420 APPLIED BACTERIOLOGY 



Slimy Milk.— Slimy milk is attributable to various 

 organisms. The Micrococcus viscdsus of Schmidt- Miihlheim 

 {Archiv. f. Physiol., xxvii., p. 490) is of 1 /x diameter, often 

 occurs in wreathed chains of fifteen or more cells, and gives 

 a slime analogous to that of plants, and derived from the 

 milk-sugar. The process seems to differ from that of slime- 

 production in wine in that it forms no mannite and no 

 carbonic acid. Hueppe also isolated a coccus, and numerous 

 bacilli have been discovered, all possessing the property of 

 making milk slimy. In the case of Guillebeau's Bacillus 

 Hessii (Ann. de Microg., iv., p. 225) the slimy character 

 disappears after two days' exposure to 35° C. The Bacillus 

 Ifictis viscosus of Adametz mentioned above is notable for 

 the length of time during which it operates, and the com- 

 pleteness with which it attacks the milk. Its effect is 

 apparent after four or five days, and is continued for four 

 weeks, by which time the milk corpuscles have practically 

 disappeared and the milk is transparent. The casein is not 

 precipitated; no acceleration of the process occurs on a 

 rise of temperature, and there is no special Smell. The 

 Bacillus lactis pituitosi of Loffler (Berlin Klin. Wochenschr., 

 1887, p. 631), on the other hand, gives a specific smell, and 

 renders the milk slimy and slightly acid, especially at the 

 lower part. Whether the viscous substance is derived from 

 the milk-sugar or the casein has not been determined. 



In the space at command, it has only been possible to 

 enumerate a small number of those organisms which have 

 been known to produce obscure changes and abnormal 

 appearances in milk, and it cannot be said that in the case 

 of all of them a pathogenic character has been demon- 

 strated ; but it is unquestionably the case in regard to a 

 large number, and none of the appearances in question are 

 either natural in milk or proper to it. They cannot, of 

 course, be classed as adulterations ; but on the same 



