BECHAMP'S MICROZYME THEORY. 9 



tion is prevented by the strong heating having rendered the sample 

 unsuitable for the production of germs, can be easily disposed of 

 by inoculating the liquid with a few germs ; these will be found 

 to develop rapidly and luxuriantly. The substantiality of these 

 germs was demonstrated by Pasteur in a very beautiful experiment 

 for which he employed a culture vessel similar to that described 

 by H. Hoffmann (I.) in 1860, and now generally known by the 

 name of Pasteur flask; a glass flask (fitted with a tubulus at 

 the side for facilitating inoculation) the neck of which is drawn 

 out small a-nd bent twice like a swan's neck. The external air is 

 obliged, in order to gain access to the contents of the bottle, to 

 pass through this neck, and as the direction of movement is 

 changed at the first bend, all the germs are deposited there. 



Thus was laid the foundation on which the edifice of Fer- 

 mentation Physiology was gradually raised. The possession of 

 perfectly sterile culture media, and the power of protecting them 

 from the intrusion of unauthorised germs, is a sine qud non for a 

 successful and reliable study of the organisms of fermentation. 



8. Be'ehamp's Mierozyme Theory. 



Pasteur's investigation and elucidation of the causes of the 

 tenacity of life exhibited by many germs thenceforward occupied 

 the earnest attention of mycologists, and finally led to the ac- 

 knowledgment that this power of resistance is possessed by the 

 reproductive organs known as spores. The morphology and 

 physiology of these organs forms the subject of 48 to 55. At 

 present, the only point to be emphasised is that when these life- 

 retentive organs are once killed, no spontaneous development of 

 germs can occur in the liquid harbouring them ; hence such 

 liquid will remain sterile until it is artificially re-inoculated. 



It might be supposed that the adherents of the doctrine of 

 spontaneous generation would have responded to these demon- 

 strations by abandoning their previous attitude of opposition. 

 This, however, they did not do ; they merely changed the field of 

 combat without altering their opinion. As they could no longer 

 maintain that organised creatures could be spontaneously derived 

 from unorganised substances, they contended that the dead cells 

 had the power of liberating organised living matter capable of 

 development into the various species. 



In a subsequent paragraph we shall learn that in the cell 

 contents of most fungi, e.g. yeast, small, highly refractive bodies, 

 known as microsomata, may be frequently observed. On applying 

 pressure to the cover-glass placed on a preparation containing cells 

 that exhibit such enclosures, the membranes are ruptured and the 

 microsomes are liberated. If, now, the latter be transferred to 

 another nutrient solution, there will most assuredly be a develop- 

 ment of organisms, if we omit those precautions which are con- 



