PRESERVATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS FROM BACTERIA. 325 



some of them, even under these circumstances, will in time be- 

 come rotten and worthless. There is in short no absolutely 

 satisfactory method yet devised for preserving eggs. 



BACTERIA IN THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



A brief mention should be made of the relation of bacteria 

 to the sugar industry, which is an important phase of agricul- 

 ture. The relation of microorganisms to this industry is, ac- 

 cording to our present knowledge, only one of injury. After 

 the product has been harvested, bacteria may produce sub- 

 sequent injury within it, giving rise to well-known troubles. 

 The sugar beet, for example, is attacked by a disease which is 

 called gumosis. It is characterized by the appearance of a 

 yellowish color upon the cut slices of the beet, which may be- 

 come dark or even black, and, later, by the appearance of a 

 slimy material exuding upon the surface. Eventually the beet 

 may be ruined for sugar-making purposes. This trouble has 

 been found to be caused by bacteria, the particular species that 

 produces this difficulty, B. beta, having been carefully studied 

 in recent years. A second source of trouble experienced in 

 sugar-making consists in the appearance in the product, 

 at various stages of manufacture, of jelly-like masses which 

 may become very abundant and troublesome. These, too, 

 have been long known, and have been studied by bacteriologists 

 for many years, with the result of proving that they are caused 

 by the appearance and development of certain species of 

 bacteria. Several species are known and have been carefully 

 studied, all of which have the power of producing a slimy 

 secretion which gives rise to the jelly-like masses in the sugar 

 product. The slimy secretion appears to be developed from 

 the sugar, a conclusion proved by the fact that the same micro- 

 organism when growing out of contact with sugar develops 

 no slime. 



These subjects are of more significance in the process of 



