Early 
Theory of 
Fermentation 
Ueadow 
Tea 
no HOUSEHOLD BACTERIOLOGY 
made drawings of what they saw, which show very 
much the -same forms that would be seen today under 
similar conditions. Many scoffed at these reports, in¬ 
timating that such observers were not wholly sane. 
The processes of fermentation and putrefaction very 
early excited investigation. Great efforts were made 
to find out their cause. For years the oxygen of the 
air was thought to be the agent, and even today many 
a housewife will tell you the jar of fruit spoiled be¬ 
cause “the air got into it.” The dust-plants which are 
in the air, the real cause of these changes, could riot 
be discovered until the compound microscope brought 
to view the hitherto invisible life which swarms in all 
fermenting and putrefying matter. 
The compound microscope was invented in the early 
part of the seventeenth century, by whom is not 
known. It was not brought to its present simple but 
effective form until about sixty years ago. 
One of the first sources of bacteria for these early 
investigations is still a common and sure source. 
Take a wisp of hay and soak it in lukewarm water 
for a day or so. The result is a brownish liquid look¬ 
ing much like tea, which it is, being an infusion of 
hay. Thoreau called this “meadow tea.” A drop of 
this under the microscope furnishes a lively menagerie, 
as well as numerous bacilli. The hay is dusty; in the 
dry dust are spores of bacteria which under the influ¬ 
ence of the warmth and moisture become once again 
active forms and can be seen to go through all their 
life processes. 
