CHEMICAL CHANGES IN RIPENING 333 



spots are about one-eighth the size of an ordinary 

 pin-head. They are more or less completely dis- 

 tributed through the mass of the cheese, appearing, 

 perhaps, more numerous or, at least, more promi- 

 nent in the lines where the pieces of curd are 

 cemented together. Wherever there is a mechani- 

 cal-hole, its walls are well covered and here the 

 specks appear specially prominent because they 

 simply lie on the walls and are not imbedded in 

 the body of the cheese. They can be easily de- 

 tached. When examined under a magnifying glass, 

 the small specks appear glistening white and also, 

 in some cases, the edges of the curd pieces, where 

 they are cemented together, have the same appear- 

 ance, very closely resembling paraffin. The specks 

 crush easily, like fat. An examination showed them 

 to contain calcium, but no phosphoric acid or other 

 inorganic salt in appreciable amounts. Besides 

 calcium, there appears to be some fatty acid, so 

 that the substance appears to be a calcium soap. 

 Some of the fat in the cheese is probably decom- 

 posed by bacteria acting only at low temperatures 

 and a reaction takes place between the fatty acid 

 set free and the calcium salts of the cheese. The 

 flavor and other qualities of the cheese do not ap- 

 pear to be affected in any appreciable way. 



Milk-sugar in cheese, under the action of acid 

 organisms, completely decomposes, forming lactic 

 acid chiefly, with small amounts of some other 

 products. The sugar in fresh cheese may amount to 

 i or 2 per cent, but it seems to disappear from the 

 cheese, for the most part, in 48 hours and completely 

 within two weeks. 



