Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-08-18

warmth, moisture and the organic
matter 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 mixture of glu-
cose or starch, in the presence of
warmth and moisture sets up a fer
mentation. If the mixture be a starchy
dough the yeast first changes a portion
of the starch into glucose and then de-
composes the glucose by changing it
into two new substances, viz, carbonic
acid gas and alcohol.
Now the gluten, which is also con-
stituent of dough and moist starch,
affords, with the latter, an excellent
indus for the development of germs of
disease as well as for the yeast germs.
The germs of cholera, as of typhoid
fever, would, if introduced into dough,
find very favorable conditions for their
growth.
/ do not wish to "pose" as an
alarmist, nor am | 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 | have not the slightest cause to
doubt that other diseases have been
and will be carried about in the bread.
| have met journeymen bakers, suf-
fering from cutaneous diseases, work.
ing the dough in the bread trough with
naked hands and arms. i have no rea-
son to suppose bakers are less liable to
cutaneous diseases than are other men,
and | 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 physician for the reason that the
germs of disease which are in the air
and dust and on stairways 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 neces-
sary for subdivision and growth. This
is equivalent TO saying that we must
rely on heat to kill these germs, be-
cause it is almost certain that they
will be there.
Now, underdone or doughty bread is
form which every man and woman
has seen.
1t is belief as old as the hills that
UNDERGONE bread is unhealthful. This
reputation hiss been earned for it by
the experience of countless genera
tons, and no careful mother will wish
her children TO eat bread that has not
been thoroughly cooked. I've reason
given for this recognized unhsalthful-
ness has been that the uncooked yeast
dough is very difficult to digest. No
one but physician would be apt to
think of disease germs which have not
been killed during the process of bak-
ing as cause of the sickness following
the use of uncooked 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 practice 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, that the uncooked yeast
bread has been eaten and with it the
colonies of germs, that they have
found their way into thu blood and
that the call for our services wlich iol-
owed, has rounded off this sequence of
events.
/ have already pointed out that the
germs of disease are to be found in the
air and dust. The longer any substance
to be eaten is exposed to the air, the
greater the chance that germs will be
deposited on il. Bread raised with
yeast Is worked down or kneaded twice
before being baked, and this process
may take anywhere from four hours
70 ten. 1t has, then, the chance OF
collecting disease germs during this
process of raising, and it has two peri
DDS of working down or kneading dur
ing each of which it may gather the
dirt containing the germs from the
bakers hands. AS no bread save that
raised with yeast goes through this
long process of raising and kneading
90 no bread save that raised with yeast