50 
He was led to divide ferments into three classes : 
(a) V erw esungsfer merit e, those which combine loosely with free 
oxygen, forming unstable compounds which give up their oxygen to 
other less readily oxidizable substances. 
(b) B eduction sfermente, those which combine with the oxygen of 
water, the hydrogen going to effect the reduction of the passive body. 
(c) Hochstes Faulnis sfermente, those which cause putrefactions in 
which hvdrogen is set free. 
He was led to believe further that all of these ferments have the 
power of carrying to other substances the oxygen with which they have 
combined, thereby becoming reduced and gotten into the condition 
whereby they can again combine with fresh quantities of oxygen and 
again carry it to oxidizable substances. In this way they are able to 
carry free and combined oxygen in practically unlimited quantities 
to other substances, and in that way bring about gradual decay 
( Verwesung ) and fermentation proper ( Gahrung ). (Traube, 425,426 .) 
In the one case ( Verwesung ) the oxygen required for the oxidation 
comes from the air; in the other case ( Gahrung ) it comes from the 
water. Hence in all true fermentations water acts not merely as 
a solvent, but actively participates in the process. In this discus- 
sion, however, we are primarily concerned only with his first class 
of ferments, viz, the Verwesung sfermente. These he divided into 
two groups: Vitale, those met with- in the higher life forms, and 
faulige, putrefactive, those concerned in the change and decay of dead 
material. In the first class he placed the guaiacum bluing ferment 
of the potato and the red coloring matter of blood. In the second 
class he placed the ferments concerned in the transformation of 
alcohol into acetic acid and the nitrogenous compounds of dung into 
nitrates. As nearly as I have been able to determine, the term 
“ Verwesung as employed by Traube in this connection, seems to 
have been borrowed from the writings of Liebig, and in terms of the 
present nomenclature employed for processes in which the oxidizing 
ferments are concerned, it is practically untranslatable. As ordin- 
arily employed, it signifies putrefaction or decay. In reality, as 
employed by Liebig, it referred primarily to the spontaneous decay of 
vegetable matter, whereby this sort of material is ultimately con- 
verted into brown mold or humus-like substances. Other English 
writers have encountered this difficulty in dealing with this word and 
its derivatives. Thus in translating Liebig’s Agricultural Chemistry 
Gregory was forced to coin the word eremacausis (from the Greek, 
meaning “ slow-burning”) as the equivalent of Verwesung , the intro- 
duction of this term being made with Liebig’s consent. In his earlier 
writings on the subject Traube made constant use of the term Verwes- 
ungsf ermente as signifying the oxidizing ferments, to the exclusion of 
practically all other names for these substances. In Paragraph 132 r 
