182 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [OCTOBER 
Contrary to the statements of HauMANN, successful retting 
could not be accomplished with these common bacteria. None of 
the organisms such as Bacillus subtilis was found to possess any 
activity. In order to test the retting ability of all these cultures 
and those isolated from vat liquors, flax straw was cut into pieces 
about 4.5 inches long. These were put into long test tubes and 
covered with water. Sterilization was accomplished by heating 
in the autoclave at 115°C. for fifteen minutes. The sterility of 
these flax straw culture tubes was determined by both aerobic and 
anaerobic cultures in sterile litmus milk and other media. Heat- 
ing in the autoclave at 115° C. seemed to be sufficient for their 
sterilization, and did not seem to injure the straw or make the 
retting more quickly accomplished when the bacteria were applied. 
Experiments were carried out later in 3 gallon earthenware jars 
in order to test the retting activity of the organism which was 
finally isolated. Attempts were also made to find an aerobic 
organism such as was used by Rossi. Flax straw was put into a 
large glass vat covered with distilled water and aerated for a week, 
with frequent examinations for aerobic pectin fermenting organ- 
isms."* No success was obtained, even after specimens of soil and 
decaying organic matter were added. Several workers have men- 
tioned the use of aerobic strains. One who is familiar with bacterial 
metabolism would expect to find an anaerobic organism. Members 
of this group decompose more materials than aerobes which leave 
so much energy in their products. The anaerobes partially hydro- 
lyze large amounts of material for a certain amount of energy, 
while the aerobes hydrolyze a smaller amount of material completely 
for the same amount of energy. Perhaps for the same reason the 
anaerobes are used in most of the fermentations which yield certain 
organic chemicals. 
The study of the vat liquors from a large Shoeiee rettery in 
eastern Michigan, and from the specimens of flax and retting 
liquors in small tubs in the laboratory, narrowed down to an anae- 
robic organism as the most specific. This was secured in pure 
cultures by anaerobic plating in plain agar. Transfers made into 
other media allowed the following characterization: 
% Industrial retting of textile plants by microbiological action. Bull. Agric. 
Intell. 8:1067—-1074. 
