Part 28 (2/2)

There was no developn to the ferment, which was itself abundant, a circumstance that, added to the persistent vitality of the ferment, in spite of the unsuitableness of the medium for its nutrition, permitted the perfect completion of ferar re and drying at 100 degrees C (212 degrees F), was 2563 grarains)

In experihed, it is better not to use any yeast-ash that cannot be dissolved completely, so as to be capable of easy separation from the ferment formed Raulin's liquid [Footnote: M Jules Raulin has published a well-known and remarkable work on the discovery of the mineral mediuoid growth; he has given a formula for the composition of such a medium It is this that we call here ”Raulin's liquid” for abbreviation

Water1,500 Sugar candy 70 Tartaric acid4 Nitrate of ammonia 4 Phosphate of ammonia06 Carbonate of potassiunesia04 Sulphate of ammonia 025 Sulphate of zinc007 Sulphate of iron007 Silicate of potassium007 --J Raulin, Paris, Victor Masson, 1870 These pour le doctorat] may be used in such cases with success

All the alcoholic ferments are not capable to the same extent of developar

There are soer or shorter tiar In a series of co used in each case, we found that whilst saccharomyces pastorianus effected a coar, the caseous ferment did not deconated NEW ”HIGH” FERMENT not er ti the proportions of sugar ferreat number of fermentations in mineral media, in consequence of a circu toin our laboratory asserted that the success of our experiar-candy which we ear had been pure--ar-candy, which up to that time we had always used--the ferment could not have multiplied The persistent objections of our friend, and our desire to convince him, caused us to repeat all our previous experireat purity, which had been specially prepared for us, with the utnot The result only confirmed our former conclusions Even this did not satisfy our obstinate friend, ent to the trouble of preparing soar for himself, in little crystals, by repeated crystallizations of carefully selected coar-candy; he then repeated our experiments himself This time his doubts were overcome It even happened that the fer sloere very active, when compared with those which we had conducted with, the coar-candy

We may here add a feords on the non-transforlaucu fer liquid, the deposit of yeast re in the vessel may continue there, in contact with air, without our ever being able to discover the least forlaucum in it We h the flask; the experiive the same result Nevertheless, this is a medium peculiarly adapted to the development of this mould, inasmuch as if ere to introduce etation of that groill afterwards appear on the deposit The descriptions of Messrs Turpin, Hoffmann, and Trecul have, therefore, been based on one of these illusions which we meet with so frequently in microscopical observations

When we laid these facts before the Academy, [Footnote: PASTEUR, Comptes rendus de l'Academie, vol lxxviii, pp 213-216] M

Trecul professed his inability to comprehend them: [Footnote: TRECUL, Comptes rendus de l'Acade to M Pasteur,” he said, ”the yeast of beer is ANAEROBIAN, that is to say, it lives in a liquid deprived of free oxygen; and to becos necessary that it should be placed in air, since, without this, as the na about the transformation of the yeast of beer into laucum we must accept the conditions under which these two for his yeast in media which are incompatible with the desired modification, it is clear that the results which he obtains ratuitous assertion of M Trecul's we do not keep our yeast in media which are calculated to prevent its transformation into penicillium As we have just seen, the principal ai this minute plant into contact with air, and under conditions that would allow the penicillium to develop with perfect freedom We conducted our experiments exactly as Turpin and Hoffmann conducted theirs, and exactly as they stipulate that such experiments should be conducted--with the one sole difference, indispensable to the correctness of our observations, that we carefully guarded ourselves against those causes of error which they did not take the least trouble to avoid It is possible to produce a ready entrance and escape of pure air in the case of the double-necked flasks which we have so often e recourse to the continuous passage of a current of air Having made a file-mark on the thin curved neck at a distance of two or three centimetres (an inch) frolazier's dia imh the flame, and which we must fasten with a thread round the part of the neck still left In this oid growths, or the life of the aerobian ferlaucu that Turpin and Trecul may assert to the contrary, yeast, in contact with air as it was under the conditions of the experiment just described, will not yield Mycoderma vini or Mycoderma cerevisiae any more than it will Penicilliuraphs on the increase of organized ferments in reatest physiological interest Ast other results, they show that all the proteic matter of ferments may be produced by the vital activity of the cells, which, apart altogether froen (unless indeed, we are dealing with aerobian en), have the power of developing a chemical activity between carbohydrates, ammoniacal salts, phosphates, and sulphates of potassiunesium It may be admitted with truth that a siher plants, so that in the existing state of science we fail to conceive what serious reason can be urged against our considering this effect as general It would be perfectly logical to extend the results of which we are speaking to all plants, and to believe that the proteic etables, and perhaps of animals also, is for upon the ammoniacal and other mineral salts of the sap or plasma of the blood, and the carbo-hydrates, the forher plants, requires only the concurrence of the cheht

