244 ALCOHOL, VINEGAR, SAUER KRAUT, TOBACCO, SILAGE, FLAX 
in fermentation in general, has naturally raised the question of 
their relation to tobacco-curing. Enzymes are known to be pro- 
duced by plants, and would be expected in the tobacco leaves. 
Indeed, they are found there readily enough, and among them 
are certain enzymes called oxydases, peroxydases, and catdlases, 
which have the power, under different conditions, of producing 
an oxidation of other substances. Are not these, rather than 
bacteria, the cause of tobacco fermentation, which is chemically 
an oxidation? Arguments for this view are found in the follow- 
ing facts: (x) The extremely rapid rise in temperature is too high 
to be accounted for by ordinary bacterial action. Fermentation 
due to bacteria may certainly produce a rise in temperature, 
but a rise as high as 130°F. is entirely beyond anything that 
could be expected of living microérganisms. (2) The fermentation 
will go on in the presence of corrosive sublimate that prevents 
bacterial growth. (3) While bacteria may be found upon the 
leaves of the fermenting tobacco they are generally found only in 
small quantities, too few to account for the fermentation which 
is producing a rise in temperature of ro” per day. Moreover, 
the amount of moisture in the tobacco leaves is low, not over 25 
per cent., and in such a condition bacteria do not readily grow. 
Lastly, nicotine is generally looked upon as a means of checking 
bacteria, and hence the fermenting tobacco cannot be regarded 
as a favorable place for bacteria growth. 
On the other hand, these enzymes are found in abundance on 
the leaves, and they are capable of producing an oxidation, such 
as occurs during the fermentation. The conclusion that the 
enzymes from the tobacco leaves are active agents in the curing 
seems indisputable. 
But while these facts suggest that enzymes may play the chief 
part in the fermentation, they by no means exclude the action of 
bacteria. Tobacco lovers know that the tobacco of Cuba develops 
in its fermentation a flavor which is not found in tobacco pre- 
pared elsewhere. The same species of tobacco raised in other 
