62 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECORD. 



by the use of the ordinary lactic acid used by the butter maker in conjunction 

 with B. J)ulgaricus. 



"The growth of B. hul(jancus results in a slimy condition of the milk, the 

 sliminess being so marked with some cultures that the milk can be pulled out 

 in strings several feet long. This stringy condition can be greatly reduced or 

 entirely eliminates! by violent agitation. Although this slimy condition is ob- 

 jected to by some persons when the milk is to be used as a drink, it is an 

 advantage when the milk is to be used for making lacto because it improves 

 the body of the product to a considerable extent. 



"Z?. hulgaricus grows best at a temperature considerbly higher than the 

 temperature ordinarily used for propagating starters. While the best temper- 

 ature is not exactly known it probably lies above 100° F. A temperature of 

 99° F., which is one of the temperatures commonly employed in bacteriological 

 laboratories, gives very good results. Cultures can be propagated at room 

 temperatures, but growth is quite slow. ... If exceptionally clean milk is 

 available, little trouble should be experienced when careful pasteurization is 

 practiced, but if the milk is bixlly contaminated considerable difficulty is likely 

 to be encountered. An exposure to a steam pressure of 5 lbs. for 1.5 minutes 

 gave good results with milk that was highly contaminated and with which 

 pasteurization at 180° F. for 2 hours was of no avail in stopping the undesirable 

 changes. . . . 



"Another method commonly employed in laboratories consists in heating the 

 milk to the temperature of boiling water for from 20 to 40 minutes on each 

 of 3 successive days. In this procedure, the bacterial spores are supposed to 

 germinate between heatings and. in the vegetative stage, the micro-organisms 

 are killed by the succeeding exposure. This continued heating of course 

 darkens the milk and imparts a cooked taste, but the cooked taste is not as 

 noticeable after fermentation with B. liuJf/aricus as before. . . . 



"In various places in the United States a certain micro-organism has been 

 found that is closely related to B. hulgaricus. This bacterium produces more 

 acid than the organisms used for starter making, although not so much as 

 B. hulgaricus. Moreover, some of the cultures are slimy. Milk fermented by 

 it has an exceptionally clean acid flavor. This organism has also been used to 

 ferment milk for making lacto aad an excellent product obtained. It is r;ither 

 difficult to propagate without the facilities of a laboratory." 



Composition and nutritive value of " taralli ", a special bread mside in 

 Naples, A. Cutolo {Bol. Soc. Nat. NapoU, 2. ser., 24 {1910), pp. 158-164).— 

 Analytical data are given, together with a description of the methods of 

 analysis, and the product is compared with other breads as to composition and 

 nutritive value. 



A digestion experiment with banana meal, Kakizawa (Arch. Ilyg., 80 

 (1913), No. 7-8, pp. 302-309) .—The experiment described was divided into 4 

 periods of 3 days each. The subject was maintained upon a diet of milk, bread, 

 sausage, cheese, sugar, and butter which furnished a daily ration of approxi- 

 mately 74 gm. protein, 117 gm. fat, and ISO gm. carbohydrate. The greater 

 part of the bread was replaced by banana meal in the second period and by 

 oatmeal in the fourth period. 



The coefficient of digestibility of the total dry substance in the food was 90.S 

 per cent during the banana meal period, 91.9 per cent during the oatmeal 

 period, and 92.3 and 92.6 per cent in the 2 periods where bread was the chief 

 source of carbohydrate. The proportion of the total nitrogenous material in 

 the diet digested during the banana meal period was S8.9 per cent; during the 

 oatmeal period, S6.2 per cent; and during the 2 other periods, 88.3 and 87.6 

 per cent. 



