MICROBES, FERMENTS, AND MOULDS. 
INTRODUCTION. 
MICROBES AND PROTISTA. 
Micropes are the most minute living things which 
the microscope permits us to see distinctly, so as to 
study their organization. They are for the most part 
invisible to the naked eye, and even by the aid of a 
simple lens. In order to form an exact idea of their 
forms and structure, we require the strongest magni- 
fiers of modern instruments, which enlarge the object 
500, 1000, and even 1500 diameters. 
The word microbe has been recently introduced 
into the French language; it did not exist eight years 
ago, and for this reason it will be sought for in vain 
in most dictionaries. It was under the following cir- 
cumstances that this term, now in such general use, 
was invented by Sédillot, an eminent surgeon, whose 
recent death is deplored by France. 
Those naturalists who have studied the most 
