ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
773 
while in the dark no such decomposition takes place as long as living 
organic material is wanting ; neither dead organic substances nor such 
compounds as are found within the cell are active in this way. 
Alcoholic Fermentation and the Conversion of Alcohol into Alde- 
hyde by the “ Champignon du Muguet-”* * * § — MM. G. Linossier and 
G. Roux, referring to the character of the fermentation induced by the 
“ champignon du muguet,” state that three stages may be distinguished 
during the fermentation, viz. : — (1) rapid growth of the organism ; 
(2) active fermentation ; (3) lessened activity due to the toxic influence 
of the fermentation products, aldehyde having, it would seem, the greatest 
effect. “ Muguet ” can cause the fermentation of dextrose, levulose, and 
maltose ; saccharose is neither inverted nor fermented. In the slow- 
ness with which fermentation takes place, and in the maximum concen- 
tration of alcohol produced, and in the ratio of weight of sugar destroyed 
to weight of organism produced, the “ champignon du muguet ” exhibits 
marked analogies with the Mucorini, and differs considerably from the 
Saccharomycetes, The conclusion that the organism does not belong to 
the latter is borne out by the results of a careful morphological study. 
Fermentation of Bread. t — M. L. Boutroux asserts that the fermenta- 
tion of bread consists essentially in a normal alcoholic fermentation of 
the sugar which already exists in the flour. The yeast plays a double 
part; it produces a disengagement of gas which causes the dough to 
swell, and it prevents the bacteria, which are parasitic on the starch- 
grains, from developing, and thus making the dough sour and dissolving 
the gluten. M. Boutroux finds in the yeast three distinct microbes, two 
bacilli and a bacterium, but concludes that they play no direct part in 
the process of fermentation ; if they are of any service at all, it is 
simply in the production of the fermentable substance, that is, of the 
sugar. 
Commenting on this paper, M. Chicaudard ^ states that, at the period 
when the dough is placed in the oven, he finds in it immense numbers 
of bacilli, but no yeast-cells. He considers, therefore, the fermentation 
of bread to be a fermentation of the gluten caused by Bacillus glutinis. 
Fermentations induced by the Pneumococcus of Friedlaender.§— 
In the experiments carried out by Dr. P. F. Frankland, Mr. A. Stanley, 
and Mr. W. Frew, the pneumococcus had been cultivated for nearly 
three years on gelatin-peptone, and was afterwards further purified by 
obtaining a single colony through the intermediary of a plate cultivation. 
The authors recount the details of their experiments at considerable 
length, but it will suffice to recapitulate their results, which are sum- 
marized as follows : — 
(1) The pneumococcus of Friedlaender sets up a fermentative pro- 
cess in suitable solutions of dextrose, cane-sugar, milk-sugar, maltose, 
raffinose, dextrin, and mannitol. 
(2) It does not ferment solutions of dulcitol or glycerol, and has 
* Bull. Soc. Chim., iv. pp. 697-706. See Journ. Chem. Soc., 1891, Abstr., p. 854. 
f Comptes Kendus, cxiii. (1891) pp. 203-6. Cf. this Journal, 1889, p. 253. 
j Comptes Rendus, cxiii. (1891) p. 612. 
§ Journ. Chem. Soc., cccxli. (1891) pp. 253-70. 
