2 Mr. Bauer’s microscopical observations on the 
certained, and not undeserving of the notice of the Society, 
particularly when laid before its members as a part of this 
Lecture, to which it most peculiarly belongs. 
This minute animal, the Vibrio Tritici, is the immediate 
cause of that destructive disease in wheat, known under the 
name of Ear Cockle, or Purples, by farmers. 
On opening some of the diseased grains, I found their ca- 
vities filled with a mass of a white fibrous substance, appa- 
rently cemented together by a glutinous substance, and 
formed into balls, which could easily be extracted entire from 
the cavities of the grains, and which, when immersed in 
water, instantly dissolved, and displayed in the field of the 
microscope, hundreds of perfectly organized, extremely mi- 
nute worms, all which, in less than a quarter of an hour, were 
in lively motion. 
Having left some of these worms on a glass for five days 
in a perfectly dry state, they were apparently dead ; but 
when moistened, they were again, in less than half an hour, 
as lively as ever. 
These experiments and results were so far satisfactory, as 
they incontestibly established the fact, that the fibrous sub- 
stance within the cavities of the diseased wheat grains, con- 
sists of real organized animals, which are endowed with the 
extraordinary property, of having their muscular action sus- 
pended for a considerable length of time, and of having it 
renewed again by the mere application of moisture : but how 
these animals are propagated, and how they are introduced 
into the cavities of the young germens, appeared to me a mys- 
tery, which I was convinced could only be unravelled by 
tracing them through every stage of the germination and 
