

BACTERIA IN THE DAIRY. 51 
source. Hay and hay dust were collected from three barns 
and put into sterile milk and left to undergo fermentation. 
The changes were very tardy in making their appearance. In 
a few days the milk curdled and gelatine plate cultures were 
made from the milk tubes. There were several kinds of alka- 
line and acid organisms, but none that resembled Baczllus acidi 
lactict. ‘There was present a very vigorously growing, strongly 
acid-producing organism. 
Four experiments were tried with milk direct from the cow’s 
teat. The first experiment from a cow in Rhode Island was 
very remarkable. The milk collected was the first drawn, in 
which it is supposed that the germs are most abundant. ‘The 
milk remained in a warm room for twenty-two days before it 
curdled, and the organisms then obtained from it were not acid. 
The second experiment from the same cow gave a nearly 
pure culture of Bacillus acidi lactictz. -’'Two experiments were 
tried in the same manner with the milk of a single cow in 
Massachusetts, both of which gave a majority of Bacillus acidi 
lactict colonies. From these insufficient data is suggested the 
possibility that Bacillus acidi lactict comes from the cow in the 
milk duct, since its maximuin temperature of growth is about 
that of the body temperature. 
There were three species of organisms so closely allied to 
Bacillus actdi lactict that I consider them varieties of that 
organism. The first was found at Sagaponack and Miller’s 
Place, New York, and Glendale, Rhode Island. The points in 
which it differs from Aaczllus actdi lactict are, that it does not 
grow at 35° C., and though it renders milk strongly acid it does 
not curdle it. [The second, found at Glendale, Rhode Island, 
was almost identical with the first, except that it rendered milk 
only slightly acid. The third, found at Uxbridge, Massachu- 
setts, was like the second, but grew at 373° C. | 
Many of the specimens of milk yielded a nearly pure culture 
of Bacillus acidi lactict<. ‘When the milk was set aside to sour, 
many of the alkaline species disappeared as the lactic acid 
increased in strength. On the other hand, some specimens of 
milk had so many liquefiers that it was difficult to obtain from 
the gelatine plate cultures the slowly growing Aaczllus acidt 
lactict, which doubtless soured the milk and made it acid, but 
did not have time to develop before the gelatine was liquefied. 
