SUMMARY: A survey has been made of the numbers and types of group D faecal streptococci in three bacon factories. Although Streptococcus faecium, normally present in the gut of the pig and isolated from spoiled canned hams, was found, it was often outnumbered by Strep. faecalis, an indicator of human faecal contamination which is rare in the pig. The rôle of these two organisms in ham spoilage is discussed. The value of thallous acetate‐tetrazolium‐glucose agar for isolating and distinguishing these organisms has been demonstrated, and it is suggested that the method may have more general application where it is necessary to differentiate between faecal streptococci of human and animal origin.
The intrinsic clostridia in the muscles of whale carcasses multiply rapidly after the Attempts have muscles have passed into vigov wm~tis, but not appreciably before rigov. been made to verify this with sterno-cephalicus muscles of horse carcasses.
603The muscle was divided into two, and one half stimulated electrically to bring on rigor.The pre-and post-rigor halves were then sliced, the slices inoculated uniformly and incubated under comparable conditions, and samples were removed a t intervals for viable counts. Experiments were made with Pseudomonas strains on slices under oxygen, and Clostvidium strains on slices under hydrogen. In no case was there more inhibition of growth on the pre-than on the post-rigor slices. Usually, on the contrary, growth was slower on the latter, to an extent explicable by their greater acidity.There was however a lag in growth for several hours after death, especially with the anaerobes. which was not appreciably affected by the artificial induction of rzgor. This is tentatively connected with the oxygen relations of the muscle. I n a muscle which attained rzgor normally, this lag would be associated with the pre-rigor state.
The ability of organisms isolated from the flora of whalemeat to produce trimethylamine from trimethylamine oxide, choline and lecithin has been investigated with reference t o the production of ' fishy ' flavours. More than half produced it from trimethylamine oxide, one-eighth from choline and none from lecithin. It is not decided how far this may be significant in commercial practice.
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