99 8 



Ropy Milk. 



[march, 



alkaline water in the wooden tub. The cloth used for wiping 

 the churns, and the churns and pails which had been washed 

 in the wooden tub were also infected with this organism. 



There is no doubt that the immediate source of infection was 

 the wooden tub, the water in which had probably been made 

 specially favourable for this organism by the use of the dilute 

 soda. 



The solution of the problem as to the natural habitat of the 

 organism was indicated by the fact that it was discovered in 

 small numbers in the drinking water standing in a trough 

 under a pump in the field where the cows were turned out 

 when the trouble first arose. 



The organism was not found in the other samples of water 

 examined, which included the water from the pump supplying 

 the wooden tub. It would be quite possible for a few 

 organisms to have been carried from this drinking trough to 

 the cow-byre on the udders or on the flanks of the cows, and 

 then to have infected the milk pails. The outbreak was 

 subsequently greatly aggravated by the growth of the 

 organisms in the akaline water of the wooden tub. 



The ropy milk organism was not in this case found in the 

 air or in the straw of the cow-byre or on the herbage of the 

 field. 



On examining pure cultures of the organism it was found to 

 be identical with that discovered by Adametz, and named by 

 him B. lactis viscosus. 



The photographs show the appearance of the organism 

 under the microscope (multiplied 1,500 diameters), the slide 

 being made from a young culture on Agar agar. 



The other characters all corresponded with the original 

 organism isolated by Adametz, which, as mentioned above, 

 has been found widely distributed in water. 



In another case which the writer investigated, the trouble 

 occurred every spring when the cows were turned into a 

 particular pasture, but the source of the organism was not 

 discovered. 



Summary. 



Causes of Ropiness. — 1. Ropiness in the mixed milk of a 

 dairy herd, which increases on allowing the milk to stand, 

 is due to the growth of bacteria. 



