CHICAGO, May 17.--The testimony by Gen. McNulta, late receiver for the Whisky Trust, that Peoria whisky contained 360 different kinds of bacilli, has interested the local scientists. Drs. Reynolds, Wynkoop, and Gehrmann, and other scientists who have attained reputation as bacteriologists, deny that alcohol or whisky can sustain animal life.
    Dr. Wynkoop of the Bacteriological Department of the city said: "Alcohol fermentation is caused by the yeast cell, which is closely allied to the bacteria of diseases, but is not the same. There are many varieties of yeast cells, and it is probable that the experts of the Whisky Trust isolated certain of these and cultivated them. They are so cultivated for beer, alcohol, and whisky, just as they appear in the ordinary yeast cakes used in our kitchens. Again, animal life could not exist in alcohol, and therefore not in whisky."
    Dr. Gehrmann, one of the first bacteriologists of the West, said: "Animal life is not found in whisky."

Source:

Unknown, "No Animal Life in Whisky. Chicago Scientists Deny the Possibility of Bacteria in Alcohol," The New York Times, New York, Thursday, 18 May 1899, p. 1.