878 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



thou the initial number of bacteria in determining the final number of Bacillus 

 coH, but both were important. From the few experiments made it seems that 

 time is less important than "temperature. 



The results of 2-1 hours' incubation at 15° were similar to those of the same 

 samples after railway transmission, and it is stated that a standard of not 

 more than 1.000 coli and allied organisms per cubic centimeter of milk is rea- 

 sonably practicable. Experiments also showed very clearly the immense im- 

 portance of thorough initial cooling of the milk before transportation. 



The number of the spores of B. enteritidis sporogencs was determined in over 

 50 samples of fresh milk, and showed a considerable agreement with the num- 

 ber of B. coli. 



Four experiments were carried out to study the bacterial changes caused by 

 milk filtration, and on the whole no advantage from a bacteriological stand- 

 point was obtained by filtering, although one of the supposed best strainers was 

 employed, the apparatus steamed before each experiment, and the wool used 

 for the filtration of only half a gallon of milk. In an examination of the 

 centrifugalized deposit only 5 out of 50 fresh milk samples were found to 

 contain streptococcus chains, and in only 2 were they present in any numbers. 

 They were present in only a few of the incubated milk deposits. 



There was no increase at the end of 24 hours in the acidity of fresh samples 

 of milk incubated at 15°, and in some instances there was an actual decrease 

 of their acidity. Samples incubated at from 20 to 21° showed more frequently 

 an increase, but even at this temperature it was often absent. 



A trial of the Schardinger test gave results that were not uniform, but on 

 the whole there was a relation between the reduction time and the freshness of 

 the milk. 



No high value was placed on examining incubated milk as to acidity and 

 clotting. If a milk clotted after 6 hours of incubation at 37°, either spontane- 

 ously or on heating, the limited tests made showed that at the time of sampling 

 it was bacteriologically unsatisfactory, but the absence of clotting was not any 

 evidence of initial purity. 



Some of the general conclusions reached were as follows: The estimation of 

 the number of B. coli and allied lactose ferments, the estimation of the spores of 

 B. enteridiiis sporogencs, and the examination of the stained deposit, are all 

 processes of considerable value in forming a reliable judgment as to the bac- 

 terial pollution of milk. The use of milk strainers is discouraged for the fol- 

 lowing reasons: " They are useless to improve the bacterial quality of the milk; 

 unless great care is taken to keep them scrupulously clean they frequently 

 actually increase the number of bacteria in milk ; they encourage the farmer to 

 think that cleanliness precautions can be neglected or at least relegated to a 

 secondary place, since all additions are removed by the sti'ainer. This view has 

 again and again been presented to me by the farmer as an excuse for want of 

 cleanliness in milking." 



On the virulence of the lactic ferments contained in the excrements of 

 milch cows, C. Gorini {Rend. R. 1st. Lomhardo Sd. e Let, 2. ser., ^S (1910), 

 No. 18, pp. 7?7'-7cS'0; ahs. in Internat. Inst. Agr. [Rome], Bui. Bur. Agr. Intel, and 

 Plant Diseases, 2 (1911), No. 2, p. 363; Milclnc. Zentbl., 7 (1911), No. 9, pp. 

 426-429). — The author isolated several strains of lactic-acid bacteria obtained 

 from the feces of cov^'s in dairies at high altitudes. They possessed such an 

 extraordinary activity that it is thought they should prove valuable as starters, 

 either to hasten the process of ripening or to overcome undesirable species when 

 present. 



The score card system of dairy inspection from the national standpoint, 

 G. M. Whitaker (Jour. Amer. Puh. Health Assoc., I (1011), No. 9, pp. 6-J7- 



