BACTERIA IN CHEESE 245 



short, more difficult to make with success than the hard cheeses, 

 largely, if not wholly, because the water they contain offers 

 such a favorable medium for the growth of bacteria and other 

 micro-organisms. Partly for this reason, also, they are the 

 higher priced. 



Two or three types of soft cheeses have been carefully 

 studied, and their ripening is fairly well understood. We may, 

 therefore, give in some little detail the facts known concern- 

 ing the ripening of three of these types of soft cheeses, the 

 three selected being those that are most popular in our markets, 

 and those which bring the highest prices: the Camembert, the 

 Roquefort and the Limburger. These types have been sub- 

 jected to a more thorough investigation, and more is known 

 concerning their method of ripening than of any other kinds 

 of cheese. Roquefort cheese is not strictly a soft cheese, since 

 the curd is pressed, but it is softer than the typical hard 

 cheeses, and moreover its ripening is more like that of the 

 soft cheeses than the hard. Hence, we class it here. Of these 

 three types, one is ripened by molds primarily, one by molds 

 and bacteria together, and the third by bacteria without molds. 



THE CAMEMBERT TYPE 



This includes the Camembert and the Brie cheeses, which 

 are essentially alike, differing only in size and shape, and some- 

 times in their amount of fat, but made and ripened in the 

 same way. 1 The French Coulommier cheese also belongs to 

 the group, and the ripened Neufchatel. The latter is not 

 found in this country. The ripening process is essentially the 

 same in all cases; all have a moldy rind, and the resulting 

 cheese is very much alike. These cheeses were first manu- 

 factured in France, where they have been made for a century; 

 but from that country they have been distributing themselves 



i Epstein. Arch. f. Hyg., XL., p. 1, 1902; XLV., p. 354, 1902. 

 Thorn. 22d Ann. Rep. Bu. An. Ind., 1905. 



