58 DATA FOR MILK INSPECTION. 



worthy of note that the assertion, occasionally made, 

 that urine is employed in the preparation of annatto, is 

 of little weight, since the annatto sold for diary use is 

 prepared by unobjectionable methods. 



Abnormal milks. — Milk occasionally becomes blue 

 on the surface, the color forming in patches in propor- 

 tion as the cream rises. The condition is due to the 

 development of a chromogenic bacillus, first noted by 

 Ehrenberg, and by him called Vibrio syncyanus, but 

 now more correctly called Bacillus syncyanus. The 

 condition sometimes prevails in epidemic form. The 

 butter prepared from such milk possesses a greenish 

 color and a disagreeable butyric odor. The bacillus 

 seems to be non-pathogenic. Hueppe fed animals on 

 food mixed with strong cultures of it, and observed no 

 serious results. To prevent the development and 

 spread of the bacillus it is recommended that the ves- 

 sels intended to receive the milk be washed with boil- 

 ing water. Reiset states that blue milk may be u.sed for 

 the production of butter by adding 0.5 gram of acetic 

 acid to each liter (8 grains to the quart). 



Red milk is due to accidental contamination with 

 the Bacillus prodigiosus. The spores of this microbe 

 exist in the atmosphere and rapidly develop when 

 they fall upon any nutritive medium. The microbe 

 does not appear to have any pathogenic properties. 



Ropy milk. — This condition is occasionally seen 

 during moist warm weather. The milk when drawn may 



