SIT.AC.Ii-liACTERTA, I'l' RMl-'.NTATION Oi' TOTlA(AO, INDIGO, FLAX, ETC. 257 



('05) W'lNoi.RAIiSKV, Sl'KGUIS. vSl 



li)i et SL>n ;iHenl mici-oliien 

 I'Acail. rics soi., Pari^, iSc)5 

 ;4--745- 



A resume of llic priiicip: " 

 I'lilws ill \ViiiOK-i-ad>kv's lab 



I. SLc-ills sLenli/ed uiiiic-r 

 ii'os', iiri>tated thiee da\-s ni - 

 aL IIS' K>r HI lee 11 in luiites, d 

 SLc I lllzed flax iiniiiei' 



c rniiissage dii 



I". R. des sc. rle 



cxxr, pp. 



T 



:iik1 anarrohic orj;aiiiMn^, 

 .ilioii'- !)}■ ineaii'^ ol" ^elatiu 

 11 afU-r sfvei'al iiiunLh-., a 

 ]■ was au>- litK-ratiuii of g-as 



contai 



^\■^tlt any one of tile lo aei olm 

 iirst isolated from the mater 

 plates, did not nndei^o, ev( 

 eommeneement of relLini^, ru 

 noticed. * )n the contrary — 



3. If nilo lubes of water containim; sterilized flax a 

 small bit ol straw of iinsterilized flax was tin on 11 a 

 very active fcrmenlalion eommeneed at tlie end of ]2 to 

 15 lioiirs, and at tlie end of two or llirce da\s tlie retliiii; 

 wa^ conijdeted 



The specific organism \vas obtained lor sliid\' from suc- 

 cessive cnltnres np<-ni sleam-sUrilt7,e<l flax^ ])rolected 

 from tile air byimnuision in deep tllties full of ^^ ater, 

 whose surface was coxered liN' a la\er of oil After a lonu 

 enoni^li series of re-sowini,^ under these same contlitions, 

 the inicrosco]iic stiid\' of these cuUures has remo^'ed all 

 <loubt about the anient of this rermenlation. It is found 

 almost pure in the interior of the stem, and Fribes has 

 succeeded in isolating- it in a conipletel\' juire state b\ 

 cnltnatuii;- It, m the absence of air, upon slices of cooked 

 potato nibbed wilh chalk. It is a bacillus relatively 

 lar,£re, formins,^ spiores in the ternrinal s\velliiig:s (tadpole 

 lornil. In the \'Ouug- slate lis rods are from in to 15 ^ 

 lorn;-, with a thickness of <i.,S /i ; cdlen one finds arlicn- 

 latetl trlamenls much Ioniser; llie\- become lati. r a little 

 I M), and form then ovoid swellin.us 3 /j lonr; b\' 

 , the o\ Old spore ^vllich is foi nied Ihei c is i.S M 

 Sterilized flax was retted in pure cultures of 

 bus and, after underL;"oin,!.,^ the successi\e oj^era- 

 ^rindui^y: (dressiurj ) peelin^r and com bin j2", _\'i elded 

 a fine silk\- flax of Iptilit color Vmt a little too niucli retted 

 and \vithoiit consistence. 



In a general study of the bacteria of retting, Fribes dis- 

 covered the lolIowiUL; facts 



I. 'file bacillus ferments ,L;lncose, eane-siiL;ar, milk- 

 su.gar, ami starch , but oul\ w-heii the iKjuid con lams pep- 

 tone. Whth ammonia as the onh source of nitrogen, the 

 bacillus is absolutely \-oid of action on these emineuth' 

 fermentable substances. 



2 Pectic matters, pectine, or pectic acid, extracted 

 from fla.x, pears, carrots, white turnips, pure as tlie\' 

 can lie prepared, are 'lecoiiiposed, 111 presence of an am- 

 monium salt as the sole nilro.geuons food, \\ itli an extra - 

 ordiuar\ facility. 



3. Cellulose, under the form of Swedish filler pajier, 

 or as an amorphous ])reci]»itale, can absolutely not lie 

 attacked by this bacillus. Gum arable is not fermented. 



4. Ve,L;"etable sniistance, front fla.x, \\-hite turnips, ex- 

 tracted cold by pure A\-ater ami water slightly acid and 

 alkaline, and submitled to fermenlat ion tiy this bacillus, 

 loses tile g^reater pari of the snbslances which are esti- 

 mated as pieclic matter; also the loss of weight of the 

 fermeuled substance corresponds sensibh- to the content 

 in pectic mailer of the uufermented sulistance, 



Asa result of these studies Winogradsk>- concludes that 

 the retting of fla.x may be consulered as a ijectic fermen- 

 tation in the micro-biological sense of the word, of which 

 the bacillus described is tlie specific agent. 



('96). TokO.MEi, GiULio. Ueber die Fermentation der 

 fjliven iUnd die Oxydatinn des Olivenole.s. 

 Atti R. Acad, dei Lincei Roma, se. v, Rendi- 

 conti, Classe .sci. Its , matcni. e nat., vol, v. 

 Fell. 16, 1896, pp. 122-129. 



Due to an ciiz\-me. Not bacterial. 

