Further observations on the temperature at which bacteria, vibriones, and their supposed germs are killed when immersed in fluids or exposed to heat in a moist state : and on the causes of putrefaction and fermentation / by H. Charlton Bastian, M.A.

  • Bastian, H. Charlton.
Date:
[1873], [©1873]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Further observations on the temperature at which bacteria, vibriones, and their supposed germs are killed when immersed in fluids or exposed to heat in a moist state : and on the causes of putrefaction and fermentation / by H. Charlton Bastian, M.A. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    the heat to which the mixture has been exposed may have been adequate to kill all the living units entering into the inoculating compound, although it may not have been sufficient to prevent its not-living organic matter acting as a ferment upon the infusion *. And there are, I think, the very best reasons for concluding that in all the cases in which turbidity has occurred after the organic mixtures have been subjected to a heat of 140° 1\ (60° C.) and upwards, this turbidity has been due, not to the survival of the living units, but rather to the fact that the mere dead organic matter of the inoculating compound has acted upon the more unstable organic infusions in a way which it was not able to do upon the boiled saline fluids. In order more fully to explain the grounds upon which this conclusion is based, it will now be necessary to recast the results of the 102 inocu- lation experiments recorded in my last communication f. They require to be thrown into a new tabular form, in order to show how the results differed amongst themselves when organic infusions of different strengths were employed. The consideration of this aspect of the question was purposely delayed, in order to avoid the introduction of unnecessary complications into my last communication, seeing that the conclusion which I then sought to establish was in no way affected by these facts. Neutral Hay-Infusion. Infusion of sp. gr. 1005. Infusion of sp. gr. 1002. Tempe- rature. Number of Expts. Date of Turbidity, if any. Results at the Expiration of the 8th day. Number of Expts. Date of Turbidity, if any. Results at the Expiration of the 8th day. 122° F. (50° C.) 131° F. } > 6 24 hrs. 48 hrs. Turbid. All turbid. 1 48 hrs. Turbid. 140° F. (60° C.) 149° F. 1 in 48 hrs. 6 in 60 hrs. 1 All turbid. ^ { ^ { 1 in 3 days. 1 in 8 days. 2 in 5 days. 1 in 8 days. 1 All turbid. Three turbid. One clear. 158° F. (70° C.) 167° F. 176° F. (80° C.) } All clear. 15 4 All clear. All clear. * See ' The Beginnings of Life,* vol. ii. p. 2. t See Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 143, p. 230.