As the contagious particles were transmitted to the eggs, the method adopted for preventing the spread of the disease was as follows:—Each female moth was kept separate from the others, and allowed to deposit her eggs, and after death her body was crushed up in a mortar as before, and a drop of the fluid examined under the microscope. When any trace of muscadine was found present, the whole of the eggs and body were burnt. In this way the disease was combated, and ultimately stamped out.
Pasteur also pointed out that one form or cause of disease must not be confounded with another. For example, muscadine, a true fungus (Botrytis bassiana), should not be confounded with another disease known to attack silkworms, termed pebrin, this being caused by a bacterium, and, according to the more recent researches of Balbiani, by a Psorospermia. Botrytis is a true mould, belonging to the Oomycetes, and allied to the potato fungus, Peronospora. It is propagated by spores, which, falling on a silkworm, germinate and penetrate its body. A mycelium is then developed, which spreads throughout the body. Hyphæ appear through the skin, and bear white chalky-looking spores; these become detached, and float in the air as an impalpable dust-like smoke. Damp further develops the fungus.
Insects suffer much from the ravages of fungi. The house-fly sticking to the window-pane is seen to be surrounded by the mycelia of Penicillium racemosum (Sporendonema muscæ, or Saprolegnia feræ). In other cases Cordiceps attacks certain caterpillars belonging to the genera Cossus and Hepialus when they are buried in the sand and before their metamorphosis into chrysalides; they are killed by the rapid development of hyphæ and mycelium in their tissues.
Sphæria miletaris, a parasite of Bombyx pilyocarpa, the caterpillar of which is found on pine-trees, is one of the few fungi which may be regarded as beneficial to man, since it aids in the destruction of multitudes of these caterpillars, which otherwise would devour the young shoots and pine needles. Giard specialises other parasites of insects, which he terms Entomophoreæ. Others, E. rimosa, attack grasshoppers and the diptera, enveloping them in a dense coating of mycelium and spores, which speedily kills the victim.
The study, then, of the life-history of germs, microbes, micro-organisms, or bacteria (as they are indifferently termed), opened up a new science, that of Bacteriology. By the more recent advances in this science we are enabled to understand the very important part these minute organisms fill in the great scheme of Nature, for almost exclusively by their agency the soil is supplied with the requisite nutritive material for plant life. And, as already pointed out, wherever organic matter is present—that is, the dead and useless substances which are the refuse of life—such material is promptly seized upon by micro-organisms, by means of which histolysis is rapidly accomplished.
Bacteria require a power of from 600 to 1,000 diameters or more for the determination of the species to which they belong. The number of species has been so much increased of late that a bulky volume is found to be insufficient for their enumeration. I am, however, by the courtesy of Professor Crookshank, enabled to present my readers with the typical forms of thirty-nine species of Bacteria, Schizomycetes, or fission-fungi, a selection, it will be seen, chiefly taken from among pathogenic organisms—those believed to originate disease. But many of the supposed Saprophytic forms often described as originating disease are merely accidental associates, that is, living in companionship for a time.
Size.—In ordinary terms of measurement, bacteria are on an average from 1⁄25000th to about 1⁄5000th of an inch long. These measurements do not convey a definite impression to the mind. It is calculated that a thousand million of them could be contained in a space of 1⁄25th of an inch. The best impression of the size of the bacteria is, perhaps, obtained when it is stated that a 1⁄25-inch immersion objective gives a magnification of nearly 2,200 diameters, and that under this power the bacteria appear to be about the size of very small print. The standard of measurement accepted by bacteriologists is the micro-millimeter. One millimeter is equal to about 1⁄25000th an English inch. The number of micrococci in a milligramme of a culture of Staphylococcus pyogenes aurens has been estimated by Bujwid by counting at eight thousand millions. Not only do various species differ in dimensions, but considerable differences may be noted in a pure culture of the same species. On the other hand, there are numerous species which so closely resemble each other in size and shape that they cannot be differentiated by microscopic examination alone, and we have to look to other characteristics, as colour, growth in various culture media, pathogenic power, chemical products, &c., in order to decide the question of identity.
Reproduction.—The reproduction of bacteria takes place for the most part by fission and by spore formation. Fission is a process of splitting up or division, whereby an organism divides into two or more parts, each of which lives and divides in its turn. If certain organisms are watched under the microscope, a coccus or bacillus will be seen to elongate and at the same time become narrower, until its two halves become free, the two individual organisms again dividing and subdividing in their turn. This kind of reproduction is more readily seen in a higher class of unicellular organisms, the desmids. If, however, the new organisms do not break away from each other, but remain connected in groups or clusters, they are termed Staphylococci; if they remain connected in the form of a chain, or like a string of beads, they are termed Streptococci. If the division takes place in one plane, Diplococci are formed; if in two directions Tetracocci, or Tablet-cocci, are formed. On account of this multiplication by fission, the generic name of Schizomycetes, or fission-fungi, has been given to bacteria.
Spores.—A second method by which bacteria propagate is by spores. These bodies are distinguished by their remarkable power of resistance to the influence of temperature and the action of chemical reagents. Some of them will resist their immersion in strong acid solutions for many hours; also freezing and very high temperatures. Spore formation may take place in two ways: firstly, by “endogenous spores” (internal spores); secondly, by “arthrospores.”
Endogenous Spores.—When the formation of the spores takes place in the mother-cell, the protoplasm is seen to contract, giving rise to one or more highly refractive bodies, which are the spores. The enclosing membrane of the organism then breaks away, leaving the spores free.