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54      CHALK  IN  BUTYRIC  AND  LACTIC  FERMENTATIONS,  ETC. 
ON  THE  PART  PLAYED  BY  CHALK  IN  BUTYRIC  AND 
LACTIC  FERMENTATION,  AND  THE  LIVING  ORGANISMS 
IT  CONTAINS. 
By  M.  A.  Bechamp. 
During  my  study  of  fermentation,  it  occurred  to  me  to  inquire 
whether  the  only  part  played  by  chalk  in  the  phenomena  called 
butyric  or  lactic  fermentation,  is  that  of  maintaining  the  neutral- 
ity of  the  medium — that  is  to  say,  of  acting  exclusively  as  car- 
bonate of  lime. 
White  chalk,  which  belongs  to  the  upper  part  of  the  cretaceous 
stratum,  seems  to  be  formed,  for  the  most  part,  from  an  extinct 
microscopic  world.  According  to  M.  Ehrenberg,  these  fossil  re- 
mains are  of  small  organized  beings  of  two  families,  which  he 
names  Polythalamies  and  Nautilites.  These  creatures,  formerly 
organized,  are  so  small  and  so  numerous  that  a  morsel  weighing 
100  grammes  may  contain  2,000,000  of  them. 
But  independently  of  these  extinct  creatures,  white  chalk 
still  contains  a  generation  of  organisms  much  more  minute  than 
any  hitherto  known,  more  minute  than  any  of  the  infusoria  or 
microphytes  of  fermentations ;  and  they  are  not  only  present, 
but  they  are  living  and  adult,  though  no  doubt  very  old.  They 
act  with  great  energy  as  ferments  (I  purposely  use  this  common 
phrase),  and,  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  they  are  the 
most  powerful  I  know,  inasmuch  as  they  are  nourished  on  the 
most  varied  organic  substances,  as  I  will  endeavor  to  show  in  a 
future  memoir. 
Take  from  the  centre  of  a  block  of  chalk,  either  recently 
taken  from  the  quarry,  or  after  it  has  been  for  some  time  ex- 
tracted, a  portion  of  the  substance,tno  matter  of  what  size  (so 
that  the  results  may  not  be  supposed  to  be  affected  by  atmosphe- 
ric dusts) ;  crush  this,  mix  it  with  pure  distilled  water,  and  put 
under  the  microscope  with  the  magnifying  power  of  Nachet's 
No.  7  eye-piece  No.  2  object-glass,  and  the  field  will  be  covered 
with  brilliant  points,  often  very  numerous,  shaken  by  a  quick 
trembling  movement. 
It  is  generally  said  that  they  are  animated  by  a  Brownian 
movement.  Not  believing  that  this  movement  belonged  to  the 
molecules,  and  regarding  them  as  living  organisms,  the  smallest 
I  had  ever  observed,  I  had  recourse  to  two  kinds  of  proofs  to 
