46 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
in the Biological Laboratory of Wesleyan University, to deter- 
mine whether a miscellaneous collection of species of bacteria 
caused the common acid fermentation of milk. or whether 
there is a special one which is ubiquitous and like the one 
found in Europe. 
Several organisms were isolated from milk and studied. It 
was a prominent fact that the majority of organisms were 
anaerobes or facultative anaerobes. ‘These were discarded as 
many others have done in studying milk organisms because 
they do not grow on the surface of culture media, or if they 
do, grow very scantily. The territory studied was in the city 
of Middletown and a section of Northern Rhode Island. Some 
species were found to be identical in both localities, but 
nothing definite was determined. Some species curdled milk; 
others made it acid, without curdling. There was this striking 
fact that there was no one organism in either place which 
seemed to produce a typical sour milk. 
In the early part of the present year (1896) a second series 
of experiments were conducted, in which it was considered 
advisable to make a study of milk in a much wider territory. 
In these experiments the facultative anaerobes were picked 
out and studied. Some of these were found to be very strongly 
acid when grown in blue-litmus gelatine, which was especially 
prepared for the study of the acid organisms. 
The widest extent of territory from which samples of milk 
have been received is from Ohio to Massachusetts and from 
Maine to Pennsylvania. 
Through the kindness of students I have been enabled to 
receive these samples of milk from many localities and a wide 
extent of territory. The definite localities are Elyria, Ohio; 
Buffalo, Western; Wellsboro, Northern; and two places on 
Long Island, Southern New York; Mahanoy City, Pennsyl- 
vania; Turner’s Falls, Northern; and Uxbridge, Southern 
Massachusetts; Mt. Desert Island and North Wayne, Maine; 
Plymouth, New Hampshire; Eastford, Norwich, Higganum 
and Middletown, Connecticut; Glendale and Oakland, Rhode 
Island. Single samples have been received from Wellsboro 
and Long Island, New York; Mahanoy City, Pennsylva- 
nia; Turner’s Falls, Massachusetts; North Wayne, Maine; 
Plymouth, New Hampshire; Norwich, Higganum and East- 
ford, Connecticut. From the other localities from two to five 
eS Sint s, 
