Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1898-07-07
LIGHT PRESERVATIVE
BEAMS FROM THE SUN NOW
TO BE USED.
How the New Power W~orks-Actinic Rays
to Destroy Microbes by Simply ehak-
Ing Them to Death-Application OF
an Old Principle.


A new process, by means OF which
all kinds OF perishable organic SUD-
stances may be preserved, has been ols-
| covered by Willard G. Day OF Baiti-
more, Md. 1t is the chemical power OF
light, and in addition to being pre-
s~ervatiye. it acts as a destroyer OF DIS
ease. and incidentally lowers the price
of food. says the San Francisco Ex-
aminer. This chemical property OF
light is called its actinic power and Is
best generated by electricity directed
from a powerful arc light. The enect
of this light upon microbes is to dis-
turb and, after a longer or shorter
period, to destroy them. Mr.. Day la
experimented with a great many varle-
ties Of germs and microbes, covering
the entire field, both of the pathogenlc
and nonpathogenic, and from the iarg-
est TO the smallest OF these tiny micro
| organisms. Microbes which can endure
boiling water for forty hours have been
killed by the actinic power OF light.
There are three grand divisions OF NIL
crobes. First, the aerobics, or those
which cannot live without air. Second,
the a~naerobics, or those which cannot
live In the presence Of air; and, third.
those which can live either in air or
without 1t. Mr.. Days method OF treat
ing the organic substances destroys all
the various classes and varieties OF NIL
crobes. During the years in which he
has been perfecting his process he has
tested all the kinds Of light and heat
Many effects hitherto ascribed to heat
have been found to be the result of the
actinic power Of light. The violet rays
of light are very destructive to NIL
crobes, while the red rays hardly affect
them at all. The germicidal effects OF
white light appear to be due to the
rapid impulse Of the blue and the violet
waves, while the waves far above or
below the spectrum are not fatal to
them. Mr.. Days starting point in his
voyage Of discovery In the realms OF
light was the knowledge OF the fact
that sunlight as well as heat Ia abso-
lutely necessary to the growth Of every
species OF vegetation, from the smallest
to the largest. How sunlight acts In
causing growth first claimed his atten-
ton. In a grain Of corr 1t Is known
that food is laid up by the parent corn
stalk to supply the germ In Its first
stage Of growth, says the San Francis
CO Examiner. Heat and moisture alone
are sufficient to start q grain of corn
into growing. The FIRST white root and
plumule are made out Of the food stuff
put into the grain by the parent stalk.
That, however, Is Don exhausted. II
no more were manufactured the young
plant would end its existence at once.
But at this point comes the work OF
sunlight. 1t gives no new material. 1t
takes nothing away. But those vibra-
tions of the suns ray which are faster
than $50. 600, 600, 000, Ooo, 900 per second
shake the very small atoms apart, and
In this way the growing process Is adj
vanced. Now light, as Mr.. Day would
utilize 1t, simply shakes the microbes
to death. and SO changes the microbe
haunts and habitations that new mi
crobes can find no place or suitable con-
dition for living. The operation OF Mr..
Days invention Is not confined to a
narrow territory, or to the preservation
Of q few substances. He expects to
apply 1t to putting up beef in North
and South America; mutton In Aus
trslia; Goldfish In Massachusetts, Cana
da and Newfoundland: salmon In Ore
gon and Washington: herring in La
brador, Sweden and Norway; fruits and
vegetables in California. New Mexico
and Maryland, and other articles In
other regions The result anticipated
II that the world VIII learn to eat q
number Of practically new and whole
some articles Of food. which are entire
~ free from all disease-producing
germs. as well as from those microbes
that usually cause deterioration in the
quality Of the articles. or which finally
bring on decay.