1922] TANNER—FLAX RETTING 181 
in eastern Michigan.** Most of the flax used in these experiments 
was grown in Michigan, and was thoroughly cured before it was 
received at the laboratory. It was tied in bundles or “heads”’ 
and was in fine condition, since it had been cultivated for fiber. 
The other was the flax which had been raised for seed, and con- 
sequently had not been kept tied in bundles, but had become 
badly broken and bent during thrashing. While just as good 
retting was secured on this as with the stalks which were raised for 
the fiber and tied in bundles, the resulting fiber was not of good 
quality. Perhaps such a raw material could be better retted by 
the chemical process. The fibers were much shorter, but probably 
just as satisfactory for paper making. 
The samples from the retting vats were taken in sterile bottles 
and subjected to the usual bacteriological examination. Both 
aerobic and anaerobic platés were made, from which pure cultures 
were picked and transplanted into various culture media. The 
flora from the vats was varied, but spore-forming bacteria of both 
aerobic and anaerobic types werecommon. ‘The aerobic types were 
similar to the members of the subtilis-mesentericus group; they 
formed large spreading colonies on solid media and liquefied gelatin 
very rapidly. Spores were easily formed in large numbers. 
The pure culture experiments were carried out with many of 
the common bacteria and several cultures of yeasts. The bacteria 
and yeasts used were: 
Pseudomonas pyocyaneus Saccharomyces cerevisiae 
Proteus vulgaris Torula monosa 
Erythrobacterium prodigiosus Saccharomyces ellipsoideus 
ey es Saccharomyces marxianus 
Zopfii Zenker Myoderma vini 
Bacterium abeitidie Bacterium cloacae 
Bacillus gasoformans Bacillus cereus 
Bacterium colon Bacterium capsulatum 
Bacillus butyricus Erythrobacillus arborescens 
Bacterium aerogenes Bacillus subtilis 
™4 The author is indebted to Mr. B. S. Summers of the Summers Linen Company 
of Port Huron, Michigan, for material upon which some of the results here reported 
were secured, and for his constant interest in the progress of the work. Dr. R. E 
Finprusz of the American Writing Paper Company kindly furnished some flax straw 
and exhibited a kindly interest. 
