CONDITIONS FAVOIJIlINa FERMENTATION. 



31 



(h) But I had, and I made known even in the abstract of my 

 paper, a convincing proof that this comparatively short period of 

 exposure to the temperature of boiling water was in fact sufficient 

 to sterilize the contents of the liquor-potassaD tubes — as well 

 the liquor potassa? as the small quantity of air which they con- 

 tained*. This was to be found in the fact that one of these tubes 

 charged with a very small amount of potash, or one charged with 

 a slight excess, never, when broken, caused the urine to ferment, 

 even though it had only been heated to 100° C. for twenty 

 minutes. This seemed to me, and still seems, a convincing proof 

 that no living germs existed within the tubes. 



But when such prominence was given to this part of the ques- 

 tion by M. Pasteur — when, accepting the crucial nature of the 

 experiment, he challenged me to produce the results which 1 had 

 announced with sterile urine and a solution of potash, " a la seule 

 condition que cette solution sera portee prealablement a 100 

 degres pendant vingt minutes, ou a 130 degres pendant cinq 

 minutes," I was very glad to meet his views and perform some 

 experiments under these conditions prescribed by M. Pasteur f. 



The results even with liquor-potassse tubes heated to 110° C. 

 for twentij liours were in no way different from those previously 

 procured with tubes heated only for a short time to 100° C.J 

 After this I also repeated my experiments with liquor-potassse 

 tubes which had been heated in oil to 140°-150° C. (284i°-302° P.) 

 for one hour §. The results were similar. In fourteen experiments 

 with a urine of 1020 specific gravity, whose acidity was equivalent 

 to 10 minims of liquor potassse per ounce, and which did not 

 deposit phosphates when boiling or, except to the slightest extent, 

 after the addition of the potash, fermentation took place in all. 



* See ' Compt. Kend.' Jan. 22, 1877. 



t The reality of my results M. Pasteur admits. Thus, in the * Oomptes 

 Kendus,' July 17, 1876, tomelxxxiii. p. 178, he says, " Je m'empresse de declarer 

 que les experiences de M. le Dr. Bastian sont, en effet, tres-exactes ; elles donnent 

 le plus souYent les resultats qu'il indique." The only question between M. Pas- 

 teur and myself is as to the interpretation of results now common to both. His 

 interpretation (Comp. Eend. 29 Jan. 1877, torn. Ixxxiv. p. 206) is that germs are 

 added with the liquor potassas, 



I See ' Comptes Eendus,' Feb. 12 (1877), tome Ixxxiv. p. 306. 



§ A most troublesome process and method, because of the subsequent difficulty 

 in cleaning the potash-tubes. 



