THE CAMEMBERT TYPE OF SOFT CHEESE. — 67 
At present we have no grounds for believing that this has any 
influence upon the ripening unless it be to check in a slight 
degree the drying of the surface of the cheese. 
CHEMISTRY. 
The chemical composition of a normal Camembert cheese is 
quite well known and considerable work in this line has been 
done. This work, however, is not of much help in studying 
the changes that take place during the ripening process and 
makes it necessary to go over the same ground that has been 
covered in the work done on Cheddar cheese. 
The great difference in the making and ripening of Cheddar 
and Camembert cheese soon made it apparent that an entirely 
different set of factors are at work and that the chemical side 
of the investigation opened a field which would require consid- 
erable time to complete. 
We have undertaken to follow the chemical changes which 
render the insoluble curd of a newly made cheese into soluble 
forms found in a cheese ready for consumption; to isolate and 
study the enzyme or enzymes which cause these changes; to 
investigate the changes which concern the production of the 
peculiar flavor which is characteristic of Camembert cheese; 
and to show the relation which each of the constituents of a 
newly made cheese bears to the ripening process. 
Up to the present time all our attention has been given to 
work upon the nitrogen constituents of the cheese. This was 
because of an early belief, confirmed later to some extent, that 
the fat plays a secondary part in the ripening and in the de- 
velopment of the flavor in Camembert cheese. 
The market product was first studied to establish a standard. 
This was secured from the analysis of a number of imported 
cheeses. Our cheeses compared favorably with these, yet we 
hope to obtain improvement by a slight modification in our 
methods of making and in handling the cheeses in the ripening 
cellar (z. ce. acidity, humidity, temperature, and washing the 
cheeses ). 
The first change is the precipitation of the casein of the milk 
by rennet. This precipitate or coagulum carries down with it 
most of the fat and some of the milk sugar. The sugar is 
changed in a few days by bacteria into lactic acid, rendering the 
