Page 57 - Ethel D. Hume - Bešam ili Paster: Izgubljeno poglavlje u istoriji biologije

BfiCHAMP OR PASTEUR?
54
He further explained that "Cold water does not act
upon cane-sugar except when moulds are able to develop
in it; in other words, the transformation is due to a true
fermentation and to the development of an acid that is
consecutive to the appearance of the ferment."
It was by the acids engendered by the moulds that he
explained the process of fermentation.
He had many more conclusions to put forward as to the
effect of various salts upon the solutions. Had Lord Lister
only followed Bechamp's teaching in regard to creosote,
instead of Pasteur's, the former might have been spared
his subsequent honest recantation of his invention, the
carbolic spray, which proved fatal to many patients.
Bechamp taught that "Creosote in Preventing the
Development ofMoulds also Checks the Transformation of
Cane-Sugar. 5 5
He also taught that "Creosote, with or without pro-
longed contact with air, prevents at one and the same time
the formation of moulds and the transformation of cane-
sugar. But from observation it appears that, when the
moulds are once formed, creosote does not prevent their
action."
He drew many more conclusions from the effects of
—
different salts and thus generalised: "The influence of
saline solutions is variable, not only according to the sort
or kind of salt, but moreover according to the degree of
saturation and of neutrality of these salts. The salts that
prevent the transformation of cane-sugar into glucose
(grape-sugar) are generally the salts reputed to be anti-
septic. In all cases, a certain minimum temperature is
necessary for the transformation to take place."
Thus, we see that at that early date, 1857, when fer-
mentation was such a complete mystery that Pasteur,
operating with albuminoid matters, including dead yeast,
looked upon this yeast and other organisms as products of
spontaneous generation, Bechamp sent out an all-compre-
hending searchlight which illumined the darkness of the
subject for all time.