72 



The Philippine Journal of Science 



Table XII. — Moisture content of the upper and the lower layers of general 

 samples of copra after storage in a moist atmosphere. 



Weight of— 





Water in- 



" 



Upper 

 layer. 



Lower 

 layer. 



Upper 

 layer. 



Lower 

 layer. 



General 

 sample. 



a. 



g. 



Per cent. 



Per cent. 



Per cent. 



14.7681 



65. 7966 



13.36 



6.4 



7.6 



3. 5100 



43. 8112 



21.52 



7.8 



8.8 



5. 5798 



30. 2842 



20.43 



8.9 



10.7 



14. 1452 



32. 1548 



11.3 



6.5 



8.0 



12. 8122 



26. 5142 



24.0 



6.8 



12.5 



10. 2004 



23. 7875 



10.9 



5.7 



7.9 



11. 0936 



29. 2013 



10.5 



7.6 



8.4 



HEAT AND ITS RELATION TO MOLD GROWTH 



While investigating the rise of temperature occurring in moldy 

 copra when piled in large quantities, it was noticed that the tem- 

 perature increases to a certain maximum of about 50° C. and 

 then declines. As this rise in temperature appeared to be re- 

 lated to mold action, the question presented itself whether the 

 fall after attaining a maximum might to be due to the fact that 

 such temperatures inhibit the growth or kill the mold concerned. 

 It is well known that temperatures around 50° C. will, when 

 long maintained, kill the mycelium of many species of fungi or 

 at least stop their growth. In general, the spores of fungi are 

 more resistant to heat than the mycelium and so might survive 

 such temperatures. However, in this case there was no recur- 

 rence of a high temperature, as might have been expected had 

 spores of the fungi survived and, after the temperature decline, 

 returned to normal germination and resumed their growth. To 

 determine the effect of such temperature upon the spores and 

 mycelium of the four molds considered in this paper, the follow- 

 ing experiments were conducted: 



Molds in pure culture were allowed to grow until a mycelium 

 was distinctly visible and then were placed in an oven maintained 

 at a constant temperature of 50° C. At intervals cultures were 

 removed from the oven and kept at room temperature to see 

 whether growth was resumed. To determine the effect of this 

 temperature upon mold spores, pieces of coconut meat were in- 

 oculated with mold spores, put in closed containers, and placed 

 in the oven. At intervals pieces of the meat were removed and 

 kept at room temperatures to determine whether germination 

 occurred. The observations from these two series of experi- 

 ments indicate that both the spores and the mycelium of each 