 Cofi). V,\N LoOKERliN-CAilFAGNE, C. J., U. VAN DER 



Veen, p. J. Ueber Indigobildung aus 

 Pllanzen der Gattung "Indigofera." D. 

 landw. Vers -Stat , 1S96, Bd, xlvi, pp. 249- 



('t)/), CnNE.Mi, EltgEn, Bakteriologische and cbem- 

 isclie stiidien iiber Sanerkrautgabrung. 

 .Vrcb. f. ]-Tyg., Ed, xxix, 1897, pp. 56-95 

 See also Zeitschr. f. Spiritusindustrie, XX 

 Jabrg., 18197, No 23, p. 188; No. 24, pp. 

 200-201. 



The fermenlatioTi of the " Weisskraut " is attributed lo 

 Bacterium brassicic acidic, I.ehm. tS: Conrad, nearly re- 

 lated lo Bacillus (.oli. This organism is motile, grows 

 aerobically and auaerobicalh', produces acids, carbon 

 dixoide, hydrogen and marsh gas Gelatin is not liipiefied. 

 The surface colonies are gray \chile to gray yellow on 

 .gclaliu and agar, and are liright \'ellow on potato It 

 ferments maltose, lac lose and dexli ose. Most of the acid 

 is lactic acid. 



('98). EreaudaT, L. Siir Ic mode de formation de 



I'indigo dans les pmcedes d'extraction in- 



du.stricls. Functions disastasiques des 



plantes indpgoferes. C. R, des se. de I'Acad. 



des sci , Paris, 1S98. 'J\ cxxvii, pp. 769-771. 

 ('98). MoLisCH. UeluT die sogen.annte Indigogabr- 



nn.g tind nene IndigopHanzen. Sitznngsber. 



d. k. Akad. der Wiss. in Wicn, July, 1898. 



Title only. 

 CpS). PkescoTT .\xii UNbERwonii. See xx. 

 ('oo). Ereauii.M'. Nouvelles recbercbes sur les fonc- 



tions diast'isiqiies des plantes indigoferes. C. 



R. des se, de I'Acad. des sci., Paris, T. 



cxxviii, 18110, pp. 1.478-1,480. 

 (99) Vek-\iiout, J. IT. (Jnderzoek over bacterien 



bii de fermentatie der tali.ik. Mededeelingen 



nit sT^iinds Pbintentnin, xxxiv. Batavia, G. 



Kolff c^ Cn, iSoo, p. 49, 2 plates. 

 The fermenlation of tobacco is ascribed lo Bacillus 

 tabaci-feniienlalionis Veriihout. 



('99). LoEw, ("ISCAR. Curing and fermentation of 

 cigar leaf tobacco. U, S Dept. of .Vgric . 

 Report Nil. 59, Div. Veg. Pbys. cK; Patb., 

 34 pp. 

 ('00). LoEW, ( )sc.\u. Sind Eakterien die Ursache 

 der Tabakfermentaition? Ceiitrall). f. B.akt , 

 2 .\bl,, Ed VI, 1900, pp. 108-II2 

 The fermenlatiou is sti iclh' eiiz>-mic, and bacteria are 

 not concerned in it. 



I '00 ) FoEw . ( >sC-\K, Pbysiolooiciil Sludies <"if Con- 

 necticut leaf Inliacco. U, S. Dept. of Agric , 

 l)i\', of Ycg. Pbys, & Patb,. lyoo. Reiiort 

 ')5- 57 pp. 

 (00). BbijEKiNCK. Verdere onderzoekingen over de 

 indigovorming nit weedl (Isatis tinctoriaV 

 Proc. K. Akad. Wetenscb ."-Vnistcrdani, Deel 

 IX, June .•?o, IQOO, pp 74-90, Abstr. in Eot. 

 Zeitung, 2 Alit , vol. 58, 1900, col. 188-180 

 The production of indigo blue is due to the action of 

 the enzyme isatase upon isalaii Isalan occurs in the 

 protoplasm ; isatase occurs in the chromatophores. In 

 the livin.g cell the author thinks reactions are prevented 

 by the acidilv of the cell-sap. He says ■ " The action of 

 isatase upon isatan is ijossible only in neutral or ampho- 

 teric and very weakh- acid solutions." A temperature of 

 4S'-' lo 50" C. IS the oplimum for this action," 



I'oi ). LoEw, Oscar. Catalase. a new enzym of gen- 

 eral occurrence, witb special reference to tbe 

 tobacco plant. U. S Dept. of Agric. Rep. 

 69, Div Veg. Pbys. c^- Patb., 1901, 47 pp, 



I '01 ). Russell. H. L., .\nd Baiicock, S. I\I Concern- 

 ing tbe tbeories of silage formation. Science, 

 n s., vol. XIII, p. .^28, 1901. 



The conclusion reached is that bacteria do not play- 

 any very considerable r51e in the fermentation of silage, 



I '01). PrEyER, .\xEL, l^elier Kakaofermentation, 



Tropenpflanzer, Berlin, Bd. v, 1901, pp. 157- 



173- 

 I'oi). ScHULTE IM HoFE, -\. Zur Kakao-Fermenta- 



tion. Tropenpflanzer, Berlin, 1901, Bd. v, 



pp. 225-227. 



