364 THE DAIRYMAiq^^S MA1?-UAL. 



may be rendered richer in fat and soft in texture by the 

 lorocess of curing in which the abundant growth of these 

 fungi or molds is turned to account. 



Another effect of these germs, probably of a specific 

 kind, is to render cheese unwholesome and even poison- 

 ous. That cheese is sometinies poisonous is a well 

 known fact. But what causes the poison is not so 

 well known. Recent discoveries, however, lead us to be- 

 lieve that a certain fungous growth in cheese is able to 

 produce a substance which is poisonous to animals, caus- 

 ing nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, with intense nervous 

 depression, and this supposed poisonous product has 

 been separated from tlie cheese and tested with similar 

 results which occur from eating the cheese. Another 

 supposition is, that the rennet is the origin of the trouble, 

 and that the poison is introduced into the cheese by 

 means of rennet that has become tainted or putrid. An 

 analysis of the cheese has caused the separation of an 

 offensive putrid animal matter which produces vomiting, 

 and which seems to be exhausted or dissipated when the 

 fermentation has passed away. It is an instructive ex- 

 ample of the most injurious effects of any uncleanness 

 whatever in the various operations of the dairy, and the 

 absolute and imperative necessity for guarding most 

 carefully every avenue of approach against injurious 

 matter of every kind. 



FANCY CHEESE. 



Cheese, like all otlier products used us food, is made 

 more attractive and salable by putting it. into convenient 

 forms, and making it of excellent quality and of desirable 

 flavor for the many consumers who differ in taste and 

 fancy. The standard American cheese weighing sixty 

 pounds is too large for domestic use, and the smaller 

 ones of about thirty pounds are still too heavy and last 

 too long for ordinary domestic consumption. There are 