Viewed in this manner, the formation of the proteic substances, would be independent of the great act of reduction of carbonic acid gas under the influence of light These substances would not be built up froas, after the decomposition of this last; they would be formed where they are found in the cells themselves, by some process of union between the carbo-hydrates inesiurowth, by means of a carbo-hydrate and a mineral medium, since the carbo-hydrate is capable of many variations, and it would be difficult to understand how it could be split up into its ele to constitute the proteic substances, and even cellulose substances, as these are carbo-hydrates We have commenced certain studies in this direction

If solar radiation is indispensable to the deco up of the prietable life, it is still possible that certain inferior organisms may do without it and nevertheless yield the most complex substances, fatty or carbo-hydrate, such as cellulose, various organic acids, and proteictheir carbon froen, but froen, and so of yielding heat in the process, such as alcohol and acetic acid, for exaanization As these last compounds, and a host of others equally adapted to serve as the carbonaceous food of mycoderms and the mucedines, may be produced synthetically by means of carbon and the vapour of water, after the methods that science owes to Berthelot, it follows that, in the case of certain inferior beings, life would be possible even if it should be that the solar light was extinguished [Footnote: See on this subject the verbal observations which we addressed to the Acades of April 10th and 24th, 1876]

THE GERM THEORY AND ITS APPLICATIONS TO MEDICINE AND SURGERY

[Footnote: Read before the French Academy of Sciences, April 29th, 1878 Published in Comptes Rendus de l' Academie des Sciences, lxxxvi, pp 1037-43]

The Sciences gain by mutual support When, as the result of my first communications on the fermentations in 1857-1858, it appeared that the fereranisms abound in the surface of all objects, in the air and in water; that the theory of spontaneous generation is chiar, the blood, urine and all the fluids of the body undergo none of their usual changes in pure air, both Medicine and Surgery received fresh stimulation A French physician, Dr

Davaine, was fortunate inthe first application of these principles to Medicine, in 1863

Our researches of last year, left the etiology of the putrid disease, or septicemia, in a much less advanced condition than that of anthrax We had demonstrated the probability that septicerowth of a microscopic body, but the absolute proof of this important conclusion was not reached To deanision, I know no other way, in the present state of Science, than to subject the microbe (the new and happy term introduced by M Sedillot) to the method of cultivation out of the body It may be noted that in twelve successive cultures, each one of only ten cubic centiinal drop will be diluted as if placed in a volume of fluid equal to the total volume of the earth It is just this form of test to which M Joubert and I subjected the anthrax bacteridiu the translation, it seems wiser to adhere to Pasteur's nomenclature

Bacillus anthracis would be the terreat nu started with a , we then demonstrated that the product of the last culture was capable of further develop anthrax with all its symptoms Such is--as we believe--the indisputable proof that ANTHRAX IS A BACTERIAL DISEASE

Our researches concerning the septic vibrio had not so far been convincing, and it was to fill up this gap that we resumed our experiments To this end, we attempted the cultivation of the septic vibrio fro that all of our first experiments failed, despite the variety of culture media we employed--urine, beer yeast water, meat water, etc Our culture media were not sterile, but we found-- no relationshi+p to the septic vibrio, and presenting the forh elsewhere, of chains of extreranules possessed of no virulence whatever [Footnote: It is quite possible that Pasteur was here dealing with certain septicemic streptococci that are no to lose their virulence with extreme rapidity under artificial cultivation--Translator]

This was an impurity, introduced, unknown to us, at the saerm undoubtedly passed from the intestines--always inflamed and distended in septicemic aniinal cultures of the septic vibrio If this explanation of the contaht to find a pure culture of the septic vibrio in the heart's blood of an animal recently dead of septicemia This hat happened, but a new difficulty presented itself; all our cultures remained sterile Furthermore this sterility was accoinal) virulence

It occurred to us that the septic vibrio atory anaerobe and that the sterility of our inoculated culture fluids ht be due to the destruction of the septic vibrio by the aten dissolved in the fluids The Academy may remember that I have previously deard to the vibrio of butyric fermentation, which not only lives without air but is killed by the air

It was necessary therefore to attempt to cultivate the septic vibrio either in a vacuuases--such as carbonic acid

Results justified our atterew easily in a complete vacuum, and no less easily in the presence of pure carbonic acid

These results have a necessary corollary If a fluid containing septic vibrios be exposed to pure air, the vibrios should be killed and all virulence should disappear This is actually the case If some drops of septic serum be spread horizontally in a tube and in a very thin layer, the fluid will become absolutely harmless in less than half a day, even if at first it was so virulent as to produce death upon the inoculation of the smallest portion of a drop