316 



THE MICROSCOPE AND ITS REVELATIONS. 



duced into the ferment! ble fluid, is multiplied six times or more during 

 the changes in which it takes part. Under certain conditions not yet 

 determined, the Yeast-cells multiply in another mode namely, by the 

 breaking-up of the endoplasm into segments, usually four in number, 

 around each of which a new ' cell-wall ' forms itself; and these endogoni- 

 dia (which correspond with the 'zoospores' of Algae, save in having no 

 motile power) being set free by the dissolution of the wall of the parent- 

 cell, soon enlarge and comport themselves as ordinary Yeast-cells. No 

 conjugation or other form of sexual action has yet been observed in 

 Torula; and there are various reasons for surmising that we do not yet 

 know its whole life-history. Many other Fungi of like simplicity have 

 the power to act as 'ferments:' thus in wine-making, the fermentation of 

 the juices of the grapes or other fruit employed, is set going by the de- 

 velopment of minute fungi whose germs have settled on their skins; these 

 germs not being injured by desiccation, and being readily transported by 

 the atmosphere in the dried-up state. There is reason to believe, more- 

 over, that a similar f zymotic' action maybe excited by Fungi of a higher 

 grade in the earlier stages of their growth; the alcoholic fermentation be- 

 ing set-up in a suitable liquid (such as an aqueous solution of cane-sugar, 

 with a little fruit- juice) by sowing in it the sporules of any one of th& 

 ordinary * moulds/ such as Penicillium glaucum, Mucor, or Aspergillus, 

 provided the temperature be kept up to blood-heat; and this even though 

 the solution has been previously heated to 284 Fahr., a temperature 

 which must kill any germs it may itself contain. * 



312. The Sarcina ventriculi (Fig. 

 199) is another Protophyte which 

 seems related both to Algce and 

 Fungi; corresponding with the former 

 in its aquatic habit and mode of 

 growth, and with the latter in requir- 

 ing organic matter of some kind for its 

 sustenance. This Plant is most fre- 

 quently found in the matters vomited 

 by persons suffering under disorder 

 of the stomach, but has also been 

 met with in other diseased parts of 

 the body. It has been detected in 

 the contents of the stomach, however, 

 under circumstances which seem to- 

 indicate that it is not an uncommon 



tenant of that organ even in health, and that it may accumulate there 

 to a considerable amount without producing any inconvenience. It 

 seems probable, therefore, that its presence in disease is rather to be con- 

 sidered as favored by the changed state of the fluids which the disease 

 induces (either an acid or a fermentible state of the contents of the 

 stomach having been generally found to exist in the cases in which the 

 plant has been most abundant), than to be itself the occasion of the dis- 

 ease, as some have supposed. The Sarcina presents itself in the form of 

 clusters of adherent cells arranged in squares, each square containing 

 from 4 to 64, and the number of cells being obviously multiplied by clu- 

 plicative subdivision in directions transverse to each other. In fact, its 



1 See the observations of Mad. Liiders, in Sohulze's " Archiv fur Mikroscopi- 

 sche Anatomic," Band iii., abstracted in " Quart. Journ. Microsc. Sci.," N,S. 

 vol. xiii. (1868), p. 35. 



