276 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXVIII, No. 3 
PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIONS 
The carbohydrates are weakly attacked. In seven days a slight acidity but # 
no gas can be detected in dextrose, sucrose and glycerin broths * 1 2 ; neither acid 
nor gas in lactose or starch; in a 0.4 per cent caseinate solution plus 1 per cent 
lactose, the P H changed from 7.0 to 6.9 in three to seven days at 22° C.; no dia- 
static action was evident on starch agar. . 
Milk. —The organism proteolyzes milk rapidly; the reaction remains unchanged 
or becomes slightly alkaline; no curd can be detected even by heating but on 
long incubation a powdery amorphous precipitate develops; litmus reduces 
in seven days. In whole milk the cream layer is unaffected; tubes of whole 
milk incubated at 37° C. or at 22° for two months did not have the cream 
layer visibly altered; the milk beneath the cream layer is digested nearly as 
rapidly as in skim-milk tubes; the odor remains cheesy, but is not considered 
putrid. 
N0 3 broth. —Nitrates are not reduced in 10 days at 22° C. 
Indol production. 3 —Indol present in seven days at 22° C. 
H S production. 4 —H 2 S is produced in three to seven days at 22° C. 
Relation to Oxygen. —Grows best aerobically. 
Omelianski (2) b in a recent article quite thoroughly reviews the literature on 
aroma-producing microorganisms. Several species have been described which 
bear close resemblance to the organisms under consideration. Among them are 
Bacillus praepollens Maaszen (1) and Flavobacterium aromaticum Pammel (3). 
These, however, differ in several characters. Bacillus praepollens of Maaszen 
is nonmotile, does not produce indol and produces black granules in broth and 
in gelatin. Dr. Pammel’s F. aromaticum is indol-negative and produces gas from 
dextrose and sucrose. 
A thorough search of the literature has not revealed a previous description 
which adequately fits this organism. In the absence of a previous description, 
the Latin word suaveolens, meaning sweet smelling or fragrant, is suggested as 
the species name. According to Bergey’s “Manual of Determinative Bacteri¬ 
ology” (4) it belongs in the genus Flavobacterium —hence the name Flavo¬ 
bacterium suaveolens . 
LITERATURE CITED 
(1) Maaszen, A. 
1899. fruchtatherbildende bakterien. Arb. K. Gsndhtsamt 
15: 500-513, illus. 
(2) Omelianski, V. L. 
1923. aroma-producing microorganisms. Jour. Bact. 8: 393-419. 
(3) Pammel, L. H., and Pammel, E. 
1896. a contribution on the gases produced by certain bacteria. 
Centbl. Bakt. (II), 2: 633-650, illus. 
(4) Society of American Bacteriologists. 
1923. bergey’s manual of determinative bacteriology. 442 p. 
Baltimore. 
* Medium employed: 
1 per cent Andrade’s indicator 
1 per cent peptone 
0.5 per cent NaCl 
0.2 per cent K 2 HPO 4 
1 per cent carbohydrate. 
3 This was tested according to Malone and Gore’s cotton plug test. 
4 The method of the Society of American Bacteriologists, 1920, was used. 
6 Reference is made by number (italic) to “Literature cited,” p. 276. 
