BACTERIOLOGY OF MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS 12? 



regards other bacteria no satisfactory procedure can be devised 

 or would be suitable for the general examination of diseased 

 meat, and the only satisfactory procedure is for bacteriological 

 examinations to be combined with careful clinical and patho- 

 logical investigations, the nature of the bacteriological examina- 

 tion required being largely indicated and determined by the 

 information furnished in this way. 



B. To study the general bacterial content, degree of bacterial 

 contamination, etc. 



Such an examination should be of much greater practical 

 value than is, at present, the case. For example, in cases of 

 incipient and early putrefaction meat may be seized and con- 

 demned by the meat inspector as unfit for food. Sometimes 

 his findings are disputed and it would be decidedly valuable if 

 the results could be corroborated by definite bacteriological 

 data from the results of the examination. 



Unfortunately it cannot be said that any very complete and 

 reliable bacteriological studies are available to elucidate the 

 problem. Putrefaction is a complex process and the bacteria 

 concerned are numerous, and both aerobic and anaerobic. 

 Proteus strains are common in putrefying materials, but they 

 are a widely distributed group of organisms with most loosely 

 defined characters, and we cannot say with present knowledge 

 that their presence, or even their presence in large numbers, can 

 be accepted as evidence of incipient putrefaction. Much pioneer 

 work requires to be done in this direction. 



Bacterial enumerations are sometimes of value to study the 

 cleanliness precautions adopted, etc., such as in the examination 

 of brawn or sausages. For this purpose an enumeration of the 

 number of B. coli group organisms is the most valuable. Samples 

 must be collected with care and exact particulars given of 

 source and particularly of the age of the specimens as regards 

 time since slaughter. Meat material provides an excellent culture 

 medium so examinations must be undertaken without delay or 

 the sample ice packed. Sterile wide-mouthed bottles are the 

 most convenient for transmitting samples to the laboratory. 



If a quantitative enumeration of the number of B. coli or 



