ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 8 1 
the prevention of infection by, and development of, microscopic germs 
surely this is progress. When thoroughly understood and appreci¬ 
ated that these and similar operations are really for the purpose of 
killing or retarding the development of living organisms, capable of 
wondrously multiplying themselves in a very short period of time, 
and causing the uninvited phenomena which so constantly present 
themselves in the absence of these precautions, and when it is further 
confidently known that the destroying agents are altogether foreign 
to the prized liquid itself, shall we not use the means already at our 
hand with more intelligence, in better directions, b} r more economic¬ 
al methods and with surer results ? It is so now. Those who have 
adopted the germ theoy of fermentation in all its faces, and proceed 
accordingly, are most and surest successful in the management of 
milk. 
We have been so long accustomed to the idea that organic 
bodies, and especially those of animal origin not wholly freed from 
water, spontaneously decompose, it is exceedingly difficult, without 
ocular demonstration, to fully comprehend that in and of themselves 
such substances as milk, urine, blood, etc., are as stable and unyield¬ 
ing to the inorganic elements as the stone of which the everlasting 
hills are composed, yet this is the doctrine which is now and here 
advocated. It is the docrine upon which is based the great domestic 
and commercial interests in the canning of fruits, meats, etc., and 
even in the dessication of these products. But, it may be asked, are 
there no changes in the character of milk, in the flavor of cheese, as 
in ripening, or the quality of butter, as when becoming old and 
rancid, not brought about by the action, direct or indirect, of living 
things, too small to be recognized by the unaided eye? What, for in¬ 
stance, is the reason that the liquid in which a bit of a calve’s stomach 
(rennet) has been macerated in a warm place, so soon causes sweet 
milk to coagulate ? Is this, too, dependent upon particles possessed 
with an individuality of life quite independent of that of the animal 
from which the stomach came? Is, indeed the calf itself indebted to 
such assistance from myriads of microscopic but effective agents? Is 
the digestion of our own dinners this day brought about, not wholly 
by ourselves, but by multitudes of co-laborers that have never re¬ 
ceived our thanks for their important services? 
The asking of such questions may be considered fanatical, even 
distasteful or almost sacrilegious by some, yet he who thinks closely 
and observes carefully, especially if he has the time and means for 
