STUDIES ON FERMENTATION. 167 



every vegetable might be submitted to important investiga- 

 tions of this kind, the results of which, in our opinion, could 

 hardly be doubtful. 



The following observations, which relate to the polymor- 

 phism of saccharomyces pasto nanus, seem to me to have an 

 important bearing on the history of alcoholic ferments, as 

 presenting a close analogy between the species of ferment 

 and fungoid growths of a higher order, for example, such fungi 

 as demaiium, which are generally found on dead wood ; and we 

 would say that between the vine and other shrubs there is 

 only this difference, that amongst the dematium forms of the 

 vine there occur one or more which are anaerobian, at a 

 certain period of the year, whilst, on the other hand, the 

 dematia, alfernaria, &c., of other shrubs are more generally 

 aerobian. There would be nothing surprising in this result, 

 considering that amongst the mucors, for instance, we find 

 both aerobian and anaerobian forms, and that there are like- 

 wise torulae-ferments or anaerobian forms, as well as torulae- 

 forms exclusively aerobian. 



When mccliaromyces pastoriamis begins to develop from its 

 natural germs, such as are scattered over the surface of acid 

 fruits, it takes the form of elongated jointed filaments, branch- 

 ing, often pear-shaped, and more or less voluminous. In 

 proportion as the oxygen held in solution in the liquid dis- 

 appears and the buddings are repeated, the length and diameter 

 of the filaments and cells diminish, and such is the transforma- 

 tion that we might, at last, suppose that we were dealing with 

 a difiierent ferment of smaller dimensions. 



Plate X. represents this ferment, at the commencement of 

 fermentation in cherry juice. In the course of a short time 

 there is nothing to be seen but cells of comparatively small 

 size, disjointed and round or oval, and filaments comparatively 

 short and slender. This appearance is indicated in our drawing 

 by the cells a, a, a. As these latter forms multiply with great 

 rapidity, we soon have to search widely over the microscopic 

 field before we find any of the long forms from which they 



