On a method of disintegrating bacterial and other organic cells

Abstract

The methods hitherto available for accomplishing the disintegration of bacteria may be summarised briefly as follows:—The earliest experiment is that of Buchner for obtaining the intracellular juices of yeast. This method was adopted by Macfadyen, Harris-Morris, and Rowland in their investigations on “Expressed Yeast Cell Plasma,” communicated to the Royal Society, June 19, 1900, but they subsequently introduced some modifications and improvements in the method. Their improved process was to place the yeast cells in mass in a mechanical contrivance, together with a proportion of added silver sand, and to violently agitate the containing vessel. The rapidly succeeding impacts of the yeast cell with the sand particle ruptured the cell wall and caused the contents of the cell to be expelled.