PROTECTION OF FOOD 25 



it. If we can keep the spores away, no trouble of this 

 sort will arise. For example, jellies made from the juice 

 of fruit, which the housewife puts up for winter use, are 

 excellent material for mold growth, as many a person has 

 discovered after the jellies have been stored away for a 

 time. There is, however, little difficulty in preventing the 

 molding. In making the jelly the material is commonly 

 heated sufficiently to kill the spores present, and if it 

 is afterwards properly covered it will keep well enough. 

 After the jelly has been poured into the jelly tumblers 

 and has become somewhat hardened, the surface should 

 be moistened with some alcoholic solution, like brandy, or 

 even pure alcohol. Then a piece of clean white paper the 

 size of the tumbler should be placed upon the surface of 

 the jelly. After this the tumbler should be covered with 

 a piece of paper tightly glued over its edges ; or tumblers 

 with special covers may be used instead of ordinary tum- 

 blers covered with paper. The alcohol aids in destroying 

 the spores that may have chanced to light on the surface 

 of the jelly, and the paper, if properly fastened, will pre- 

 vent the entrance of more. This device is not sufficient 

 to exclude bacteria, and if the jelly were liable to decay, 

 the simple paper covers would not protect it from bac- 

 terial action. But the method is sufficient to prevent 

 the growth of molds in a majority of cases. Molds fre- 

 quently grow upon the top of the papers in such jelly 

 tumblers, but they do no hurt to the contents below. 



Other devices for closing the tumblers are also used. 

 Sometimes a little white of an egg is used instead of alco- 

 hol. Instead of using paper, a little melted paraffin may 

 be poured upon the surface of the jelly, thus sealing it 



