The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1893-08-19

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DISEASE GERMS FouND THEIR
ore to be found in dough which is be-
ing raised with yeast. They are
warmth, moisture and the organic mat
ter of the flour on which the germs,
after certain changes, feed.
1t is necessary to remember at this
point that yeast is germ. growth, and
when introduced into u mix
ture Of glucose or starch, in tho pres
ence of warmth and moisture sets up q
fermentation. If the mixture be a
starchy dough the yeast first changes a
portion of the starch into glucose and
then decomposes the glucose by chang
ing it into two new substances, viz. car
bonic acid gas and alcohol.
Now the gluten, which is also a con-
stituent OF dough and moist starch,
affords, with the latter, an excellent
indus for the development Of germs of
disease as we'll as for the yeast germs.
fever, would, if introduced into dough,
find very favorable conditions for their
growth.
L w INV NlSl W pOoC ao ah
list, o am l willing to say there is
very much chance of the germs of
typhus and of cholera reaching the
stomachs of the people who eat bread
which has been raised with yeast.
But l have not the slightest cause to
doubt that other diseases have been
and will be carried about in the bread.
/ have met journeymen bakers, sui
fering from cutaneous diseases, work
ing the dough in the bread trough with
naked hands and arms. l have nc rca-
son to suppose bakers nre less liable to
cutaneous disease than are other men,
and l know, as every housewife knows,
yeast-raised bread must be worked a
long time. This is an exceedingly OBJ
jectionable thing from the standpoint
of n physician, for the reason hat the
germs of disease which are in the air
nnd dust and on stnirways and straps
in street cars, are most often collected
on the hands. Any person who has
ever kneaded dough understands the
way in which the dough cleans the
hands. This means that any germs
which may have found a lodging place
on the hands Of the baker before he
makes up his batch of bread are sure to
find their way into the dough, and
once there, to find all the conditions
necessary for subdivision and growth.
This is equivalent to saying that we
must rely on heat to kill these germs,
because ii is almost certain that they
will be there. Now, underdone or
doughty bread is q form which every
Gan and woman has seen.
It is a belief as old rs the hills that
underdone bread is unhealthful. This
reputation has been earned for it By
the experience of countless generations
and no careful mother will wish her
children to eat bread that has not been
thoroughly cooked. The reason given
for this recognized unhealthfulness has
been that the uncooked yeast dough is
very difficult to digest. No one but a
physician would be apt to think of dis
ease germs which have not been killed
during the process of baking as a cause
of the sickness following the use of un-
cooked yeast bread. Yet this result
from this cause is more than probable.
have not the slightest doubt that
could we trace back some of the cases
of illness which we meet in our prac.
tice we would find that germs collected
by the baker have found their way
Into the yeast bread, that the heat has
not been sufficient to destroy them, thai
the uncooked yeast bread has been
eaten and with it the colonies of germs
that they have found their way into the
blood and that the call for our services
which followed, has rounded off this
sequence of events.
l have already pointed out that the
germs of disease are to be found in the
air and dust. The longer any substance
~ 1n nDS1, I, n.YS1~,al $x <h1 nv. t1.f
greater the chance that germs will be
yeast is worked down or kneaded twice
may take anywhere from four hours tc
ten. It has, then, the chance of collect
ing disease germs during this process
Of raising and it has two periods OF
working down or kneading during each
of which it may gather the dirt con
tanning the germs from the baker:
hands. AS no bread save that raised
with yeast goes through Ibis long pro
cess OF raising and kneading, so M
bread save that raised with yeasthas 81
good a chance of gathering germs.
What is meant by raising" bread i
worth a few words. The introduction
of the yeast into the moist dough ant
the addition of heat when the pan i
placed near the fire produces m enor
nous growth of the yeast fungi-th,
yeast germ" in other words. Thes,
fungi effect a destructive Fermentation
ofsa portion Of the starcny matter O
the four-one Of the most VALUABLE
nutrient elements in the flour. TIL,
fermentation produces carbonic nci,
gas, and this, having its origin il
every little particle Of the starcl
which is itself everywhere in the flour
pushes aside the particles Of the doug
to give itself room. This is what j
called raising the bread"
II needs but q glance to see that j
is, In its effects on the dough, purel
mechanical. The dough, which wa
before a close-grained mass, is nov fri
of little holes, and when cooked ii
this condition is what we ordinaril
call light. This porous quality 0
bread enables the stomach to rapid
and easily digest it, for the gastri
juices quickly soak into and attack i
from all sidcs. The fermentation q
the dough, however. uses up a porto
of the nutrient elements Of the LOAF
lit be possible. therefore, to produc