CHANGES IN FRESH BEEF DURING COLD STORAGE. 31 
It was not always possible to make cultures immediately, but they 
were always made within two hours ; and during this time the block 
of meat was kept wrapped in the bichlorid gauze and at cold-storage 
temperature (34°-36° F.). 
The short immersion in the boiling water served to coagulate the 
muscle protein to the depth of from 3 to 5 mm., but did not cause 
sufficient elevation of the inside temperature to have any injurious 
effect on the bacteria present. A test was made by introducing a 
thermometer into a block of meat of the size described above so that 
the bulb rested at the center of the meat mass, and there was no 
appreciable rise in temperature during the three minutes' interval in 
the hot water. The outer zone of coagulated protein served to pre- 
vent the penetration of the bichlorid solution into the meat. 
Beginning about 1 inch from the outer surface a series of cultures 
were taken at intervals of an inch, pro- 
ceeding from the outside toward the 
bone, and these cultures were num- 
bered as indicated in the diagram. In 
taking the cultures a series of sterile 
scalpels were used, one being used to 
cut through the outer or surface por- 
tion, and others to make deeper cuts 
in order not to carry in any of the bi- 
chlorid solution adhering to the sur- 
face of the meat. Plugs of meat about 
a centimeter square were used in mak- 
ing the cultures. Cultures were made FlG# i._ D i agram of a cross section 
in neutral beef broth and in glucose ° f a beef round, showing points 
j. i • i Ji -ill at which cultures were taken. 
agar from which the air had been ex- 
pelled by boiling. When clouding occurred in the bouillon cultures, 
agar plates were poured and the organisms present were plated out. 
In 4 of the 7 carcasses studied, a small micrococcus was found. This 
organism was not generally distributed throughout the muscular 
tissue of any one quarter, but was encountered here and there. The 
fact that is was usually found at some distance below the outer sur- 
face, together with the fact that it was found in the fresh or chilled 
quarters as well as in the stored quarters, would indicate that it was 
present in the carcass at the time of slaughter. In three of the cold- 
stored carcasses, those held for 28, 54, and 63 days, it was encountered 
here and there and was not generally distributed through the mus- 
cular tissues, which would indicate that there had been no multiplica- 
tion of the organism during the storage of these quarters. In the 
quarter which was held in storage for the longest period of time (i. e., 
177 days) the micrococcus was found to be more generally distributed 
