154 STUDIES ON FERMENTATION. 



that had commenced in certain groups which have a hard, 

 yellowish appearance, and which are provided with what seems 

 to be a double case — b, b, b, ..., c,c, ..., a result of the moisture 

 of the woody part of the bunch, or of rain that fell just before 

 the commencement of our observations. 



It is an easy matter to trace the germination of these diflPerent 

 varieties of cells with the microscope. We put a drop of the 

 water in which the woody part of a bunch of grapes has been 

 washed into a small quantity of wort, previously boiled and 

 filtered bright. Plate IX. presents a series of developments 

 observed in the case of simple or grouped cells. A, D, G, and J. 

 The process is as follows : The yellowish-brown cells soften and 

 grow larger in the nutritive medium, and gradually become 

 almost transparent and colourless. At the same time we see 

 some very young buds appear on their margins ; these rapidly 

 increase in size, and detaching themselves to make room for 

 others, move off as young cells that after a time bud in their 

 turn. The rapidity with which these cells bud and multiply is 

 often extraordinary. The group A and the cell D produced the 

 groups C and F within twenty-four hours, passing through the 

 intermediate stages represented in groups B, E. The cells A 

 and D did not give rise to any filamentous growths, at least 

 whilst under our observation. Some groups of cells, however, 

 put forth, from the first, long filaments, having cross-partitions 

 and resembling the mycelium in ordinary fungoid growths. 

 Together with these, and along their whole length, was an 

 abundance of cells, often in clusters, as represented by Fig. G, 

 the whole of which growth took place in less than twenty-four 

 hours.* But apart from contact with the air, there was a 

 complete absence of life. 



The figures H, I, J, K, represent other aspects of developing 

 cells and filaments. The cells II are spherical ; the cells I 

 have numerous buds, as also have those marked K. These 



* The plates referred to in this paragraph were exhibited at a meeting 

 of the Academy of Sciences, November 18, 1872, and commented npon 

 by the perpetual secretary, M. Dumas. 



