The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-09-29

some surer method. BY heating the cans IN
retorts Of steam instead Of in boiling water
It appeared. indeed. that souring could US
ually be prevented: but this method had
other disadvantages. and one manufacturer
Experimental constantly for sixteen years
along the old lines without again obtaining
satisfactory results. His work. like that
Of his Observation-Disclosures. was merely
empirical: neither he nor the others had dis
covered the real cause of the Injurious
process which they desired to prevent.
Deterioration and loss were not. more
over. confined to any one branch Of the
canning industry. Vegetables, meats.
fsh. oysters. CLAIMS. and Holsters were
oftentimea found to be spoiled in the
same way In spite Of the perfect exclusion
II aif.
It looked sometimes to the manufacturers
almost as II a great modern industry, con-
stantly eniarsins. highly profitable. and Of
the greatest use. might have to be given
up altogether. Moreover. there was an i'm
poftant hygiefic side to the question; varf-
ous eptdefnics ana isolated cases Of sickness
had been attributed to the use Of spoiled
canned foods. Seldom. indeed. had there
been q bettef opportunity for pure science
to show its practical value.
The Investigations at the biological lab
oratories Of the Institute Of Technology
began with the examination Of spoiled cans
u clans ana lobster. In some cases the
fact that me contents had been spoiled was
Aown by the swelling Of the cant. but this
was not always the case. black lobster"
% called. w1s found in cans the contents Of
which were to all outer appearance In per-
feet condition.
In The bacterial determinations undertaken
At ths institute q minute portion OF the
spoiled material was planted as a culture"
In some nutritious neutrality-suspicious., Do
tato, mill. or bouilfon-where any bacteria
that had caused the fermentation or spoil
ing would multiply under the most favora-
bic conditions. This "coionization,' as Il
il called. was assisted by keeping the cul-
lures in an incubator at blood heat. In this
way definite colonies were developed SO
| that they couId be studied under tho micro
| scope and subjected to the usual bacteria
| logical tests.
scienee Discovers CaaSe.
To prove thai they were actually fespon-
sible for the spelling Of the canned prod
ucts under examination. the bacteria Of
| tues6 COtOHloB WST0 Chicluiy IuLFOQuCS0 IN.
to good car which. had previously been
thoroughly steriiized. In one experiment,
for Instance, two unspoiled cana Of ciems
were sterillsed ~ heating them to 10 de
erees. Both were then punetursd in .
sterilixed glass chamber, aftef which ono
Of them was inocuiated with the bacterial
culture by means of a platinum needle.
Both were then reseaied and subjected
continuously to blood heat Almost In
| variAbly the contents Of the inocuiated can
| spoiled. while tho contents OF the other re-
malned sound.
As q result Of thess' experiments It was
| possible to designate min SPECIES Of
bacteria Two Of them were micro
cocci.' which are spherical In Shape. ana
| seven .'bacilii.' which are rod-shsped.
| For example. the micfobe known -
bacillus No. I" was shaped like Z rod
with rounded ends ard occurred sinsfy Of
In chains Of varying length. It was
creamy white In color. moved with I ssr-
pentine motion. and, while naturally air
iovinr. had the faculty also OF growing
! IN the absence OF air.