wn activity; thus, ordinary lactic-acid-producing
organisms die when a certain amount of lactic acid has been developed;
the same fate overtakes the Bulgarian bacillus, but it survives longer
and is able to produce as much as two and one half per cent. of lactic
acid in milk before it ceases operations. It seemed therefore the most
likely to be able to survive the journey through the digestive system.
Experiments fully bore out this supposition, as no great difficulty was
encountered in naturalising the Bulgarian bacillus in the large
intestine, not only in milk cultures, but grown in solution of malt,
bouillon, etc. It thrives in all kinds of sugar, and therefore can be
administered in a variety of media, very beneficial results following in
many cases. Direct tests showed a large reduction of the injurious
intestinal flora when the Bulgarian bacillus had been naturalised in
the colon, and the bacillus persisted long after it had ceased to be
administered. Specialists who have taken up the subject report the cure
of many ailments through the agency of soured milk, and it seems to have
entered upon a lengthening career of medical usefulness.

The fact of so many old people being found in countries where soured
milk is a staple of diet naturally raises the question as to whether its
general use in other countries might not have a beneficial effect on
health and longevity. Its usefulness as a remedial agent in certain
diseases is already demonstrated; is there not a strong probability,
amounting almost to a certainty, that its consumption by people in
health would tend to ward off many ailments and prolong life? Of course
there will be some for whom it is not suitable; there are people who
cannot eat strawberries without discomfort, but no one thinks of
prohibiting the general use of the fruit on that account. In the matter
of diet the person in health, if he exercises ordinary care, may be left
to find out for himself what suits him. The soured milk remedy is not a
disagreeable one, as, when properly prepared, the article forms both a
pleasant and refreshing article of diet. The question of getting the
right article, however, is a very important one. Milk is a splendid
rearing ground for many bacteria, some of which are very injurious;
among these may be pathological germs, the seeds of tuberculosis,
enteritis, etc. The danger with soured milk is, that in the process of
culture we develop the best condition for the increa