Medicine: Good Germs

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4) " Retting " of flax, i.e.. removing the stalks of the plant from the long linen fibers by immersion in bacterial streams.

5) Tanning of leather, by the fermentation of hemlock bark.

6) Production of artificial rubber by fermentation from starch (intermediate stages: butyl alcohol and " isoprene ").

7) Manufacturing of vinegar by action of acetic acid bacteria (obtained from "mother of vinegar") on alcohol and the oxygen of the air.

8) Souring or curdling of milk for preservation in warm climates (by lactic acid bacteria).

9) Protection of nursing children against intestinal diseases by luxuriant growth of lactic-acid bacteria in the alimentary canal. Cow's milk is less favorable to this growth than mother's milk.

10) Use of lactic acid cultures as " starters" in churning butter, in the manufacture of sauerkraut, and in preparing ensilage on farms.