Resistance 
of Spores 
Dust Plants 
in the 
Refrigerator 
28 HOUSEHOLD BACTERIOLOGY. 
moisture, warmth, or more food, the resting, resist¬ 
ant spore starts into growth again and continues its 
life as before. 
The species that do not form spores are much 
more easily killed. Those that form spores readily, 
being difficult to kill, are more likely to cause dis¬ 
ease or destruction of property. Fortunately for us, 
most of the disease or “pathogenic” germs do not 
form spores readily, if at all. It is these spores that 
make necessary the repeated “scalding” by which the 
housewife tries to save the food which she finds spoil¬ 
ing. 
The lowest temperature known will not kill some 
bacteria, while some varieties in the spore state will 
resist the temperature of boiling water. Indeed the 
heating sometimes seems to favor their changing into 
the active state. 
Dust readily finds access to the ice box or the refrig¬ 
erator, even if the ice is thoroughly cleaned before it is 
put in. The dust-plants will grow on any bits of food 
carelessly dropped and by their gaseous products may 
taint the meat, milk, and other foods. The escape pipe 
of a refrigerator needs to be often and carefully 
cleaned throughout its entire length, else it will be 
covered with a slimy mass of bacterial erowth. Many 
of the bacteria found here are the germs of putrefac¬ 
tion. 
This pipe may be cleaned with a swab of cloth or 
sponge tightly wrapped around a long stick, rat¬ 
tan or whalebone, with a small, long-handled brush, 
