Art. VII.] Wetnzirl, Bacteria in C lie CSC . 153 
tative data. This was no easy task, for the cheese had to be 
brought into solution or finely divided so as to thoroughly sep- 
arate the germs. The latter course was the only one which 
seemed feasible. The cheese could not be satisfactorily triturat- 
ed in water, so sterilized sand and finally sterilized sugar was 
tried. Although not entirely satisfactory, the sugar readily dis- 
solved in the water in which the dilutions were made. A 
gram of cheese was taken as the unit of weight, and all vessels 
and instruments used were thoroughly sterilized. The glass- 
ware and media were sterilized by heat ; the cheese-trier, mor- 
tar, etc., by flaming; and the sugar by the addition of ether 
for one or more days. Heat was not used for the latter pur- 
pose for it tended to caramelize the sugar or even melt it when 
the temperature rose above 140° C. The ether gave very satis- 
factory results and could be easily applied. 
Some time was spent in preliminary experiments and test- 
ing of methods after which a cheddar cheese (Flat) was made 
in the University Dairy School and analyzed bacteriologically 
at suitable intervals. For this purpose ordinary neutral pep- 
tone gelatin was used, although other modifications of gelatin 
and agar were employed as checks upon the work. No mate- 
rial advantages were gained by the latter, however. 
Petri dishes were used in these analyses and three plates, 
using appropriate dilutions as suggested by experience and the 
age and condition of the cheese, were regularly made. These 
were allowed to develop from five to ten days and the colonies 
counted and pure cultures made. New cheese were made and 
similarly treated. A great amount of time was absorbed in 
these laborious countings, computations, and making of cul- 
tures, the results of which, for the sake of simplicity are tabu- 
lated. Seepage 154. 
It will be seen from an inspection of the table, that 
the germ content of our cheese was very much higher than any 
figures reported by previous investigators, reaching at times 
scores of millions. Whether these results are due to improved 
methods of analysis or to differences in the kind of cheese, we 
