Page 58 - My FlipBook

haven't been able to plant these spores and follow them mi-
croscopically through their whole existence, so there are
some portions of that existence that remain in considerable
doubt, but this is the outline of facts so far as they have, as
yet, been gathered.
The Blastomycetes, or budding Fungi, are a peculiar class of
plants in their method of generation. We have in these no
division of cells by splitting. In animal life we have division
of cells by fission, or splitting. In vegetable Hfe the general
plan of the multiplication of cells is by division. But in the
Blastomycetes we have a different plan. For instance, we
have a cell like that (referring to blackboard), simply a round

cell. That cell may, under certain conditions, have within it
one, two or three bright, shiny points, which are found to be
spores. If the cell goes to pieces, di*es, those spores live, and
when placed under proper conditions will grow and repro-
duce the cell. Now, this cell, under ordinary conditions of
growth, instead of splitting, you will find, in watching its
development, a protrusion of the membrane here (illustrat-
ing), and that grows larger and larger, until a new cell is
formed, and another may put out from the other side and
grow and grow, and a new cell is formed, simply by a process
of budding. This young cell may put out another bud here
and another one there, and so on until a great congeries
of cells has been formed, which will look like that illustra-
tion. Indeed, you may have a growth similar to that from a
single cell occurring under your eye within a few hours. It
is from the growth of this peculiar plant that we get alcoholic
fermentation. Physiologically, it is one of the best types
of the fermentations and other decompositions. There are a
great number of species of these budding fungi. Now, these
are not micro-organisms, and yet, in their function in Nature
they are closely similar to the micro-organisms. Their busi-
ness is to tear down, to destroy.
The micro-organisms ara fission or splitting fungi; that is^
they multiply by division of the cells, making a sharp dis-
tinction between them and the bud fungi. They may be rep-
resented in some of the forms, as stems or rods joined to-
gether, or falling apart when attaining a certain length,
Bacilli. In other forms, as globular or round balls, called
cocci. I would have to make the illustrations like this to get

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