A technique for determining the concentration of leucocytes in cow's milk is described which is more rapid and accurate as well as much less tedious than conventional microscope methods. The leucocytes are isolated from the fat globules of comparable size by a novel centrifuging procedure. Sizing of the leucocytes with a Coulter electronic counter shows that their volumes range from about 45 to 1770 µm3 but a partially overlapping distribution of other particulate matter prevents the accurate determination of the total number of cells present. The numbers counted in truncated leucocyte distributions, however, correlate linearly with total cell counts determined with an improved microscope method up to 6 × 106 cells/ml of milk.

The effect of bacterial infections, produced by infusions of Streptococcus dysgalactiae and of Staphylococcus pyogenes into one quarter of the udder, on milk yield and composition in heifers has been investigated. After a quarter became infected there was invariably a decrease in the yield of milk and in the concentrations of lactose and potassium, while there was an increase in those of sodium, chloride and non-casein proteins. These effects persisted into the 2nd lactation if the infection was not eliminated. If the infection was eliminated during the 1st lactation or during the dry period before 2nd calving there was a complete recovery in the composition of the milk in the 2nd lactation, but the recovery in milk yield was not complete.

Van den Hamer & Elias (1958) described a method of estimating D(–) lactic acid using lactic dehydrogenase and a Warburg technique. The enzyme was obtained as an acetone preparation of Escherichia coli grown on a medium containing lactate as energy source.

The entry into milk from blood of N-acetyl-4-aminoantipyrine (NAAP) and urea, compounds known to be distributed evenly throughout the whole of body water, and thiocyanate and thiosulphate, the distribution of which is confined largely to extracellular fluid, has been investigated. The concentrations of NAAP and urea in blood and in milk were similar, but the concentrations of thiocyanate and thiosulphate in milk were much lower than the concentrations in blood plasma. A progressive increase in the ratio of the thiocyanate concentration in milk to that in blood occurred with advancing lactation and marked variations in the thiocyanate ratio of the milk of the separate quarters were observed in some cows, and these variations in the ratio were closely related to variations in the chloride content of the milk; similar inter-quarter variations in the ratio for NAAP were not observed. With NAAP, there was a continuous equilibrium between blood plasma and milk within the udder, whereas with thiocyanate the content in milk after its secretion into the ducts and cisterns of the udder appeared to be largely independent of later changes in the concentration of thiocyanate in blood plasma. These results are discussed in relation to the secretion of chloride in milk.

The effects of dilution, freezing and thawing, and drying on the dispersibility of fat-globule membrane (FGM) preparations were studied. Dilution of FGM favoured aggregation of the lipoprotein particles. Freezing and thawing of FGM had a similar effect. Drying FGM by roller-drying markedly decreased its dispersibility. Drying by low-temperature vacuum-drying only slightly increased the dispersibility of FGM, while freeze-drying and spray-drying gave larger increases in the dispersibility.

A subjective test for the determination of the stability of milk protein to heat is described. In the test, the time required for particles of coagulated protein to become visible throughout a 2·5-ml sample of separated milk maintained at 135°C in a glass tube rocking at 8 c/min is taken as a measure of stability. The precision of the test was such that single determinations were generally adequate.

Coagulation time decreased by about 12% as rocking speed was increased over the range 4–12 c/min and increased by a factor of about 3 for a decrease in heating temperature of 10 degC over the range 140–105 °C; with some milks the Q10 °C value increased to 5–8 a temperature decreased. As sample volume was increased over the range 1–3 ml coagulation time increased, especially With milks whose coagulation was poor (initial clots small). This volume effect appeared to be a consequence of the accompanying decrease in the proportion of headspace oxygen to volume of milk.

Using several milk supplies, a comparison has been made between the amount of deposit formed under standard conditions in a small plate type ultra-hightemperature heater, and the results from the hot-wire laboratory apparatus described previously. It is shown that the laboratory apparatus reproduces the variations in the sensitivity to deposit formation found using the plate heater. The relationship is linear if the criterion derived from the hot-wire results is taken as the square of that proposed previously. A decrease in the sensitivity to deposit formation during the ageing of fresh milk, and a seasonal variation, are indicated.

The effect on heat stability as measured by coagulation time, of storing separated milk at 20, 4 and −20 °C has been examined. Milk with a good coagulation (initial clots large) could be stored for at least 30 h at 20 °C, 1 week at 4 °C and 1 month at −20 °C with no significant change in coagulation time. With milks giving a poor coagulation (initial clots small), a common occurrence during storage at 20 °C was a marked progressive increase in coagulation time; the rate of increase was reduced by storage at 4 °C. The increase in coagulation time of these labile milks, which are usually obtained from cows with subclinical mastitis, may occur to the same extent in darkness as in light, may be enhanced by exposure to light or may occur only when the milk is exposed to light. From these results, together with others reported by Davies & White (1966) and White & Davies (1966) it is concluded that, in studying heat stability, milks giving a good coagulation should be regarded as in a different class from milks giving a poor coagulation.

During a series of lactation studies on ewes a half-udder technique was used for comparing twice- with thrice-a-day milking. The treatments were applied to the half-udders of 8 ewes in a Latin square design, in which each period lasted 7 days. Essentially the treatments were as follows: (A) a half-udder milked twice daily whilst the opposite half-udder was milked thrice; (B) a half-udder milked thrice daily whilst the opposite half-udder was also milked thrice; (C) a half-udder milked twice daily whilst the opposite half-udder was also milked twice.

Fifty-nine strains of pediococci were isolated as representing the predominant non-starter flora in a series of Cheddar cheeses made over a period of 5 months. All strains had the same physiological characteristics and were identified as Pediococcus cerevisiae. A common antigen was found in 54 of the strains, whereas in the other 5 the antigenic component appeared to be related but not the same. Both antigens were located in the cell wall.

All the strains required folinic acid for growth and it was shown with one strain that the small amount of growth which occurred in sterile milk was greatly increased by the presence of the folinic acid producing starter Streptococcus cremoris 924.

An objective test has been developed to help in assessing the value, as a method for determining the heat stability of milk, of the subjective test described by Davies & White (1966a). The objective test showed that coagulation time, as determined by the subjective test, is a reasonably accurate measure of the induction period that precedes the onset of initial rapid coagulation, but that coagulation proceeds in 2 different ways depending primarily on whether the coagulation of the milk is good (initial clots large) or poor (initial clots small). The latter finding confirms the view that in studying heat stability these 2 categories of milk should be examined separately.

Phytanic acid, 3,7,11,15-tetramethylhexadecanoic acid, which hitherto had been isolated and identified from several natural sources including butterfat, ox perinephric fat and cow plasma, has now been found present in small amounts (2·9%) in the total fatty acids extracted from the rumen bacteria of a fistulated dairy cow fed a diet of clover-grass hay. This C20 multibranched fatty acid was not detected in the dietary clover-grass hay, and it is considered to have been derived from phytol by enzymic activity of the rumen bacteria.