Weekly journal-miner., 1915-07-14
TO INVESTIGATE MILK
 PURITY IN PRESCOTT
(From Saturdays Daiiy)

the prlnClpdl ODJcCI or lle eSldDllSH ment of branch of the Arizona State laboratory in Prescott for the next two months. The branch laboratory which has been located in the High school in the last few days is under the directions of Dr. C. A. Meservc with the general work SUI pervised by State Health Officer Dr. R. \. Looney.
 Besides milk, the purity of ice cream, water, sausages and other foods will be tested. It is also pos sible with the equipment that has been brought from the south for Dr. Meserve and his assistant to deter mine the exact percentage of alcohol contained in different brands of near beer which are being sold in Pres colt.
 The investigation into the purity. of milk will not only be made in Pres colt but will extend all over the northern portion of the state and will be of real benefit to the public in gen eral as prosecutions will lead to a better grade of milk, ice cream and other foodstuffs in general. Restau- rants are held responsible for the food that they serve as well as the producer. Sanitary conditions which are essential to dealing out pure food in restaurants will also he investi- gated.
 Because of the intense heat in the south during the summer, the branch has been established here to allow it to analyze milk under normal con ditions and in the condition it is de- livered to the consumer. By the time that milk is sent from Northern Arizona to Tucson at this time of the year it generally is not normal.
 The branch laboratory is an institu- ton of the state as well as the one in Tucson and has been allowed the use of the well arranged chemical and biological laboratories of the High school through the courtesy of the school authorities. Dr. Meserve declared yesterday that the state laboratory appreciated the courtesy in allowing him the use of the build ing for the two summer months.
 Regular equipment for the work has been brought from the state laboratory and it has already been installed.
 Among the outfit brought from the south is a large copper box, built something on the order of freless cooker. It is called the incubator and is used to watch the growth Of bacteria in milk and other foods The inside of the box is lined with copper while the outside is asbestos .and fibre covered. Gas is used to heat the incubator and it is so regulated that the temperature is kept at the same as that of the human body. One of the doors is made of heavy glass and through it on small glass receptacles on which the milk is plac- ed the observer can watch the bac teria multiply.
 In the work a great deal of glass ware which has been brought up from the main laboratory is used and this has to be sterilizcd each time after it has been used. This work is done in an ordinary gas oven and it is known as the hot air sterilizer meth cd. The laboratory Is also equipped with a high power microscope which is extremely sensitive and analytical. cal.
 The study of bacteria is made prim arily by the way they grow and what they form. For that purpose various materials are used Among them is beef boullion solidihed with agar, Japanese seaweed which has lately sprung into prominence through an article in the current issue of Good Housekeeping in which it is highly laudcd for making table jellies as a substitute for gelatin. In this article, according to Dr. Mcscrve agar is shredded with scissors and heated few minutes in a double boiler with the proper amount of water which gives in a few moments a beautifully clear jelly on cooling. According to the laboratory experiments in which form Of agar was used which was ground into an inpalpable powder, however, it requires about an hour's heating when a cloudy dirt solution with considerable solid material, mostly dirt in suspension results. This solution is then clarified by partial cooling, the addition of well beaten whites of eggs again heating to boiling and Altering through paper and an absorbent which is d labor of love and much time Such sub stances, SO called culture mediator, are sterilized for use in a steam