MONILIA, SACHSIA AND CHALARA. 445 



typical example of a fungus capable of fermenting saccharose 

 direct, that is to say, without the assistance of an inverting 

 enzyme, until it was discovered to possess an endoenzyme of this 

 class, namely, Manilla invertase (see chap. Ixv.), by EMIL FISCHER 

 and P. LINDNER (III.), as also by E. BUCHNER and J. MEISEN- 

 HEIMEH (I.). The alcoholic fermentation is most active in glucose 

 solutions, and weakest in saccharose ; in beer wort the production 

 of alcohol amounted to i per cent, by volume in 14 days, and to 

 6.7 per cent, in 26 months. Pure maltose is fermented very 

 readily, and completely so in a yeast-water solution ; and the fact 

 that, in addition, a true dextrin is decomposed that beer yeast is 

 unable to attack, explains A. BAU'S (XXI.) discovery that beer 

 wort can be more completely fermented by Monilia Candida than 

 by beer yeast, though the operation proceeds more slowly. The 

 fermentation is accompanied by the formation of volatile by- 

 products that restrict the process. Fermentation in grape must 

 furnished 6 per cent, by volume of alcohol (as compared with 

 14 per cent, in the case of true wine yeast) in about 3 weeks, and 

 as reported by E. MACH and K. PORTELE (III.) the resulting 

 wine had a decided peculiarly fruity flavour. The fermentation 

 temperature is relatively high, the maximum being about 40 C. 

 For the vegetative processes the maximum temperature is 

 42-43 C., and the minimum at 6-4 C., the fungus being 

 therefore apparently a lover of warmth. According to Hansen, 

 the metabolic products include acids (lactic acid ?) and nitrites, 

 the latter having been found in barely detectable quantities by 



A. MAASSEN (I.). This species is of very widespread occurrence. 

 W. BRAUTIGAM (II.) found it as the chief fungus in sugar re- 

 finery waste and brewers' grains, and also in the dung of cattle 

 fed on the first-named material. Other, morphologically similar, 

 fungi are often classed as Monilia Candida, even though they 

 do not exhibit all the characteristic features of same. Thus, 

 ADAMETZ (XIII.) describes an example of this species from arable 

 soil, MARPMANN (VII.) reports its occurrence in cheese, and 

 HARZ (I.) in Allgau cheese and also on hay, dried plums and 

 drum figs. According to ADERHOLD (V.), it is found in pickled 

 gherkins; and BEHRENS (III.) observed it in the preliminary 

 fermentation of tobacco. It should also be mentioned that 



B. FISCHER and BREBECK (I.) observed " endogenous cell forma- 

 tion " in Monilia Candida, and wished to classify this fungus with 

 the genus Endo-blastoderma (Blastoderma, see p. 405, vol. ii.) of 

 their system : a proceeding that cannot be sustained in view of the 

 criticisms of Lindau and Lindner. 



Monilia variabilis, Lindner, is a species characterised by 

 extensive polymerism, and was discovered by P. LINDNER (XII.) 

 on Berlin white bread, as greyish white, mealy patches, resem- 

 bling Oidiuni lactis, but mostly consisting of torulaceous cells. 

 These form heaps of larger or smaller dimensions, between long, 



