322 MICROBIOLOGY OF MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS. 



Table Showing the Germicidal Action in Cows' Milk. 



*Fahrenheit. 



The exact reason for this decline is at present not well understood. 

 Some investigators believe that milk possesses a certain germicidal action 

 or property which results in the destruction of a portion of the organisms 

 found in the milk at the outset. 



The work of other investigators seems to show that the so-called 

 germicidal action is felt by certain species and not by others as is indicated 

 by the following sample. 



This would seem to indicate that the decrease in number is due not so 

 much to a definite germicidal property possessed by the milk as to the 

 gradual dying out of certain species which for some reason do not find the 

 milk a suitable environment for development, while other types, finding 

 the milk suitable to their needs, develop uniformly from the start. 



