TECHNICAL MYCOLOGY: 



THE UTILISATION OF MICRO-ORGANISMS 

 IN THE ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 



INTRODUCTION. 

 I. 



THE THEORY OF SPONTANEOUS GENERATION. 



1. Fermentation Physiology is the Science of the 

 Character and Activity of Fermentative Organisms. 



Fermentative organism is the name given to any minute 

 being of vegetable nature capable of exciting fermentation. Whether 

 any given minute organism is to be considered as a " fermentative 

 organism " or not depends, therefore, on the answer to the ques- 

 tion : " Does it possess the power of causing fermentation ? " 



In studying this subject, the first task that lies before us is 

 to obtain a definition of the term fermentation, or, in other words, 

 to establish the common factor of all the manifold processes classi- 

 fied under that general title. 



This is, however, as will soon be apparent, no light task ; and 

 the probability of our attempts being crowned by a successful 

 result will be greater if we limit the scope of the question at 

 the outset, and for the moment consider the term " fermentation " 

 as applying merely to those phenomena with which it is associated 

 in colloquial language, viz., the conversion of must into wine, wort 

 into beer, wine into vinegar, and fresh milk into sour, &c. To 

 these may also be added the process of putrefaction. 



Adhering to this restriction of the term, let us follow in 

 imagination the path of investigation which has led to the know- 

 ledge that all the above-named phenomena are occasioned solely 

 by the activity of minute living organisms, and constitute a 

 manifestation of their vitality ; that fermentation and putrefaction 

 are, in short, not purely chemical molecular transformations, but 

 physiological processes. 



Moreover, history shall be our instructor, and lead us on 

 further, to the comprehension of those other processes, which, 

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