Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1860-05-12
@15OEAlANV.
The New Ferment


The New Ferment
MEMPHIS, APRIL IL, 1860. DIR Lce-Dear
SIR: send you sample Of a sraeics of
gum ut appears to bc) that is called here
" California yeast" 1t is ucsd here for ma
king beer and for mixing with -four, instead
of the common yeast. 1t is excellent for both
purposes. Lately, tho Nashville papers have
published articles sitting that several persons
have died from drinking the beer. They saw
it is u parasitic plant, and that portion of
the yeast is sometimes taken into the stomach,
and adhcring to the coating there grows aud
the individual dies from sutlocation the
stomach being enormously enlarged This
yeast grows very rapidly in sweetcncd water.
one tablespoonful producing quart in week
or ten days.
The object of this letter is to get YOU to
analyzo this yeast, aud give to the public a
statement rs to whether it is possible that
death caG be produced in the manner stated,
and whether the juices of the stomach would
not act on 1T rs on other articles Of food If
it is dangerous, the public should be warned,
as the use of the beer is extending every dar
What is this yeast aud where did it c, me
from 1t makes delightful and apparently
healthy beverage Yours &C., II
Having received number of letters SINH
lar i'll purport to the above, VIC ca: hardly do
less than state such facts bcarip.s on the sub
jcct as seem to Us worthy Of consideration. In
the first place, VIC discrc8it the ncwspapcr
rumor that cases have occurred whore this
yeast-plant bias grown, either Aoatinsy loosely
i'll the human stomach or adhorin.s to it's sides
us parasite, until it attained a hruc yo,ume
and even caused death by tile mere prcssurc
| and presence of the mass of foreign matter.
! The story is wholly Incredible and no one
should believe it before he sees the names of
the physicians who made the l,ost n,owcppcx
aminations, and stated the circumstances at
tending each case. If there is any truth at
all in the report, then it is clear that no poi
| sonous substance exists in this yeast. for ii
would be extracted mt once by the Juices of
the stomach, and produce its deadly effects
on the system long before the plant could
grow to any inconvcnicnt size. Besides this
cellular plant Ono matter what name YOU
! give it) that ilourishcs 50 well in Il solution of
nearly pure sugar in pure water, would be
most unlkcyto attach itself to the inner coats
OF the stomach or to any flesh whatever. 1t
is not in its nature II fesh-conSuming parasite;
| nor IS the food in the stomach of Il meat eat
ing ANIMAL like man, adapted to the wants
OF such plant. Some mushrooms or many
OF the fifteen hundred species of agarics now
described by cryptogamic botanists are poi
sonous; and this trail mass of cells, in beer
is far more likely to decompose in the human
stomach and act as purifying mushrooms or
cabbage, than to live and grow there
That it claboratcs from sugar and water
any malignant poison is altogether improba-
be; nevertheless, we strain the beer through
Il suitable cloth to separate the bccrmothcr
or parent fermept, before drinking We do
, not discover that the fcrmcut in this case
dn.rs. either chemically or physically. from
ordinm,. fcrmcnt which is kept alive by
proper meaHs; and at the same time it is
right to say mt We do not profess to be
learned in ycast-cGllcs, nor in some other
matters of this kind While frankly con
Tossing a want of learning Ola this subject
we would say to those who have asked rs to
analyzc this substance to see if it be poison
Gus or not, that chemical reagents do not
reveal the action of either vegetable animal,
or mineral poisons on the nerves. muscles
or functions of any living organ, or on vitality
as whole Chemistry never taught man
Why arsenic is a poison, nor that it is poi
sonous at all. This fact is learnt from other
evidences, namely, from the effects of the
saults OF this metal taken into the system. -
| When any mineral or other substance has
been proven to be poisonous chemical science
is very apt to discover means by which the
fact of the presence or absence of this poi
son in any solid or liquid compound may be
demonstrated. 1t cannot possibly prove that
either nicotiu from tobacco, or strychnine
from nux yomica is poison or that any
matter In beer is of n poisonous nature
! Chemistry, by no known induction, can es-
tablish these facts that gamboge will act
as drastic purga6ye, and kino aa a pow
erful astringmcnt, on the alimentary canal
Analysis is perfectly silent when we ask
why an atom Of carbon, chemically combined
with one Of oxygen in tho form Of carbobic
oxyde, acts as a deadly poison in the stomach,
while the same atom Of carben combined
with two atoms Of oxygen in place of one,
may be drank in soda water, small beer. and
champagne with perfect inpunity and with
pleasure. Vitality sustains relations to all