BACILLUS CAUCASICUS. 373 



acid bacteria always transform at the same time a portion 

 of the milk sugar into lactic acid, and this leads to the 

 coagulation of the casein, and thus ultimately a drink 

 results which contains alcohol, hut which also has a very 

 sour taste, and in which coagulated casein, usually in 

 the form of finely divided flakes, is suspended. Accord- 

 ing to Hueppe, other bacteria are also present in the 

 kephyr which are able to peptonise the casein, so that we 

 have here a combined action of three micro-organisms. 



The ferment of kephyr, which includes two or three Constituents 

 active fermentative agents, can be dried, preserved for a 

 long time, and sent from one place to another. In the 

 milk the kephyr granules grow and form largish fungus 

 masses which are composed of numerous microscopic 

 globules. In these globules, according to Kern and 

 Krannhals, three structures can be distinguished under 

 a high power yeast cells, fairly long rods, and smaller 

 cells, which are looked on as free spores. The long rods 

 have been accurately described by Kern, and called Dis- 

 pora caucasica. 



These bacilli are 3*2 to 8 /*. in length, and *8 /x. in Morphological 

 breadth. At one end a flagellum can sometimes be seen, 

 and in fresh preparations the bacilli show spontaneous 

 movement in the form of a slow, pendulous, and see-saw 

 motion. The spore formation appears to be very charac- 

 teristic; on each rod two terminal spherical cells are 

 formed, and threads containing rows of spores occur, 

 the spore being always so arranged that each of the cells 

 contained in the thread has two spores. The spores 

 which lie in the cells are about *8 P. 



in diameter, those which are free ^^ * 



attain a size of 1 /*., and those which 



<\ n 



are sprouting may swell up to about " J^ o 



1*6 p.. The usual mode of sprouting " a 



of the spores is that the thinner c=o 



endosporium first projects out of the Fi &- 99. Dispora] 



. . L .' i-t 11 caucasica X 1000. 



thicker exosporium like a small wart, (After Krannhals.) j 



which gradually increases in size, and 



develops in the form of a cylindrical tube. According Cultivation 



to Kern a suitable nutrient solution is formed by 5 ex P eriments - 



