1088 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



experiments that the number of bacteria in the stripping^ from different quarters 

 varied greatly, tlie back right quarter showing usually above 500 per cubic centime- 

 ter and the front left quarter less than 100. Determinations at intervals for 105 days 

 showed a corresponding variation in the production of soluble nitrogenous products 

 in the milk from the different quarters. "It may be held that the presence of these 

 bacteria has merely stimulated the production of an extra amount of galactase, but 

 many of these bacteria are able to bring about the liquefaction of gelatin, a fact 

 which suggests that they have played a i)art in enzym formation within the udder. 

 However, it is impossiljle to assign even an approximate value to the work per- 

 formed by bacteria within the udder in the production of their enzyms until we 

 understand the conditions which relate to the normal formation of galactase." 



Cheese was made from 125 lbs. of milk to which 3.5 lbs. of chloroform had been 

 added, and was ripened under a bell jar in an atmosphere of chloroform. The 

 cheese was found to contain 15 per cent of chloroform'. The composition of the 

 cheese was compared at different intervals with that of a normal cheese cured under 

 ordinary conditions, and with a cheese coated with paraffin to lessen the loss of 

 moisture and make it in that respect similar to the chloroform cheese. The amounts 

 of nitrogen rendered soluble in the 3 cheeses during 15 months after they were taken 

 from the press were, respectively, 27.70, 38.66, and 44.14 per cent of the total nitro- 

 gen. The ripening process in the chloroform cheese was proportionately much 

 slower during the early portion of the period. In a similar experiment 0.2 j)er cent 

 of lactic acid added to the milk increased the ripening process to a marked degree. 

 At the end of 12 months cheese made with chloroform showed 22.60 per cent and 

 cheese made with chloroform and lactic acid 31.65 per cent more soluble nitrogen 

 than when fresh. In each of the above experiments the chloroform cheese was 

 unsalted. In salted cheese made with chloroform and compared with the above the 

 soluble nitrogen formed in 12 months was reduced from 22.60 to 17.20 per cent, and 

 in the chloroform cheese made with lactic acid from 31.65 to 19.65 per cent, showing 

 a restraining influence of salt upon the activity of enzyms. 



Data are given showing the character of the chemical changes taking place in 

 normal and in chloroform cheese. The following comparison is given: 



"(1) In the normal cheese at the age of 1 month the amount of amids was 1.8 

 lbs. for each pound of albumoses and peptones. This ratio increased until at 9 

 months it was 8.7, nearly 5 times as great as at the end of 1 month. 



"(2) In the chloroform cheese the amount of amids was not quite one-fourth of 

 the amount of albumoses and peptones at the age of 1 month. The relative amount 

 slowly increased, until at the end of 9 months the amount of amids was nearly equal 

 to that of albumoses and peptones. 



" (3) In the chloroform cheese no ammonia had aj^peared at the end of 9 months; 

 in the normal cheese nearly 1 per cent of the total nitrogen was present as ammonia 

 at the end of 1 month, and this amount steadily increased." 



The authors conclude that there is some agent at work in normal cheese which is 

 not active in cheese made with chloroform, and state that their efforts are being 

 directed to the identification of this agent. 



Conditions affecting- weight lost by cheese in curing, L. L. A"an Slyke {New 

 YcyrJc State Sta. Bui. ^207, pp. 275-305, fig». 6). — A systematic study of this subject has 

 been made at the station for the past 3 years. The curing rooms and the means of 

 controlling temperature and moisture in use at the station are described, as is also 

 the determination of atmospheric moisture by the hygrometer. 



The chief conditions affecting the loss of weight in cheese during curing, which for 

 practical purposes may be considered as due entirely to the loss of moisture by evap- 

 oration, as stated by the author, are (1) the percentage of moisture originally present 

 in the cheese, (2) the texture of the cheese, (3) the temperature of the curing room, 

 (4) the size and shape of the cheese, and (5) the proportion of water vapor present 

 in the air of the curing room. 



