THE CAMEMBERT TYPE OF SOFT CHEESE. 61 
To test the validity of this hypothesis a set of cultures were 
grown for a long time on Raulin’s fluid, then examined by 
the chemist. The presence of an enzyme capable of digesting 
proteid was satisfactorily demonstrated. We have, therefore, 
shown by pure culture methods that the Camembert mold (Peni- 
cillium candidum?) is not only capable of changing the acidity 
of the curd, but is able also to cause such changes of the curd 
as will account for the texture of the ripe cheese and that this 
result is due to the secretion of an enzyme. 
A cheese ripened by this mold alone is white, soft, creamy, 
and entirely palatable, but is wanting in color and completely 
lacks the peculiar flavor for which Camembert cheese is sought 
in the market. After repeated tests had shown the same result, 
we began to seek for some other organism capable of producing 
the desired flavor. ‘The discovery of this flavor in certain ex- 
perimental cheeses at this time was followed by their immediate 
microscopic examination which showed the presence of the 
second of the two fungi originally found on Camembert cheese. 
This mold, the well-known and universally distributed Ozdzum 
(or Oospora) lactis had been discarded from much of our work 
on account. of some failures and objectionable results. We now 
found that the inoculation of this organism upon cheeses par- 
tially ripe and lacking flavor would lead to the production of 
the flavor distinctly in a very few days. Although from its 
habits of growth its development upon cheese is nearly always 
accompanied by rapid multiplication of bacteria, this seemed 
good circumstantial evidence that Oidium lactis has something 
to do with the flavor of Camembert cheese. Additional evi- 
dence is found in the fact that the examination of properly 
flavored ripe cheese of our own make and from the market has 
never failed to show the presence of Oidium lactis, and it has 
never, been shown to be present upon ripe cheeses without the 
flavor being present also. The great difficulty surrounding 
complete proof of the agency of a particular organism in pro- 
ducing flavor lies in the fact that the flavors do not begin to 
appear until the acidity of the curd is much reduced and the di- 
gestion attributed in our work to the Penicillium has advanced 
considerably. Flavors, the chemists tell us, are associated 
with the ‘‘end products of digestion.’’ . When ripening has 
reached such a stage as to permit flavor formation, the growth 
