exxvi Proceedings of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal. [N.S., XVII, 
III. Conditions of sterility of cooked rice. 
In view of the =e character of the organisms occurring on rice 
and the great impor rice as a food, a bacteri _ examination of 
rice ee d under various i epnaigene 3 is of special interes 
Marked ype rences were observed between the panei of polished 
and unpolished ri 
Polished rice slowly fermented even after heating for 20 minutes at 
15 Ib. pre rhe Ag nage sil bia was completely sterile after heating for 
the same time at 10 lb. 
When ectihes at atmospheric pressure for 20 minutes polished Hip 
Sapa bad after 48 hours while unpolished rice remains sweet for 72 hou 
Micros aig examination showed that polished end carried iasy 
more organisms and of greater variety than iapttaned 1 
pr ae of a natural antiseptic on “inpilished rice would thus 
seem confirmed. 
IV. Conditions of peed ee with special reference to the 
me fermentation. 
view of the raletion of the recent American Patent No. 1315585 
es Weismann deta os ae ethod for isolating the acetone bacillus from 
as of interest to ves whether this organism occurred on Indian 
Weizmann’s method an ress gv in making successive sub-cultures 
from an original unsterilised mash of grain into a sterile mash maintained 
for one or two minutes at 90 oC. 
Operating in ange way @ very fair acetone fermentation was obtained 
after 9 sub culture 
t the same tim ime it was csi in the course of the igen on the 
sterility of cooked rice that the samples which had been exposed to the 
highest nee tens without sterilisation developed the Sivek smell on 
mere bo spontaneous ferment 
This w ould indicat te that coe ieolation of an active acetone producing 
organism by successive sub cultures is really a selective process rather 
than the ot hep: of new sharacioriseion oy the organism in the course 
of generatio 
The bio-chemistry of the Pe apne —— dye vat.—By 
GILB BERT J. FoOwLER and M. Srin AH. 
The indigenous are for Bye with ite: consists briefly in add- 
ing to the dye bath —— ing a n of indigo a quantity 
of the seeds of ‘‘ Cassia Tora”’ ahi h have the property o of ae setting up @ 
fermentation, resulting i in the reduction of hai erg " » indigo white. 
is then immersed in the bath and exposed to air when the Sadie 
white i Pgh oxidised to adie blue, the yarn thee ‘ayed i is 3 wrung out, washed 
an 
The object of Ange investigation, the results of which are here shortly 
summarised was to determine the nature of the fermentation set up by 
cess. 
The fo tlowite & are the main directions of the 
(1) Chemical examination o the see 
ae 
( ria oc seed. 
(3) Study of the fermentation dere har al laboratory conditions. 
(4) Study of the fermentation under conditions occurring in 
practice. 
i. the seeds had a high nitrogen — (1-9 per cent) partly 
present in a sul pro nn the evolution of H,S3 on 
fettnehtation and by actual estimation 
