Secrets of Nature Discovered

Experiments and Contemplations

...but others were not yet perfect and were adhering to each other irregularly, and consisting of 2, 3, 4, and 5 globules; indeed, many were only single globules. In fact, many perfect globules that were at the bottom were continuously carried upward to the surface of the wine along with rising air bubbles, and at the same time, because their material was heavier than the wine, they were descending back toward the bottom This describes the characteristic "rolling" motion of yeast during active fermentation.. During these observations, it happened that I saw most clearly the separation of those globules (which I have already said consist of six distinct globules); and also in many places, with great delight, I was able to distinguish very accurately the 6 globules which shortly before had constituted one globule. I repeated this last observation quite often, because I was greatly delighted by the separation or breaking apart of the globules. Again, I observed the dregs of beer yeast, and I treated them in the same way to see whether those globules could also be separated, which indeed happened; however, because beer is thicker than wine, the globules did not disperse as widely during the breaking apart as they did in the wine.

Furthermore, I took blood flowing from my own finger at that very moment from the prick of a needle, which I treated in the same way as I had with the beer or wine. I saw a large number of blood globules, lying next to each other, break apart and separate, but these small globules—six of which constitute a blood globule—were much softer than those which constitute a globule of beer or wine, for they were almost blended together; and, unless I had seen them before in the wine or beer, they could not easily have been distinguished in the blood, because in this observation of the blood, I had many blood globules lying adjacent to each other; whereas, on the other hand, where single globules lie, they do not break apart unless by the usual more forceful and rapid agitation.

Because of the aforementioned observations, I went to a pharmacist's shop original: Pharmacopolæ officinam, and from there I requested one of the fermenting syrups so that, if possible, I might see whether the aforementioned globules were also formed in syrups; but I saw no perfect globules, such as those of blood, wine, or