338 LOUIS PASTEUR 



the carbonic acid. Associated, moreover, with this carbonate 

 of lime there was a quantity of some kind of animal matter, 

 which, under the microscope, appeared to be composed of 

 masses of granules mixed with very fine filaments of vary- 

 ing lengths, studded with minute dots, and presenting all 

 the characteristics of a nitrogenous organic substance.' That 

 this was really the ferment is evident enough from all that 

 we have already said. To convince ourselves more thor- 

 oughly of the fact, and at the same time to enable us to 

 observe the mode of activity of the organism, we instituted 

 the following supplementary observation. Side by side with 

 the experiment just described, we conducted a similar one, 

 which we intermitted after the fermentation was somewhat 

 advanced, and about half of the tartrate 

 dissolved. Breaking off with a file the 

 exit-tube at the point where the neck 

 began to narrow off, we took some of 

 the deposit from the bottom by means of 

 a long straight piece of tubing, in order 

 to bring it under microscopical examina- 

 tion. We found it to consist of a host of 

 long filaments of extreme tenuity, their 



diameter being about y^^th of a millimetre (0.000039 m -) ; 

 their length varied, in some cases being as much as ^th of 

 a millimetre (0.0019 in.). A crowd of these long vibrios 

 were to be seen creeping slowly along, with a sinuous move- 

 ment, showing three, four, or even five flexures. The fila- 

 ments that were at rest had the same aspect as these last, 

 with the exception that they appeared punctuate, as though 

 composed of a series of granules arranged in irregular order. 

 No doubt these were vibrios in which vital action had 

 ceased, exhausted specimens which we may compare with 

 the old granular ferment of beer, whilst those in motion 

 may be compared with young and vigorous yeast. The 

 absence of movement in the former seems to prove that this 

 view is correct. Both kinds showed a tendency to form 



We treated the whole deposit with .dilute hydrochloric acid, which dis- 

 solved the carbonate of Hmej and the insoluble phosphates of calcium and 

 magnesium; afterwards filtering the liquid through a weighed filter paper. 

 Dried at 100 C. (212 F.) t the weight of the organic matter thus obtained 

 was 0.54 gramme (8.3 grains), which was rather more than jjoth of the 

 weight of fermentable matter. 





