Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-11-08
FRIENDLY BACTERIA.
Not All the Tiny Creatures Are In
imfraI to Human Life.

imfcaI to Human Life.
The time has passed when bacteria
are looked upon as unmiXcd evils.
These little plants owe their somewhat
unsavory reputation in large degree
to the fact that they first attracted gen
eral interest because of their power Of
producing sdiSease. That they are the
cause of many human diseases has
been. demonstrated beyond peradven-
ture, and this subject has proved so
fascinating that it was for a long time
the only side of meteorological phe-
nOmena which received any considera-
BILE attention. AS a result bacteria
have acquired the popular reputation
of being producers of evil to mankind
and have consequently been regarded
as wholly undesirable organisms. The
studies of recent years, however, have
been giving more attention to phases
of meteorological life which are not
connected with disease. These studies
have disclosed to us a large series of
phenomena where these little plants
are in various ways of direct advan-
tage to mankind. Among other facts
we have been slowly learning that in
the preparation of the food which
comes upon our tables and in its di-
gestion the bacilli play no inconsidera-
BILE part, says a writer in The Interna-
tional Monthly.
Since they are almost inconceivably
minute, bacteria owe their great infu-
ence in nature to their wonderful pow
ers of reproduction. A single individ-
uaI may in the course of "a hours pro-
duce from 100000 to 100000 off
spring. This extraordinary power Of
reproduction involves the consumption
of q vast amount of food material, and
profound alterations are produced in
this food as the bacteria feed upon it.
The bacteria are SO small that they
probably do not take the food inside Of
their bodies, but they live in the midst
OF their food and digest it outside Of
themselves. This results in certain
chemical changes in the nature of the
food. These changes are mostly Of
that character which the chemist calls
destructive. Under the action of bac-
terra chemical molecules which are Of
high complexity are constantly being
pulled to pieces and reduced to simpler
compounds. As a result of this chem
ical action there appears in the food
mass upon which the bacteria are feed
ing a variety of new chemical COM
pounds. These new compounds are in
part simply byprOducts of the chemical
destruction of the molecules which
they have pulled to pieces, but they
are also in part to be regarded as eX-
cretions from the bacteria. The use Of
bacteria in connection with food de-
pends partly upon their power Of de-
struction and partly upon the nature OF
these new compounds which they pro-
duce.
In considering the use of bacteria in
food we may notice first possible val
ue they may possess in assisting the
processes of digestion. The digestion
that takes place in our stomach and
intestines consists in chemical
change in the food Now, the stomach
and intestines are crowded with bacte-
ria in inconceivable numbers. AS bac-
teriologists have studied the action Of
these intestinal bacteria upon such
food as we take into our stomachs
they find that the bacteria produce
chemical changes in the food in many
respects similar to those of ordinary
digestion. As these bacteria certainly
grow rapidly in the intestines the ques-
ton has naturally arisen whether they
may not aid the digestive juice in the
digestive process, even in a healthy
individual