the end of the tube, letting the air 

 enter unmodified, then sealed them again at once. It often 

 happened that no organisms developed in these flasks, but 

 they generally did in Paris. In the open country only eight 

 out of twenty developed germs. On the Jura only five out 

 of twenty. On Mountanvert, in a wind blowing from a 

 glacier, only one out of twenty contained germs. 



There was one point of failure in Pasteur's work which it 

 seemed impossible to settle by his plan. In all his experi- 

 ments the organisms are transferred to his flasks together with 

 a minute portion of the fermenting fluid containing them. 

 Now the claim is made that it is this minute portion of decom- 

 posing fluid that sets up and maintains the act of fermenta- 

 tion, instead of the organisms, as claimed by Pasteur. This 

 claim has much influence with all those who are inclined to 

 the views of Baron Liebig, and its force must be admitted. 



