ON THE VEGETABLE CHEESE, NATTTO. % 6g 
gelatine and producing a greenish fluorescence. It forms 
white flocculent masses on potatoes, and on soya beans it 
forms white colonies. With regard to the micrococci the 
colonies of the three kinds can be distinguished by their colors : 
yellow, orange yellow, and white. 1 ) 
The yellow micrococcus belongs to the larger kinds. In 
gelatine it forms white colonies along the canal. At the head 
of the canal a concavity is formed. The gelatine is in a small 
degree liquified. On agar, potatoes, and soya beans, it first 
forms white colonies that gradually turn yellowish. On soya 
beans it develops the characteristic smell which is observed 
with natto itself. In 2 % peptone solution it forms a white 
deposit. 
The orange yellow micrococcus forms round colonies on 
gelatine. It has a general resemblance to the former but it does 
not liquify gelatine at all, and produces on soya beans a dis¬ 
agreeable smell. While the former does not spread considerably 
on potatoes, this one does so forming a slimy cover. 
The white micrococcus has a general resemblance, in regard 
to growth and development of its colonies, to the last named. 
With regard to the specific smell of natto, repeated experiments 
have convinced me that the above mentioned yellow micrococcus 
is the chief cause, while with regard to the slimy substance 
which shows an enormous degree of viscidity further experiments 
have to be carried out ; because the yellow micrococcus is not 
the cause of this viscidity. 2 ) 
2. Chemical Investigation. 
As the soya bean is very rich in protein, the various decom¬ 
position products of proteids might be expected to be present 
in this cheese.to a certain extent. 6.8 kilos, of the raw cheese 
were extracted with boiling water, and the aqueous solution 
precipitated with basic acetate of lead. The filtrate from this 
1) White colonies were far less numerous than the others. 
2) I made also several experiments to observe the degree of resistance to 
hydrochloric acid, and found that the microbes mentioned remained alive in 2°/ 0 
peptone solution containing o,n °/ 0 HC 1 , but they were killed when hydrochloric 
acid was increased to o,ig c / 0 . 
