

APPLICATIONS OF BACTERIOLOGY IN EUROPE. 03 

of the many varieties which each country demands. If it were 
possible to find some means of making the popular cheeses 
in other localities than those where they are ordinarily made, 
it is plain that a great impetus could be given to dairying. 
If Edam cheeses could be manufactured equally well in all 
countries where they are in demand, if Swiss cheeses could be 
made with equal ease and equal surety outside of Switzerland, it 
is of course plain that the whole condition of the dairy industry 
would be changed. For these various reasons it is that in the 
last few years bacteriologists have ceased to pay much atten- 
tion to the problem of the relation of bacteria to butter, and 
have given a correspondingly great amount of study to the 
problem of cheese-making. 
The problem, however, has proved to be an extremely diffi- 
cult one. Its very complexity has made the subject very diffi- 
cult to reach. There is no question that the flavor of the 
cheese is developed during the period of ripening, which 
occurs after the cheese is made. But in that ripening there 
are a variety of changes that take place. The changes in the 
chemical nature of the cheese are very profound, and while 
these are in part due to bacteria they are apparently also in 
part due to certain unorganized ferments which are present in 
the milk. Moreover, the growth of bacteria in such cheeses 
is irregular and presents problems which have hitherto been 
largely insoluble. That the cheese flavor is due to bacteria 
or to moulds is everywhere agreed. 
Bacteriologists are as yet unable to agree as to what kind 
of bacteria are most intimately concerned in the ripening pro- 
cess. While there are some who bring forward an abundance 
of evidence that the Jactic organisms are those primarily con- 
cerned in the process of cheese ripening, there are others who 
bring forward also a large amount of good evidence that it is 
not the lactic organisms, but rather bacteria, which give rise to 
an alkaline reaction and which have power to digest proteids ; 
while beyond doubt some types of cheese owe their peculiar 
character to moulds, rather than bacteria. It is of course clear 
that when such a simple, primary matter as this cannot be 
settled with any degree of unanimity, we cannot expect to find 
any very considerable amount of practical results arising from 
bacteriological work.” Until a more thorough knowledge of 
the whole process is obtained we can expect to find very few 
practical applications of bacteriology in cheese-making. 
