Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/252

244 species that the optimum temperature for their development he ascertained, and that this temperature he maintained. In this respect we can distinguish three broad groups. The first group includes those for which the optimum temperature is from 15-20° C. The second group includes the parasitic forms, viz., those which grow in the living body, and for which the optimum temperature is at blood heat, viz., 37° C. We have a third group, for which the optimum temperature lies as high as 50-55° C. On this account this latter group has been termed thermophilic on account of its growth at such abnormally high temperatures—temperatures which are fatal to other forms of life. They have been the subject of personal investigation in conjunction with Dr. Blaxall. We found that there existed-in nature an extensive group of such organisms to which the term thermophilic bacteria was applicable. Their growth and development occurred best at temperatures at which ordinary protoplasm becomes inert or dies. The best growths were always obtained at 55-65° C. Their wide distribution was of a striking nature. They were found by us in river water and mud, in sewage and also in a sample of sea water. They were present in the digestive tract of man and animals, and in the surface and deep layers of the soil, as well as in straw and in all samples of ensilage examined. Their rapid growth at high temperatures was remarkable, the whole surface of the culture medium being frequently overrun in from fifteen to seventeen hours. The organisms examined by us (fourteen forms in all) belonged to the group of the Bacilli. Some were motile, some curdled milk and some liquefied gelatin in virtue of a proteolytic enzyme. The majority possessed reducing powers upon nitrates and decomposed proteid matter. In some instances cane sugar was inverted and starch was diastased. These facts well illustrate the full vitality of the organisms at these high temperatures, whilst all the organisms isolated grew best at 55-65° C. A good growth in a few cases occurred at 72° C. Evidence of growth was obtained even at 74° C. They exhibited a remarkable and unique range of temperature, extending as far as 30° of the Centigrade scale.

As a concluding instance of the activity of these organisms we may cite their action upon cellulose. Cellulose is a substance that is exceedingly difficult to decompose, and is, therefore, used in the laboratory for filtering purposes in the form of Swedish filter paper, on account of its resistance to the action of solvents. We allowed these organisms to act on cellulose at 60° C. The result was that in ten to fourteen days a complete disintegration of the cellulose had taken place, probably in CO2 and marsh gas. The exact conditions that may favor their growth, even if it be slow at subthermophilic temperatures, are not yet known—they may possibly be of a chemical nature.