Marcu 1, 1901.] 
scribed by himself. Attention is called to 
the fact that in several text-books there 
occurs an erroneous statement to the effect’ 
that the organism brings about the viscid 
condition in milk very slowly, and that it 
is, therefore, of no practical importance to 
dairymen. The statement is founded upon 
a misconstruction placed upon a sentence 
written by Dr. Adametz. The organism is 
found in water, and multiplies at a tem- 
perature as low as 8° C. These char- 
acteristics, together with the method of 
keeping the milk, account for the -persist- 
ence with which ropy milk appears on a 
milk route when the creamery is once in- 
fected. In all the cases coming under my 
observation, the milk dealer has cooled the 
milk in long, open-topped cans standing in 
ice water.- In each case the ice water was 
found to contain the organisms. These 
might readily be introduced into the milk 
by the spattering of water incident to the 
removal of cans, addition of ice, ete. That 
the ice water was the immediate cause of 
trouble was indicated by an experiment in 
which potassium bichromate was added to 
the ice water in the proportion of one part to 
one thousand parts of water. The trouble 
did not recur in those cans of milk which 
were placed in the water after the addition 
of the disinfectant. In this case scrupulous 
care was observed in sterilizing vessels 
which had been infected. 
Concerning the Presence of Streptococe: in the 
Healthy Udder of a Cow: R. C. Rerp and 
A. R. Warp. 
At intervals between November, 1897, | 
and July, 1900, the presence of streptococci 
in the freshly drawn milk of a cow in the 
Cornell University herd was noted. While 
some cases of mammitis, associated with 
streptococci, were known to have occurred 
in the herd during this period, yet we had 
no record that this cow ever suffered an at- 
tack. The fact that she led the herd in 
SCIENCE. 
325 
butter production during the period in 
which the streptococci were observed in the 
milk indicates that the cow was not suffer- 
ing from a chronic form of the disease. 
This fact is significant in view of the seri- 
ous effect of mammitis on the secretion of 
milk. The slaughter of the animal in the 
summer of 1900 afforded an opportunity to 
study the bacterial flora of the udder by 
means of cultures made directly from all 
parts of the gland. In addition to some or- 
ganisms commonly found in the udder, 
streptococci appeared in all the thirty-six 
cultures. In conjunction with the strepto- 
coccus under consideration one culture 
from a sporadic case of mammitis and one 
from an epizootic of the same disease were 
studied. In their cultural, morphological 
and pathogenic properties the streptococcus 
from this healthy udder was indistinguish- 
able from those isolated from the cases of 
mammitis. None were pathogenic to guinea- 
pigs or rabbits, but all three induced mam- 
mitis when injected into a healthy udder. 
While these observations are incomplete, 
they can not but suggest the idea that the 
streptococci associated with mammitis may, 
like the specific organisms of diphtheria 
and pneumonia in the healthy throat, be 
harbored in the healthy udder without pro- 
ducing disease. 
Immunization of Animals to Rattlesnake Venom, 
and some studies of Antivenine: JosEPH 
McFaruanp, Philadelphia, Pa. 
In order to determine whether the ex- 
perimental immunity to serpents’ venom, 
upon which Calmette has done such inter- 
esting work, applied equally well to venoms 
of the cobra and rattlesnake. The en- 
deavor was made about two years ago to 
immunize several horses to the venoms of 
American rattlesnakes. The problems 
encountered were more difficult than those 
with which Calimette had to contend, be 
cause of the intense local irritative action 
