java + php causing too many apache process

Hello eveyone, Two days ago, I managed to compile apache 1.3.23, php4.2.3 and j2sdk1.3.1 on a Linux Mandrake 8.0. Now I can instantiate a java class and make use of it. That is pretty well. However, I have noticed that whenever I call a php script that calls Java, the number of process (ps ax | grep httpd) increments too fast. A page call causes new 10 processes to be created and those are not removed after a definite time. This may cause a denial of service by consuming memory. Is there any option in PHP to stop this from happening. Thanks for your replies. İyi Çalışmalar. Fikret CAN Pergel Group İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş Akkirman Sok. No:59 80220 Nişantaşı - İstanbul Tel: (0 212) 230 01 91 / 145 Fax: (0 212) 241 59 12