PURE YEAST CULTURE. 271 



importance that by properly selecting the yeast, we can im- 

 prove these liquids as regards bouquet, and thus, for instance, 

 from an inferior must obtain better wine than would otherwise 

 be produced. The reports quoted show that in this field 

 especially will the new system gain its greatest triumphs. 



My investigations on the alcoholic fungi have likewise 

 reacted on other branches of industry, although indirectly. 

 In Professor Weigmann's address on the occasion of the 

 opening of the experimental dairy station at Kiel in 1889, he 

 alludes to the practical results obtained in the brewing in- 

 dustry by means of my pure yeast culture, and he designates 

 it as a problem for the dairy, to strive for a similar result in 

 those cases in which fermentation occurs. The question here 

 is one dealing especially with the souring of cream, with the 

 defects of butter and milk, and also with the ripening of 

 cheese. Weigmann has made important contributions towards 

 the solution of these questions ; many German dairies have 

 already been supplied from his laboratory with pure cultures 

 of a species of bacterium which is successfully employed for 

 the souring of cream. 



In Denmark important investigations in the same direction 

 have been published by Professor Storch ; and Messrs. Chr. 

 Hansen, Quist and Zoffmann have supplied several Scandina- 

 vian dairies with pure cultures similar to those of Weigmann. 

 In Austria the matter has been taken up by Adametz ; and 

 the previous work of Duclaux and Hueppe may also be men- 

 tioned here. 



A beginning has also been made, in the tobacco industry, 

 to make use of the same principle. After the tobacco leaves 

 have been gathered in, they are placed in deep layers to dry 

 slowly. Here a bacterial fermentation takes place, which 

 modifies the taste and odour of the tobacco. Dr. Suchsland, 

 of Halle, has proved (1892) that the ordinary German tobacco 

 may be made to acquire a superior aroma and a milder flavour 

 by bringing about the fermentation mentioned by means of 



