tlic inasli, till* tiliinictils aiiiinucil lo \v not Bi> iiniiicntiis ils at liiht. 'I'lic kiiii«: 

 rciiiivrk iipiilies t<i I'livto XII wliicli ri'presi'iits tlio apjKMnincf of tlie inasli on lliu 

 Iwx'iit} lourlli il-vy, tliu last Kiinplo of tlic wrics wliich was exuinimMl. \\y (liis 

 time lliu tein|ieratiii-u lind fiilluii to 20''('., but llic fennontation Ftill «uit on as 

 the increase in tlic |x?rociit;ij;c of ak-oliol pioved. 



Wf li;ivc licrea process of fonnen tuition wliicli nsiinlik-s tlic wiiic llinu'iil.i- 

 tioii ill tlie fact tliat no fonnrtit liis Xxx-n Icnowinjjly mliliMl by tlie lnvwi-r, an 1 

 wliicli lii'lon;^« to the cliu^s callfil "Fpontaneous fcnncntatioiis." ]\\ lliat tiMin 

 of C'liir«! it is not meant tliat tlie living; organisms liavu lieen •;envrat<vl 

 s|>ontaneonsly, without any forefathers, but only that tliey have apiieaatl 

 without intentional fowin<{. As the theory that living orgnniKnis are priKlitcitl 

 without the intervention of previous life has no Uisis of reality we are ilriven to 

 eiijiiiro from what Süiiree these small jurtii'les of ferment have In'eii «lerivi-il. 

 This has been iliscnssed by Mr. Koisehelt'' in a paper reail befon- llu Cieritian 

 Asiatic Society, ami he very rightly says that we may conceive of their iiitnt liic- 

 tion in three different ways. In the first place lie &\ya that the gmin« of kuji 

 nviy carry npon their surface germs of the yeast in the s.imo way that the 

 grapes cany into the fermentation vat the cells which afterwanls elle.-t the 

 convei-sion of sugar into alcohol. Or the giM'in» of the yeast may in the «i-<>n<l 

 place fall into the vats from the atmosphere. To Inith explanations he con»iilen< 

 that the sudden commencement of the fermcntalion is sulTicient oli^-clion, for, 

 as will be rememln'red, between the time of heating of the vat, ami the time i>f 

 t-aking the fii"st sample afterwards, a jwriod of 41 hours, more than .'» |K.'r «.nil. 

 of alcohol had licen formed. Mr. Korschelt, therefore, incline« to tlic thinl 

 po.ssibility, viz., that the mycelium fibix-s of the; ki)ji fiingiis have lieen cliangeil 

 into the ferment cells, and he Kusl-s this sup|iosition njKiii the observation« maile 

 by Dil Bary ami Reus that the mycelium of the two species of Mucor, ^1. muccilo 

 and M. r.iecniosus, have the i)roix;rty under certain conditions of forming cell» 

 which arc able to convert sugar into alcohol. 



The (jucstion is one of very great scientific interest, and no ajology is 

 therefore ix'<iuired for entering into a somewhat minute investigjition of it. V<<r 

 a lii:i'4 time it was sn|ip<).M-il that such common jiir l'im-.;i a< I'enii-illimii ;;l.iiii-iiiii, 

 and Aspergillus glaueus might, umU-r stiitalile eondilions, iic tr.insfoiiiied into 

 the ordinary alcoholic ferment, and in that stjile go on converting siig.ir info 

 alcohol. M. I'asteui'j" has put this theory to most rigorous tests, ami h:is proved 

 ill tlic n;<i.-;t ciiuclusive mann'jr the abscii.:e of any evidenvc whatever of xv.Ai a 

 transfonnation. He has shown that if projter care lie taken to exclude every 

 genu but the one being ex[»eriinente<l upon, no conversion ofthat s|>«in' into any 

 other s|4vies tak< s place. Thus a s[>ori; of IVnicilliiuu or of AR|i«'rgillu«, oi of 

 .MM'odei ma villi will gnnv in ordiiiarv «ort m long .-is it has Biini''i<'iil .lir 1" 



* Miu. d.T DcDlarb. Gcaclla. 101» Hen. p. 2Ö3. 



f fctiiJ'.i tiir la Bii?re. lH7*i. p. htj. 4e. Knglisli Tran.'-lbt ui:. j;. W. tl Mf\. 



