PREVENTING MOLD GROWTH 39 



dried and not allowed subsequently to become damp. 

 Indeed, in a pantry or a cellar, molding commonly means 

 excessive dampness. (2) Foods are more free from mold 

 if exposed as much as practicable to light rather than if 

 kept stored in dark boxes. It is of course necessary to 

 keep some kinds of food in closed boxes in order to pre- 

 vent them from becoming too dry, but it is useful to expose 

 such food occasionally to the air and sunlight in order to 

 check the development of molds that otherwise might 

 grow. (3) The growth of molds may be almost com- 

 pletely stopped by lowering the temperature, and there- 

 fore foods that are particularly liable to mold may be 

 prevented from molding for a long time if kept in an 

 ice chest. The temperature of an ice chest is not low 

 enough to prevent all mold growth, but it is so low that 

 some species of molds do not grow at all, while others 

 grow so very slowly that even a material like cheese, 

 which is quite sure to mold if shut up in the dark at 

 ordinary temperatures, may be preserved in a dark ice 

 chest for many days or even weeks without molding suffi- 

 ciently to do it injury. 



