On Molecular and Microscopic Science, Volume 2 (of 2)Somerville, Mary
History
On Molecular and Microscopic Science, Volume 2 (of 2)
Somerville, Mary
Matter -- Constitution; Microscopy; Natural history
There are also two groups of Infusoria which possess these opposite
characters, one being unable to live in oxygen, while the other cannot
live without it; sometimes they even inhabit the same liquid. When the
tartrate of lime is put into water along with some ammoniacal and
alkaline phosphates, a Monad, the Bacteria terma, and other Infusoria
appear after a time. These little animals bud rapidly in an infusion of
animal matter, then a slight motion is produced by the appearance of the
Monas corpusculum and the Bacterium terma, which glide in wavy lines in
all directions in quest of the oxygen dissolved in the liquid, and as
soon as it is exhausted they go to the surface in such numbers as to
form a pellicle, where by aid of the oxygen they form the simple binary
compounds water, ammonia, and carbonic acid. In the meantime the
Vibrios, which are without oxygen, are developed below, and keep up the
fermentation, and between the two, the work of decomposition is
completed.
It is not the worm that destroys our dead bodies; it is the Infusoria,
the least of living beings. The intestinal canal of the higher animals,
and of man, is always filled during life not only with the germs of
vibrios, but with adult and well-grown vibrios themselves. M.
Leewenhoeck had already discovered them in man, a fact which has since
been confirmed. They are inoffensive as long as life is an obstacle to
their development, but after death their activity soon begins. Deprived
of air and bathed in nourishing liquid, they decompose and destroy all
the surrounding substances as they advance towards the surface. During
this time, the little Infusoria, whose germs from the air had been
lodged in the wrinkles and pores of the skin, are developed, and work
their way from without inwards, till they meet the vibrios, and after
having devoured them, they perish, or are eaten by maggots.
Of all the Infusoria and ferments the Vibrios are the most tenacious of
life; their germs resist the destructive effect of a temperature of 100°
Cent. The spores of the Mucedines are still more vivacious; they grow
after being exposed to a heat of 120° Cent., and are only killed by a
temperature of 130° Cent. As neither spores of the fungi nor the germs
of the Infusoria are ever exposed to so high a temperature while in the
atmosphere, they are ready to germinate as soon as they meet with a
substance that suits them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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