244 THE FERMENTATION OF CHEESE 



and Bellalay cheese, as also in Schabzig cheese ; the latter, however, differs from the 

 other kinds just named by not containing any ponderable quantity of caseo-glutin. 



The comparative examination of the constitution of hard and soft cheeses was 

 undertaken by BONDZYNSKI (I.) 



If cheese be allowed to become over-ripe, then the percentage of albuminoids 

 falls oft' still more. Thus, A. MAGGIORA (II.) found in a sample of over-ripe 

 Stracchino (Gorgonzola) cheese only one-seventh of the initial nitrogen in the form 

 of protein, the remaining six-sevenths being in the form of amido- and ammonia- 

 compounds. 



We will now briefly consider the amount of fatty-matter in cheese. When 

 whole-milk is set for cheese, the whole of the fat passes into the coagulum, which 

 then contains almost as much fatty matter as albuminoids, the former constitu- 

 ting about 45 per cent, of the total dry matter of the curd. So far as the 

 observations hitherto made extend, it would appear that the fat suffers no great 

 alteration, whether of quality or quantity, during the ripening process. Bacterio- 

 logically exact investigations are, however, still wanting Reference has already 

 been made in 120 to the influence exerted on the fat by light and air, and this 

 influence also makes itself felt during the ripening of the cheese. The saponifica- 

 tion of the glycerides mentioned in the said paragraph occurs in cheese to a still 

 greater extent than in butter. The course of this operation has been traced by 

 E. DUCLAUX (VI.), who found that, in one instance, about one-third of the 

 glycerin butyrate originally present was broken up into its two components. 



The conversion of albumen into fat, the development of which question has 

 been reviewed by S. SOSKIN (I.) in a prize essay, is not only of the greatest 

 importance in the study of chemical alterations in the animal body, but also 

 comes under consideration in the ripening of cheese. BLONDEAU (I.), in 1864, 

 was the first to remark, in his researchs on Roquefort cheese, that in this process 

 fat was produced at the expense of albumen. The same has also lately ibeen 

 asserted by H. JACOBSTHAL (I.), but was denied by the majority of subsequent 

 workers, e.g. inter alia, BRASSIER (I.) in 1865, IS". SIEBER (II.) and 0. KELLNER (I.) 

 in 1880. NAGELI and 0. LOEW (I.), however, proved beyond doubt, in the case of 

 certain Eumycetes, that lower fungi are able to convert albumen into fat. The 

 above-cited researches of Weidmann show that no remarkable quantitative increase 

 of fat occurs in the ripening of cheese, but this does not disprove the possibility 

 of the formation of fat from albumen during the process. On the other hand, 

 G. Musso and A. Menozzi, on the basis of their researches on Stracchino cheese, 

 believe that such a formation of fat must be assumed to occur. 



The probability of such a conversion of albumen into fat cannot be rejected if 

 we recall another process very different, it is true, from an festhetic standpoint, 

 but, nevertheless, very similar from a chemical and bacteriological point of view 

 namely, the formation of adipocere. Fatty concretions, which in many cases can 

 only have originated in albuminoids (muscular substance, &c.), are frequently 

 found in bodies which have undergone decomposition in-the grave. This question, 

 which chiefly concerns the medical profession, we need not dwell upon. Various 

 proofs will be found in a treatise on this subject by ERMANN (I.). 



176. E. Duclaux' Studies on Cantal Cheese. 



As ripenening progresses, the amount of the aforesaid amido-compounds 

 continually increases, whilst the paracasein concurrently decreases. This trans- 

 formation may be due to two causes: one entirely chemical, the other physiological. 



The earliest worker who believed the ripening of cheese to be due to microbial 

 activity was FEED. COHN (II.), who, in 1875 f rom tne researches by which he 

 controverted the hypotheses of Bastian on spontaneous generation arrived at 





