RESULTS OF MOLD GROWTH 



20 



usually not willing to eat it, (3) They affect the odor of 

 food. Mold is always sure in time to develop a peculiar 

 smell which we generally speak of as "musty." Musti- 

 ness, indeed, is commonly nothing more than the odor that 

 comes from molds. It is due in part to the presence of 

 the microscopic spores which arise from the mold mass, 

 and which, breathed into the nostrils, produce the pecul- 

 iar effect upon the nose which gives rise to the odor. It 

 is due also in part to 

 gases which arise 

 from the molding 

 material as the result 

 of decomposition. At 

 all events, mustiness 

 is always character- 

 istic of mold growth, 

 and whenever any 

 material or any room 

 smells musty we may 

 be confident that it 

 contains growing 

 molds. We may be 

 sure also that any material capable of molding, if left in 

 such a musty room, will be sure to show signs of molding 

 in a short time. (4) In the end the growth of the molds 

 results in the total ruin of the food, since after a while 

 mold growth produces decomposition, putrefaction, and 

 decay. These later changes are due to the fact that the 

 molds are consuming the material as their own food. 

 While they use the food for their own purposes they are 

 producing chemical changes which result in the production 



Fig. 19. A bit of Stilton cheese. The dark 

 parts are masses of mold spores. 



