66 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
suggests they may have contributed to the process. It was es- 
pecially significant to find that: 1. This cheese ripened in the 
center before it did on the outer edge, as would be expected if 
the bacterial enzymes aided in the ripening. 2. The final pro- 
duct was in flavor and texture not very different from the more 
typically ripened cheeses. This would seem to suggest that 
while the normal ripening is not due to the bacteria or enzymes 
in the body of the cheese but to the organisms on the surface, 
under some circumstances the former may materially contribute 
to the process, and while producing a somewhat abnormal rip- 
ening, will give in the end a similar result. 
From the facts thus outlined we have reached the conclusion 
that the bacteria in the body of the cheese are in normally 
ripening cheeses concerned only in the souring of the curd as 
preparatory to the later changes. This leads, naturally, to the 
study of the organisms present in the outer layers. ‘This rind 
contains a variety of molds and bacteria. The presence of 
certain molds in the rind of every Camembert cheese examined 
suggested from the first that they must be important agents in 
the ripening process. This has been demonstrated in the pre- 
ceding section; but this rind also, under most circumstances 
contains many bacteria. Our study of these bacteria and their 
actions is not yet complete. We have as yet no good evidence 
that their action is necessary to. the production of a first-class 
product. That they occasionally modify the final cheese is 
quite certain, and we are also convinced that they play an 
important part in the ripening of the type we have called the 
American Brie. Whether they have any influence on the pro- 
duction of the typical Camembert flavor can only be determined 
by subsequent experiments.* 
It should be finally stated that the surface of the ripening 
cheeses very frequently becomes covered by an abundant growth 
of yeast, a phenomenon which the makers call ‘‘sweating.”’ 
* Since the above was in type we have received from France through the Dairy 
Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry a set of cheeses selected and forwarded by 
M. Georges Roger accompanied by a letter giving data as to age and condition of 
ripeness. Studies from the surface of these cheeses have shown the presence of the 
same Penicillium we are using, of Oidium lactis, and of the same species of bacteria 
which appear on our cheeses and contamination with the same other molds we have 
met. These bacteria on the older cheeses formed reddish-brown slime almost entirely 
covering the cheese. Systematic tests of these red slime producing bacteria are being 
made to ascertain what effect they may really have upon the ripening of the cheese. . 
Cultures made from the interior of the cheese showed practically pure cultures of 
lactic organisms as in our own cheese. ‘These results suggest that we have the same 
organisms as M. Roger, though under different names. 

