DISEASES OF BUTTER. 255 



According to Jensen's investigations this common dis- 

 ease seems to be produced through the activity of sev- 

 eral distinct bacteria; first among these a small oval bac- 

 teria appearing in groups of two single bacteria. Inocu- 

 lated into milk it did not change its appearance, but within 

 sixteen to twenty-four hours caused a distinct, somewhat 

 sweetish, and at the same time burnt taste and flavor. 



6. Bitter Butter. This disease seems to be caused by 

 several different bacteria. Conn* isolated a micrococcus 

 of bitter milk in an American sample of milk; Weigmann 

 in Germany speaks of a bacillus of bitter milk which 

 causes a bitter butter, but does not injure the cheese made 

 from the milk. A third bacterium of a veritable putrefac- 

 tive form has in my experiments shown a tendency to 

 make both milk and butter bitter. It seems to thrive sur- 

 prisingly well in butter; the experiments every time ended 

 with the butter practically rotting away. 



7. Dappled Butter. This disease appears rather fre- 

 quently in farm butter during the summer, the butter 

 being dappled by grayish, more or less extended, pale 

 spots. Danish dairy experience tells us that this condi- 

 tion is caused by contamination of the milk in the stable, 

 the dairy, or during the milking. This is correct as far as 

 the location of the trouble is concerned; but the inner 

 cause of the disease seems, according to my investigations, 

 to lie in the activity of a bacterium possessing a high loco- 

 motory power, which develops in the butter, spreading in 

 all directions from small separate centres, thereby giving 

 the butter a mottled appearance. It seems to possess a 

 smaller vital power the farther it is removed from this 



*Storr's Agr. Experiment Station Report, 1891, p. 158. 



