CONDITIONS OF LIFE OF THE FISSION FUNGI. 5*27 



the chief body present must be the non-nitrogenous 

 cellulose material. 



Durin and Scheibler* also observed that the mem- 

 brane of Leuconostoc mesenterioides chiefly consisted 

 of a hydrocarbon closely allied to cellulose. Further 

 analyses must show us in what way we are to explain 

 these marked analytical differences, and what their 

 value is. 



The ashes of the fission fungi have not as yet been Ashes. 

 accurately analysed. Brieger found in the ashes of the 

 pneumonia bacilli phosphate of lime, phosphate of mag- 

 nesia, sulphate of sodium, and chloride of sodium. As 

 a whole, the ashes of the fission fungi have probably an 

 analogous composition to those of the yeast. 



In some species of fission fungi chemical substances 

 are always, or at times, present which do not belong 

 to the ordinary constituents of the , bodies of these 

 organisms. For example, substances resembling gran- Rarer 

 ulose occur in bacillus butyricus and in Vibrio rugula 

 before the formation of spores, also in bacillus Pasteur- 

 ianus (Hansen) and in Leptothrix buccalis, and these 

 may be demonstrated by their blue colouration by iodine. 

 To this class of substances belongs the ruguline Sulphur 

 sulphur found in some species of beggiatoa ; further, 

 some specific dyes, the majority of which, however, do 

 not appear to be deposited in the wall or cell contents 

 of the organisms. 



2. The Nutrient Materials of the Fission Fungi. 



As a whole, the nutrient materials and conditions of Nutrient 

 life of the fission fungi resemble those of the mould matei ' ial - 

 fungi; the different species, however, differ in their 

 requirements so much, that much more detailed investi- 

 gations are necessary. We must therefore await farther 

 researches before we can writs a complete account of 

 this subject. 



As a rule these fungi obtain nitrogen best from diffu- Sources of 



nitrogen. 

 * Quoted from de Bary. 



