Abstract
THE study of the biology of fermentation has made considerable progress in recent years. The knowledge that has been gained of the nature and mode of action of the living agents in question is mainly due to the efforts of foreign observers. Through the investigations of Pasteur, and most notably of Hansen, the subject became a recognised branch of methodical and practical inquiry. To be in a position to employ the essential and to exclude the deleterious agents in a fermentative process is to substitute scientific for haphazard methods. This, briefly put, is the aim of technical mycology, and the gain to a given industry is considerable, as e.g. in brewing and distilling operations. Of the books dealing with micro-organisms and fermentation, Dr. Jörgensen's has long occupied a leading position, and hardly requires an introduction to the specialist. The new edition just issued has been completely revised, and the English translation has been well done by Dr. A. K. Miller and Mr, A. E. Lennholm. Dr. Jörgensen's reputation as a teacher and investigator, as well as his intimate association with Hansen, place this work above the ordinary run of text-books. The first chapters deal with the methods of microscopical and physiological examination of micro-organisms, and the methods for obtaining and utilising pure cultures of the useful races of sac-charomyces are described. The examination of water and air is next dealt with—a subject of importance on account of the injurious organisms that may exist in the air and water of a brewery. The chapter on bacteria is somewhat incomplete. The technical mycologist has commenced to study the bacteria more closely, and a fuller account of this branch of the subject will be found in Lafar's book. An interesting account is given of the alcohol-forming bacteria, and of certain symbiotic ferments, e.g. Kephir and the ginger-beer plant. The moulds of importance in technical work are fully dealt with.
Micro-organisms and Fermentation.
By Alfred Jörgensen. Pp. xiii + 318. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1900.)
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M., A. Micro-organisms and Fermentation . Nature 62, 195 (1900). https://doi.org/10.1038/062195b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/062195b0