THE MICROBE OF ALCOHOL 77 



source of fabulous wealth to individuals, states 

 and nations. With one sudden blow, strike al- 

 cohol, in its every form, from the entire world, so 

 that not a vestige of it shall anywhere be longer in 

 use, and what a void ! Thousands upon thousands 

 of manufacturers and dealers the world over col- 

 lapse. Millions upon millions of laborers are 

 thrown out of employment, with their families cry- 

 ing for bread. Such a financial panic follows in 

 the wake as the world has never seen. The whole 

 world feels the terrific shock, like the city at the 

 mercy of the earthquake. And the hand on the 

 dial of time turns back twenty -five centuries. 



Wonderful it is to think that all this great serv- 

 ice is rendered to the world by an invisible being 

 so small that millions of its kind may float in a 

 drop of water, with plenty of elbow room. But 

 such is the fact. Spurious alcohol may be made 

 by the mixing of chemicals; genuine alcohol by 

 the microbe only. 



All fermentation is caused by some kind of mi- 

 crobe. By every form of fermentation, too, where 

 the materials fermented contain sugar, alcohol is 

 produced. All the different kinds of microbes, 

 therefore, which produce fermentation where the 

 materials used contain sugar, may be employed to 

 produce alcohol. These materials include nearly 

 all kinds of grain, fruit, berries, and some vege- 

 tables. 



Whatever raw materials are used, they must first 

 be subjected to the fermenting process by the mi- 



