THE MOLDS OF CIGARS AND THEIR PREVENTION. 5 
terson identified the following: (1) Aspergillus subgriseus Pk., (2) 
Macrosporium commune Rabh., (3) Sterigmatocystis castanea Pat- 
ters., (4) Cladosporium herbarum (P.) Link, (5) Penicillium sp. 
In general, the leaf surfaces were rather sterile of molds. 
MOLDS ON CIGARS. 
Samples of moldy cigars obtained from various sources were also 
investigated by the method described, and the following organisms 
were identified by Mrs. Patterson: (1) Aspergillus candidus Link, a 
very small dingy white mold, occurring as a rather sparse growth 
on cigars, especially near the head, but frequently in diffuse growth 
over a considerable part of the surface, which seems to be the most 
often present on cigars and is probably responsible for most of the 
trouble; (2) Penicillium sp., a widely distributed mold, likely to 
appear on a great variety of substances; (3) Sterigmatocystis 
castanea Patters., an unusual form, not likely to be a cause of harm 
here; (4) Cladosporium herbarum (P.) Link, one of the molds com- 
monly turning up on decaying vegetable matter, probably not a 
source of serious trouble here. 
Tt will be seen that the organisms responsible for the most serious 
trouble (Aspergillus candidus, easily first in importance, and Pen?- 
cillium glaucum) are not represented in the list of organisms in- 
troduced on the wrapper leaf, but seem to be always present in the 
tragacanth gum. The conclusion seems, therefore, to follow that 
in the case in hand the paste used in fastening the wrapper at the 
head of the cigar brought with it the troublesome organisms. 
INFECTION EXPERIMENTS ON WRAPPER LEAF. 
It having been rendered probable that the tragacanth paste was 
inoculated with the molds from the start, the next question to be 
answered was that of the seat of the growth of molds on the wrap- 
pers. As it has already been shown that the paste itself is a favorable 
culture medium for these organisms, it follows that the tobacco leaf 
in itself is not necessarily a favorable support for the molds. How- 
ever, it is well known that moist tobacco leaves do become moldy 
under conditions favoring this process, and experiments were made 
having for their object the infection of wrapper leaves with the two 
species of mold last mentioned. These attempts failed to produce 
mold on the leaves used in the absence of any substance foreign to 
the leaves that might act as a source of food for the fungi. 
INFECTION EXPERIMENTS ON CIGARS. 
In view of the nature of the problem under study, the fact that 
cigars could be infected with molds was not open to doubt. Since 
it had been shown that these molds do not readily grow on wrapper 
