28 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Suny, 1899. 
unharmed through the ordeal of boiling, they commence developing and multi- 
plying as the milk cools, and having, by the destruction of all the healthy 
organisms, the field almost entirely to themselves, soon produce a characteristic 
effect on the medium in which they have their abode. 
SLIMY OR ROPY MILK. 
This disease, in which the milk becomes thick and slimy, is traceable to the 
action of a large section of germs, assisted by other organisms of. a similar 
nature, being one of the many kinds of yeast. 
Milk attacked by this disease will not cream, nor can it be churned. It iy 
not at all nice for drinking purposes, yet in some foreign countries it is said to 
be liked as an article of diet, and is produced artificially by introducing into 
the milk the cut stem of a plant known as the butterwort. It is also reported 
that the same effect is produced by feeding the cows with this plant. The 
Laplanders are credited with these doings, and keep back a portion of the 
prepared milk in order to inoculate fresh milk with the ferment, just as we use 
yeast for brewing purposes, and under these circumstances are said to produce 
a confection quite delicious in taste. This plant (the butterwort) is found in 
some of our pastures, frequenting damp, boggy places; so it is possible that 
milk infected with the ferment may have derived the infection from the 
presence of this weed on the grass land of the farm. 
BLUE MILK. 
In this case the milk changes in such a way as to appear covered with 
blue patches, and this change takes place only after a primary, though slight, 
development of acidity. When the caseous matter of the milk curdles, the 
action completely ceases. 
The first cause of such faulty milk is the access of filth, and in thoroughly 
clean and sweet dairies such a misfortune as the occurrence of this evil would 
be very rare. The organism implicated in this change is destroyed if subjected 
to a heat of 176 deg. Fahy. 
RED MILK. 
This occurrence, although it may be due either to the access of blood into 
the milk glands from a rupture of some of the bloodvessels in the same, or to 
food being eaten by the cow which contains a red colouring substance, such as 
madder, in its composition, is also occasioned by the development of a blood-red 
micro-organism. It is colonies of these organisms and their product which 
sometimes are so abundantly seen on potatoes rotting in store. They rarely 
obtain access to milk, but when such is the case they rapidly cause it to curdle, 
and sometimes produce a fishy smell and flavour. 
YELLOW MILK. 
This—another rare occurrence—results in the milk appearing of a brilliant 
yellow colour, in which the curd first produced is finally dissolved into an amber- 
coloured liquid.— Farmer and Stockbreeder. 
The Horse. 
STABLE NOTES, No. 3. 
By W. C QUINNELL, M.R.C.V.S. 
DISEASES OF HORSES. 
GENERAL TREATMENT OF HORSES IN DISEASE, 
Bandages.—In febrile and inflammatory attacks, and during recovery from 
exhausting disease in horses, bandages to the legs help to maintain equable 
temperature and combat congestion of internal organs. 
Warm Bandages —Bandages for the purpose of warmth are. made of 
flannel, and should be at least 3 yards long. With the view of maintaining heat 
for any long period, which is very beneficial to a sick animal, a little hay may be 
placed loosely round the legs before the bandages are applied. 
