72 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



to produce this condition b}^ inoculation and correctly attributed the 

 trouble to the growth of micro-organisms, although he confounded the 

 species with the one that produced the common souring of milk. In 

 a later paper he corrected this mistake, although he did not discover 

 the special organism which produced the sliminess. 



The first microscopic study of slimy milk was made by Schmidt- 

 Miilheim ^ in 1882. He found that ropy milk contained an unusually 

 large number of cocci 1 yw in diameter, frequently united in chains, but 

 also in many cases isolated. These organisms were not to be found 

 in normal milk, and for this reason he designated them as having caused 

 the slimy change. He also demonstrated that the ropy milk possessed 

 great powers of infection, so that a few drops would suffice to cause a 

 litre of fresh milk at ordinary house temperatures to become stringy 

 in from 18 to 24 hours. Schmidt-Miilheim made no attempt to grow 

 the slimy milk organism in pure culture, although suitable methods were 

 at that time in vogue. This slimy milk organism was probably different 

 from those described by Pasteur and Lister ; but on account of the im- 

 purity of these investigators' cultures, it is impossible to affirm this 

 with certainty. Schmidt's organism was perhaps identical with one 

 found the year before by Béchamp ^ in certain slimy fermentations and 

 named by him Micrococcus, viscosus. This organism grew best at 

 temperatures of about 30° C, Avas killed by a temperature of 60° C, 

 although when dried it might be heated to a temperature of 100° C. 

 without injury. It grew at the expense of the milk sugar, and solutions 

 of this sugar were rendered slimy provided enough peptone Avas added 

 to make a proper nutrient solution. Béchamp considered the gelatine 

 forming property of this species an indirect one, the conversion of sugar 

 taking place outside the cell into a mucinous matter, for which he pro- 

 posed the name " Viscose." 



Engling '^ studied the subject in 1882 and associated it with bacteria, 

 but did not describe them. Dnclaux ** in 1883 described two species of 

 bacteria which caused slimy milk; one he named Actinohacter du lait 

 visqueux and the other Actinohacter pohjmorplius. The former was a 

 non-motile bacillus encased in a sheath and which often formed chains. 

 The latter organism was also covered by a thick brittle capsule and 

 gradually changed milk to a tough fluid and transparent mass. In 

 the course of further development, the culture became thinner and more 

 transparent, so that in the course of a few weeks the milk again attained 

 an almost normal consistency. Hueppe ® in 1884 mentioned a micro- 

 coccus which produced slimy milk but gave no description of it. 

 jSTocard and Mollereau ^^ in 1887 described a streptococcus which was 

 found in the udders of a number of cows, rendering the milk m the 



