186 Dairy Bacteriology. 



ton. This method is not so certain as in the inoculation 

 of Roquefort. 



Camembert cheese. A typical example of soft cheese 

 is one of the French types, known as Camembert. This 

 cheese is prepared from cow's milk which is curdled by 

 rennet. The curd is not cut but is dipped into the 

 forms, which condition, taken with the absence of pres- 

 sure in forming the cheese, accounts for the large quan- 

 tity of whey in it. The finished cheese are about one 

 inch in thickness and three inches in diameter. In the 

 ripening, the moisture and temperature of the curing 

 room are very carefully regulated. 



The first stage in the ripening is due to the rennet and 

 the lactic bacteria. Later there appears on the surface 

 of the moist cheese, a moldy growth. In this there are 

 at least two kinds of molds, the ordinary mold that ap- 

 pears on sour milk, Oidium lactis, and another that is 

 related to the bread mold but which has a white instead 

 of a green fruiting stage. These molds are confined to 

 the surface of the cheese but the enzymes which they 

 produce diffuse into the substance, changing the color 

 from a dull, opaque white to a translucent yellow. The 

 acid that has been formed by the lactic bacteria is grad- 

 ually used up by the growth of the mold, and conditions 

 then become favorable for the growth of putrefactive 

 bacteria which digest the curd. The cheese is ready for 

 use when the action of the mold has penetrated to the 

 center of the cheese, and before any pronounced putre- 

 faction has taken place. The production of the typical 

 .flavor is dependent upon there being a definite relation 

 between the growth of the molds and bacteria. This re- 

 lation is dependent largely upon the moisture and tem- 

 perature of the curing room. These cannot always be 



