Protascus colorans, a new genus and a new species of the Protoasclneae-group 155 
This Bacterium has anaerobic properties, and is under these circumstances 
able to call into existence a weak butylic acid ferment. I hope later 
to return in detail to these pigment forming moulds and bacteria, especi¬ 
ally in connection with a peculiar appearance of polychromy. Regarding 
these moulds it is of the highest importance to particularly notice that they 
never occur spontaneously as rice colouring in rice garnering nor in the 
transport of rice. The reason for which is that they have need for their 
pigment forming of much more moisture than the rice heaps generally 
contain. It speaks for itself that the rice producers dry their rice as much 
as possible in order to safe guard it against the moulds. I have a special 
reason, for particularly emphasizing the above mentioned fact, especially as 
it is utterly in direct contrast to the conditions under which the moulds 
which cause the so-called “yellow grains “ exert their dire influence. 
Therefore all the above mentioned different pigment forming moulds were 
of no importance in my investigation, yet they now formed none-the-less 
a hint that the so-called “yellow grains“ would well be able to originate, 
through a definite pigment forming microorganism. 
There followed then a time of great disappointment and difficulty 
without my succeeding in discovering anything positive in this direction. 
At last, after long and unsuccessful attempts I was fortunate enough to 
actually succeed in isolating from the very “yellow grains“ themselves a 
mould which in its turn, appeared to be able to transmit to healthy 
rice grains after artificial infection the same deep yellow 
colouring which is so characteristic of the true “yellow 
grains“, that have been so much dreaded. Subsequently I was fortuna¬ 
tely able on three occasions to isolate the same mould in the same 
manner; and in all these cases the mould was again able to originate 
these typical yellow grains. Consequently it is right to consider 
this mould as the cause of “yellow grains“ in rice. 
3. 
This fungus appears even in the further investigations to have 
been unknown up to the present time. It belongs to the Protoascineae and 
certainly also to the sub-order of Endomycetaceae x ). The deviations of 
form already described forms in this group have justified our bringing 
the mould so found under a new genus, for which purpose I have chosen 
the name Protascus, and with an eye to its rice colouring properties I 
shall name the mould Protascus colorans. In the plates appertaining to 
this treatise an illustration of this newly-found mould is presented in its 
different stages. This mould forms a strong mycelium and groows, 
especially at ordinary temperatures, quite luxuriantly on a 
pabulum of boiled rice or bread. In an immature state the mycelium is 
of a light pink colour; afterwards red bodies between the mycelium threads 
arise. These are globular enlargements, which arise at the end of the 
mycelium threads, and may be seen represented in fig. 1. These enlarge¬ 
ments are the asci. They possess in this stage a more or less thick wall¬ 
standing protoplasm, which includes a large vacuole. When the culture 
grows older then the pink colour is altered to a blackish tint. The asci 
are then filled with dark coloured ascospores. This stage is represented 
1) See J. Schröter, in Engler-Prantl, Natürliche Pflanzenfamilien 1 h 
