THE GENTLE MICROBE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 250, 21 October 1891, Page 2

THE GENTLE MICROBE.

LECTURE AT THE AUCKLAND INSTITUTE.

The most interesting lecture that has been delivered in Auckland for a long time was that of Prof. Thomas on Monday evening on " Pasteur.Koch, and Their Work." Pasteur had done perhaps more than any other man to open up the research of the new science of micro-organism, while Koch had come so prominently before the public through his discovery of what was hoped would be a consumption cure. The lecturer began with Pasieur as the elder worker, and after a firm sketch of the early life of the greab Frenchman, told how he had discovered the differences in the crystals of the two sorts of tartaric acid, and how the six years spent in this apparently simple research hud paved the way" for the research into the process of fermentation, which he discovered was caused by minute living organisms, and not spontaneously as had hitherto been held. He found out that different sorts of microbes formed different kinds of yeast, and that in the yeast commonly used for beer there would 4)e found not only what might be called the beer yeast microbes, bub others which were useless or harmful. He found that the yeast organisms causing the fermentation of wine were different from tho3e which caused fermentation of beer, and that if wine yeast microbes were used in beer the result would, be the beer would taste like wine. The different sorts of microbes were shown by magic-lantern diagram?. They were fearfully and wonderfully mado, and when the different sorts of microbes in healthy beer were shown they caused quite a shudder amongst those partial to the foaming tankard. He told how the purification of yease for beer manufactories had been conducted at Denmark, the hurtful microbes being excluded. 'To do this a single beer yeast microbe had been isolated and then allowed to increase and multiply tilltherewasnodifficultyin getting boor good. Pasteur had also recommended the heating of beer when in the bottles so as I to kill th 6 microbes which cause lactic acid, j sourness, and other diseases of beer, and this had been done with success in Prance, ! not only in beer bub in wine. It was explained thab'the reason grapes required no added yeast to cause fermentation was that the yeast microbe best for wine was found at the proper season on the husk and stalk of the grapo, not in the juice. His success in the investigation ot fermentation processes led the Government to appoint him to investigate the silkworm disease which cost France £4,000,000 a year. Pasteur spent four years investigating, and finally stamped out the disease. The value to France of those four years' work was. if capitalised, £100,000,000— one hundred million pounds sterling — not f ran Cβ, but English pounds. Pasteur turned his attention bo virulent diseases, and found that they were caused by different and distinct living micro organisms.' He found that by inoculating animals with attenuated microbes of the special disease they were slightly affected but afterwards rendered immune from the virulent form. Amongst the host of men who had in all theses years been studying bacteriology was Koch, .who had turned his attention bo tuberculosis microbes. Koch's cure was briefly . but lucidly explained, and interesting diagrams

of bhe tuberculosis bacilli (lone thread-like worms, in one diagram coloured blue)_ were shown. The lecture was interesting in the extreme and everyone was delighted.