1904.] Abnormalities in Dairy Produce. 



365 



adhesive layer, whereby the removal from the shelf is rendered 

 difficult and breakage frequently results. Of the six bodies 

 found by Mr. Coward two were moulds which made their 

 appearance at an early stage when the cheese is " greasy " to 

 handle but not very adhesive. One was a grey form of the 

 common moulds which produce a dirty white growth on the 

 surface of cream and on the exterior of cheese, or occasionally 

 uniformly distributed throughout. These moulds are most 

 conspicuous on cheese which is from ten to twenty days old ; 

 they vary from one to three inches in length, and are designated 

 as " whiskers " by cheesemakers. They have also the effect of 

 curdling milk and of producing disagreeable flavours which are 

 objectionable in butter-making. They thrive especially in rooms 

 which are cool, damp, dark, and badly ventilated, and their 

 development is therefore primarily prevented by means of good 

 ventilation, as well as by dryness and light, in the dairy. 



Mr. Coward also found a chocolate-coloured mould which 

 during the course of growth produces a mouldy odour with a 

 suggestion of garlic. It adds to the colour of the slimy layer, 

 and keeps it soft owing to the liquefying properties of the mould. 

 It appears on cheese which is from two to three months old. 

 Three micrococci (which are bodies still simpler than moulds) 

 were also detected in slimy cheese. An orange-coloured one, 

 producing an aroma, was found in the innermost layer of the slime ; 

 and another, which is greenish-yellow and of slow growth, forms 

 a slimy jelly. The two bodies above-mentioned may appear 

 concurrently during the first development stage, and they 

 greatly add to the greasy character of the cheese. The other 

 organisms were a third micrococcus, pink or flesh-coloured, of 

 fairly rapid growth, producing very little odour ; and a bacterium 

 of slow growth, producing a brown colour. It was proved that 

 the developmentof these twoorganisms is not prevented by borax, 

 as in the case of moulds. 



Mr. Coward states that the sequence in which the foregoing 

 six organisms develop in cheese is probably as follows :— 

 The grey mould appears first, and then the orange-coloured body, 

 which together induce the first stage of the slimy coat when 

 the cheese is "greasy" to the touch but not very adhesive. 

 The greenish-yellow organism follows, and greatly adds to the 



