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Abstract
A simple, safe, and inexpensive experiment is described which allows secondary school pupils to observe how bacteria and fungi grow and interact with one another. The experiment is based on some work reported by John Tyndall while attempting to discredit the spontaneous generation theory. Turnip infusion is exposed to the air and the students observe the sequence of contamination by bacteria and fungi. In some tubes bacteria are killed by fungal contamination. By performing a further, simple, experiment the teacher can demonstrate that this inhibition results from antibiosis rather than oxygen starvation—the explanation favoured by Tyndall.