PRESENCE OF A TRUE MANNA ON A BLUE GRASS. 295 
It might, perhaps, be more accurately described as masses of 
oval or spherical cells, each cell consisting of a membrane and con- 
tents, which at first appear as a single body enclosed in the rather 
thick wall of the cell. This body eventually divides into two, 
three, or four vacuoles. Plate 22, fig. 3. 
If placed in a weak solution of cane sugar, the cells multiply by 
gemmation a small body appearing at one side of the cell and 
growing till it becomes the size of the mother cell from which it 
is eventually constricted. Other cells are again produced from 
these till aggregations of numerous cells are formed, which are 
arranged in the form of a chain when production procecds in a 
linear manner. These cylindrical cells have thick walls with a 
nucleated protoplasm. After an interval of several days the cells 
at the free ends of these chains appear to coalesce and form a 
club-shaped body, which in turn becomes greenish and cpaque ; 
the interior walls of the cells disappearing and the outer walls 
burst ejecting numerous minute spherical bodies or sporules. 
Plate 22, figs. 4 — 7. 
To determine whether these organisms had the power to 
decompose cane sugar, four solutious were prepared as follows, 
sufficient cane-sugar being dissolved in water for the whole. They 
were each placed in a graduated tube over mercury. 
No. 1, a portion of the organisms was added toa solution of 
Pure cane sugar. In this experiment there was only added enough 
of the organisms to cause the liquid to be turbid. From the first 
to the ninth day the solution remained turbid and the organisms 
appeared to increase somewhat. On the ninth day one or two 
bubbles of gas made their appearance, the decomposition slowly 
Proceeding until the twenty-eighth day, when 5:4 cubic centimetres 
of gas had been obtained. 
To the 11th day ‘6 cc. was obtained. 
1 
” 2 4 35) wy fe 
” 14 ” 2 ” ” 
” 15 <5 5 - _ 
” 16 end 
