34 Dairy Bacteriology. 



is a question of even greater importance. Those species 

 that are derived primarily from manure particles are, as 

 a rule, the peptonizing or digestive species that cause a 

 decomposition of the casein, and should, therefore, be 

 avoided if possible. 



Improper stable conditions greatly favor the amount of 

 filth that may adhere to the animal. The more highly 

 nitrogeneous feeding that is practiced at present pro- 

 duces a softer manure and one in which putrefactive bac- 

 teria are much more likely to be abundant. 



Wiithrich and Freudenreich 1 have studied the influ- 

 ence of feeding on the bacterial content of manure, and 

 they find a markedly higher content in manure where 

 animals are given dry feed than where kept on grass. 

 The character of the manure, however, is different, it 

 being much more liquid with moist than dry feed, and 

 therefore, they believe more likely to find its way into the 

 milk. They found as many as 375,000,000 bacteria per 

 gram in fresh manure, the majority of which consisted of 

 B. coli communis, the hay bacillus, and other species able 

 to peptonize the casein. 



39. Influence of tne milker. The condition of the 

 milker is by no means an unimportant factor. If he per- 

 forms the milking in the dust- laden garments that he 

 has worn all day, he himself is covered with particles 

 that are readily dislodged when he comes in contact with 

 the cow. 



Particular attention should be paid to the hands of the 

 milker. The habit of moistening the hands with a few 

 drops of milk just before milking is to be deprecated 

 from every standpoint, but especially so, when consid- 

 ered from our present point of view. After having 



!Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 1: 873, 1895. 



