694 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXI, No. 9 
submitted to steam distillation. The distillate was acid and carried the putrefaction 
odor. This was titrated against iV/5 sodium hydroxid, using phcnolplithalein as 
indicator. Neutralization required 50.78 milliliters. The solution of the sodium salt 
was then concentrated by distilling off the solvent. The distillate carried the putre¬ 
faction odor and was neutral to litmus. The residue was transferred to a glass evapo- 
rating dish, dried to constant weight, at 105° C. and weighed. Weight of sodium salt, 
°-97°4 g m - Calculated for C 2 H 5 C0 2 Na, 0.9855 gtn. The identity of the acid was 
confirmed by conversion into the barium and silver salts, by solubility and organo¬ 
leptic tests, and by Dyer’s color test. 1 
PATHOGENICITY AND TOXIN PRODUCTION 
Tests were conducted to determine the pathogenicity of the organism 
recovered from sour beef and to ascertain whether it produces toxin in 
meat or on artificial media. 
Two guinea pigs were inoculated with a normal saline suspension of a 
culture of the organism taken from a plain agar slant, one guinea pig 
receiving*the inoculation subcutaneously and the other intraperitoneally. 
No ill effects were produced by this organism. 
A third guinea pig was fed pieces of meat thoroughly soured with the 
organism and was also “drenched” with a heavy saline suspension of the 
organisms. This animal lived. 
Two guinea pigs were inoculated intraperitoneally each with 1 cc. of 
a heavy saline suspension of the washed organisms from a 24-hour agar 
culture. They were not affected. 
Two guinea pigs were inoculated intraperitoneally with the super¬ 
natant fluid of a 24-hour bouillon culture of the organism but showed no 
ill effects. 
These tests indicate that this organism is not pathogenic for guinea 
pigs and does not produce any appreciable toxin in ordinary media or 
raw beef under laboratory conditions. 
COMPARATIVE ODOR PRODUCTION OE OTHER ORGANISMvS 
An experiment was conducted to compare the odor produced on meat 
by this organism with any odors that might be produced by other organ¬ 
isms selected at random. Sterile normal meat pieces were inoculated 
with various organisms in order to determine whether this characteristic 
sour-beef odor would be reproduced or approximated by any of them on 
raw meat. These inoculated meat pieces were incubated for four days 
at 37 0 C. The following organisms failed to produce any perceptible 
odor: 
Bacillus pyocyaneus. 
Bacillus of Priesz and Nocard. 
Staphylococcus albus. 
Staphylococcus citreus. 
1 Dyer, D. C. a new method or steam distillation for the determination or the volatile 
FATTY ACIDS, INCLUDING A SERIES OP COLORIMETRIC QUALITATIVE REACTIONS FOR TllIjlR IDENTIFICATION. 
In Jour. Biol. Chein., v. 28, no. 2, p. 469. 1917. 
