KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 
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vinegar to be of a sirupy nature, but not to 
such an extent as to communicate a flavor to 
it. When evaporated to dryness, a large 
quantity of saccharine matter is left, 
When this remarkable production was first 
brought before the notice of scientific men, 
it was difficult to form an opinion respecting 
it. The microscope showed it to have an 
organised structure; but its pecubar cha- 
racter, and its remarkable mode of life, dif- 
fered entirely from any other known pro- 
duction. It has been instrumental, however, 
in opening up a new field of inquiry; and 
recent investigations show that it is not a 
solitary form of organic life. 
The Vinegar Plant has been assigned a 
place in the large and obscure order of fungi. 
It is, in fact, a familiar species of mould, 
but ina peculiar stage of development. Many 
botanists regard it as the Penicillium glaucwm 
(Greville). To give a correct notion of the 
true character of this abnormal production, 
it is necessary to allude briefly to the mode 
of development in fungi. 
The fungi or mushroom family form an 
order of the class Cryptogamia (flowerless 
plants), and in their structure are entirely 
cellular—that is, their whole substance is 
composed of simple cells varying in form 
and arrangement in the different species. 
In the fungus there are two distinct systems 
—the vegetative and reproductive. The 
vegetative system consists of variously modi- 
fied filaments—generally concealed in the 
earth or other matrix on which the fungus 
grows; and is the myceliwm, or spawn. This 
spawn is well known in horticulture, being 
used for the production of mushrooms. The 
reproductive organs consist of spores, 
or spherical cells, very minute, but perform- 
ing the part of seeds in the higher plants. 
These spores are sometimes supported on 
simple filamentous processes ; but inthe com- 
mon mushroom we find the gills on its under 
side to be the part whereon they are pro- 
duced: the whole of the mushroom which 
we use, belonging, in fact, to the reproductive 
system. Now, in its perfect state, the 
Vinegar Plant presents all the usual appear- 
ance of common mould. But in the state 
in which we have it in an acetous solution,, 
only the vegetative system, or the spawn, is 
developed, and developed to an extraordinary 
extent —consisting, when viewed under the 
microscope, of filamentous threads capable of 
producing the fructification, or perfect mould, 
whenever they are subjected to the proper 
conditions. These cellular filaments, by 
being so closely interlaced together, give the 
peculiar leathery appearance exhibited by the 
Vinegar Plant. Whenever the vinegar is 
allowed to evaporate, and the myceliwm to 
become free from saturation, then the usual 
form of the mould is produced. 


This is not the only instance of the mzcelium 
of a fungus developing itself naturally in an 
abnormal condition without producing organs 
of reproduction. A modern writer says 
“Tt is probable that the flocculent matter 
which forms in various infusions when they 
become ‘mothery,’ and which bears this 
name, is only the mycelium of Mucor Peni- 
cillium, and other fungals of a similar nature.” 
It is not only in stale vinegar, in wine-bottles, 
in empyreumatic succinate of ammonia, and 
in saccharine solutions, that such fungoid 
growths appear. Who is not familiar with 
the tough mass that is so often brought up 
on the point of the pen from the ink-holder? 
It, too, is of the same nature ; and, like all 
similar productions, is especially rife in hot 
weather. 
It must not be supposed that what is 
usually called the Vinegar Plant is always 
the mycelium of Penicillium glaucum. ‘There 
may be many distinct species which assume 
the form when placed under the required con- 
ditions, and all of them may have the power 
of producing vinegar. 
Mould of various kinds, when placed in 
sirup, shows the same tendency as the 
Vinegar Plant to form a flat, gelatinous, or 
leathery expansion. ‘This is well shown by 
Professor Balfour, in a paper which has been 
laid before the Botanical Society of Edin- 
burgh, “On the Growth of various kinds of 
Mould in Sirup.” ‘The results of his ex- 
periments are as follow :— 

1. Some mould that had grown on an apple 
was put into sirup on 5th March, 1851, and 
in the course of two months afterwards, 
there was a cellular, flat, expanded mass 
formed, while the sirup was converted into 
vinegar. Some of the original mould was 
still seen on the surface, retaining its usual 
form. 
11. Mould, obtained from a pear, was 
treated in a similar way at the same time; 
the results were similar. So also with various 
moulds obtained from bread, tea, and other 
vegetable substances ; the effect being in most 
cases to cause fermentation, which resulted 
in the production of vinegar. 
3. On 8th November, 1850, a quantity 
of raw sugar, treacle, and water, was put 
into a jar, without any mould, or other 
substance, being introduced. It was left 
untouched till 5th March, 1851, when, on 
being examined, it was found that a growth 
like that of the vinegar-plant had formed, 
and vinegar was produced, as in the other 
experiments. The plant was removed into 
a jar of fresh sirup, and again the produc- 
tion of vinegar took place. 
4. Other experiments showed that when 
the sirup is formed from purified white 
sugar alone, the vinegar is not produced 
so readily; the length of time required for 

