1094 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



taint-producing bacteria were present more or less constantly in the 

 milk of each, animal, and that the milk of the cows which had suffered 

 from retained placenta was, as a rule, no worse than that of the other 

 cows. Examination of the dust and filth from the stable gave negative 

 results, and the inference was reached that the bacteria had become 

 colonized in the udders of certain of the cows. This, however, could 

 not be positively determined. 



The examination of the teats and udders of a number of cows which 

 were slaughtered on account of tuberculosis (not from the infected 

 dairy, however) showed that "bacteria were there and remained there 

 after milking, ready to infect the milk of the next succeeding milking," 

 but no gas producing bacteria were found in any of the udders examined. 



Two experiments were made to test the power of bacteria to pass 

 from the intestines to the udder, the cows being given drinking water 

 containing 1 to 2 qt. of a bouillon culture of Bacillus prodigiosus daily 

 for nearly 2 weeks, and the milk examined for this organism with neg- 

 ative results. A repetition of the experiment, using cultures of the 

 gas-producing bacillus from cheese curd, also gave negative results. 



A technical description is given of the gas-producing bacillus, which 

 is believed to be "closely related to, if it does not belong in, the colon 

 group of bacteria." 



Cleanliness in the stable and in the care of the cows is believed to be 

 the best preventive of the trouble. The disinfection of the milk, ducts 

 by washing them out with a germicide by means of a milking tube, as 

 reported by a German experimenter, was not successful in the hands 

 of the authors. 



Changes in fat during the ripening of cheese, A. Kirsten (Ztschr. 

 Uittersuch. Nahr. u. GenussmtL, 1 (1898), No. 11, pp. 742-759). — Four 

 sorts of cheese, Camembert, Neufchatel, Tilsiter fat, and Holland, were 

 examined with reference to the changes in the fat. The fat was sepa- 

 rated from the cheese with ether by triturating the ground or broken-up 

 cheese in a mortar with ether, the free acids being neutralized with 

 potassium hydrate. The mass was then shaken vigorously, the ether 

 being renewed from time to time, and the shaking continued until the 

 ether extract contained no trace of fat. The ether-fat layer was then 

 separated by centrifugal force and the fat freed from the ether by dis- 

 tillation and dried in hydrogen at 100°. The volatile and the insoluble 

 fatty acids and the saponification equivalent were determined in the 

 fat, as well as the index of refraction. The cheese was further examined 

 as to the solids-not-fat, ash, salt, and total nitrogen; and the solids-not- 

 fat were examined for total solids, nitrogen, ash, and salt, and were 

 extracted with water, the extract being examined for total solids, ash, 

 and nitrogen in different forms. 



The results showed that the fat separated from the different cheeses 

 at different stages of ripening was very nearly uniform in composition. 

 While a quantitative decomposition of the cheese fat is believed possi- 

 ble, these results indicate that where it takes place all parts of the fat 



