BACTERIA AS A HUMAN BENEFACTOR

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4313, 23 March 1901, Page 3 (Supplement)

BACTERIA AS A HUMAN BENEFACTOR

So imbued are some people with’ with the idea that germs, or bacteria are idways evil iii their functions that it comes as a surprise to many to learn that there are many : hinds of beneficent bacteria. We seeni to .hear of none but th« deadly, forms, the terrifying plague bacillus, or that which induces consumption, tho insidious water-frequenting germ of typhoid, or the bacillus of diphtheria, as well as those germs as yet in obscurity, of scarlet fever, smallpox, and similar complaints. Thus the groat armies jf bacteria seem to he armed with evil intent, ready at tho least enouragomeu!; • to hurt or slay. It seems AS IF ALL BACTERIA are but miniatures of the Evil One. Tho more familiar' we,become with them the. more we dislike them.' Yet tho popular. , idea has grasped, only tho seamy side,.' so to speak, of thetee -hosts of .tiny or-’ ganisms, and has commonly missed tne benevolent part played by many kinds of bacteria, which are' as numerous as those more noxious kinds 1 . Who, for,instance, would suppose, after* being so of- i ten warned to-“boil the. milk” with the fear of gc-ns before his eyes,-that pure. ' cultures of ; certain germs are regularly , used in the production of butter, used actually,for “ripening” cream. The old--fashioned blitter-maker ’’ ho. doubt scorns the idea. ■; A’visit, however, to the great, land of butter-making and dairying, Den- 4 mark, to ; wit, will , show, that about ho per cent, of these farmers havd taken . . ADVANTAGE'OF THE MODERN’dI3CO VERY ' that the flavour of 'butter is duo .to tho action of certain germs. These bacteria are prepared by properly-trained bacteri- . ologists, and the pure pultures are known in common parlance as cream “starters. ’ ' It is now established ..fSlat., where, as,_m. Denmark) petfect'clearness and purity of -method'.are -employed,in making but- , ter, the use of these “starters” ensures uniformity of flavour and quality., Lit- . tie has the English housewife suspected, that this'is the reason-why she ha? such, a good opinion of Danish butter; and this is one of the reasons why the Danis a farmers have secured' the proud position of being the best butter-makers in Europe. • ■ ■■

In : like manner. enlightened farmers have leant that .the decomposing powers of bacte ia' produce substances which promote rhe growth of their crops. These , organisms,, for instance, which change, ammonia into nitrous and nitric acids and their salts, the nitrifying organisms, as they are called, and! found over - the surface cf the whole earth, and especially in those vast saltpetre bods of Chili and Pern where, through'thoactivity of these bacteria, "nitrates" axe produced in such quantities as to ; CAUSE A SPECIAL INDUSTRY. Again, an infinitely important part es played by these bacteria in the disposal of sewage, which they attack and nitrify, . with great vigour.' It is largely through these .means that growing plants obtain : > the nitrogen necessary for the moulding uf their structure. It -is. even possible • to treat the flesh of a certain fish with a salt solution so as to, cause the fluid - itself at a moderately low temperature, to give out that peculiar pale green is-x , light which is characteristic of these bacteria-, f Then by making pure cui- ' tures of these organisms from such a solution it is possible to obtainso' strong a light as to allow of their being photo- . graphed by their own light after a long exposure. Fantastic as it may-eeera,, it ■ is net out of the bounds ,of possibility that by suitable cultivation and concentration these photo-bacteria might bo used as a source of light.—H.M.S. ;n “Liverpool Post.’’