ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 2 I 7 



that the number we find at first will be gradually diminished for a few 

 hours, when there will be a gradual increase until a certain point is 

 reached, at which the increase becomes exceedingly rapid. 



It may, perhaps, appear peculiar that we should find bacteria in the 

 milk while these germicidal constituents are present. It should be 

 understood that germicidal constituents in the secretions of the body or 

 in the body tissues do not necessarily act in the same way upon all kinds 

 of bacreria. It might be, therefore, that the small number of bacteria 

 which exist in the udder are not necessarily attacked by these germicidal 

 •constituents or that the bacteria do not increase and are only held in 

 check, or it may be possible that the germicidal constituents are, many 

 times, so small in quantity that there is no appreciable action upon the 

 "becteria. It is true that these germicidal agents vary in their intensities. 



If milk is studies under various conditions, it will be found, further, 

 that the number of bacteria has a marked bearing upon the manifestations 

 of the germicidal agents. If I am able to interpret the results of experi- 

 ments accuartely, I should say that the smaller the number of bacteria, 

 the greater the germicidal activity, or more strictly speaking, the greater 

 the proportion of the bacteria destroyer. It does, therefore, make a differ- 

 once whelher you favor the conditions which control germicidal action or 

 not. However, if milk is allowed to stand, and it does not contain too 

 many baceria, it will be noticed that the germicidal action will continue 

 for from six to twelve hours and the number of bacteria does not greatly 

 increase over the number existing immediately after milking, until the 

 ■end of this time has been nearly reached, then the number rises very 

 rapidly. This is also true with the germicidal constituents of the body. 

 "Time destroys these germicidal constituents after removal from the body. 

 It is a generally recognized fact, too, in case of other secretions of the 

 body other than milk, that these germicidal constituents will take care of 

 only a limited number of bacteria. It is therefore advantageous to favor 

 the actions of these germicidal constituents. We may assume if it were 

 not for this germicidal factor in milk, it would be barely possible that 

 many changes would take place even in milk before it leaves the udder. 



3. The Gas Content of Milk. — The elimination of gases from the 

 milk does not necessarily mean that the milk has been rendered more 

 palatable or more healthful, but it does indicate that with the elimination 



