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changing with varying water content. They further found that the 

 mould formation was always accompanied by a loss of organic matter, 

 which in the first stages of moulding fell upon the oil fraction, but with 

 a higher water content and the appearance of Penicillium glaucum, 

 the N-free extractives were largely consumed. The results given in 

 Tables IV and V are in full accord with these statements. In the first 

 series (Table IV) a marked loss in dry matter only occurred where there 

 was a development of moulds, namely in the case of the cottonseed, 

 "soycot," soya and ground-nut cakes. In the second series (Table V) 

 a loss in dry matter is shown only by the two sets of cakes, where the 

 moisture content had been brought up to 18 % and 21 % respectively, 

 and it was only on these sets that there was any mould formation. 

 This loss in dry matter was divided between the oil and the soluble 

 carbohydrates, falling largely on the oil fraction where the moisture 

 content was only 18 %. 



In order to determine the part played by the oil in the changes which 

 the cakes undergo during incubation, portions of the ground cakes were 

 extracted with light petroleum to remove the oil, the residues being dried 

 in a steam oven and then freely exposed to the air for several hours. 

 Portions of 50 grams of each extracted cake were then incubated for 

 three weeks at 37° C, 8 % of water being added to the cakes, which 

 had already taken up from 6 — 10 % of moisture from the air. 



In no case was there any development of mould on the cake or any 

 change in smell noticeable at the end of three weeks, although the cakes 

 had been freely exposed to the air and were incubated under conditions 

 suitable for their re-infection, owing to the presence in the incubator 

 of other samples of cake covered with mould. As will be seen from 

 Table VI there was no change in total dry matter or protein during the 

 incubation. The presence of oil appears, therefore, to be one of the 



