[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Malden & Coombe] page 22 23

Malden and Coombe 1908

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Malden & Coombe]

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Table: Experiments on the Rate of Destruction of Solid Matters in Slate Beds, Prepared with Deposit taken from the Slates in the Beds at Maiden, Surrey.

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Experiments on the Rate of Destruction of Solid Matters in Slate Beds, Prepared with Deposit taken from the Slates in the Beds at Maiden, Surrey.

Substance.	First day, after 20 hours' rest.	Second day.	Third day.	Fourth day.	Fifth day.
Bread	Zooglea masses, starch cells, spiral vessels, motile bacteria, leptothrix, green con-fervæ, &c. Bread undergoing disintegration.	Numerous bacteria, starch cells very attenuated and losing form.	Bread completely disintegrated, abunddance of leptothrix, oscillaria, monadina, Clostridium, quantity of round granular matter, query worm casts.	-	-
Butter	Mass of fat cells	Fat cells with brown granular matter (? worm casts).	Brown granular matter with spirilla, leptothrix, fat cells.	Irregular cellular membrane with colonies of micrococci and bacilli, &c.	Butter reduced to a thin wafer.
Cheese	Masses of various bacteria, i.e., bacilli, micrococci, streptococci, &c.	Swarming with colonies of motile bacilli.	Bundles of stellate crystals interspersed with numerous bacteria, motile and nonmotile.	Fat cells crowded with bacilli & diplococci.	The cheese reduced to a thin pasty layer.
Lettuce	Chlorophyll attacked, bacilli, diplococci, zooglea, leptothrix, &c.	Peaty matter, various bacteria.	Granular matter, leptothrix, various bacteria, monadina, amoeba, infusoria, &c.	Indefinite debris (?worm casts); lettuce decomposed to granular condition almost free from bacteria (? action of worms).	Last trace of lettuce disappeared.
Lean pork (cooked)	Mud black underneath, deep chocolate on surface, various bacteria, leptothrix, and encysted infusoria. ? worm casts.	Meat in fibrous state, muscular fibres embedded in zooglea masses of bacteria, large numbers of spirilla and motile bacilli, anguillulæ and worms.	Muscular fibre extremely attenuated, numerous spirilla, motile bacilli, and monadina, zooglea, oscillaria, &c.; the whole swarming with micrococci.	Muscular fibre entirely destroyed, the residue being alive with motile bacilli, spirilla, monadina, oscillaria, anguillulæ, worms, &c.	Pork reduced to a thin greyish scum consist of various organisms.
Tendon from roast pork; very hard and tough	Abundant organisms, various bacteria single and in zooglea form.	Enormous numbers of micrococci and monadina.	Swarming with micrococci, spirilla, monadina, granular celular matter (? worm casts), fungoid mycelium.	Quantity of brown granular matter (? worm casts), anguillulae, worms, monadina, many bacteria, zooglea masses, oscillaria, &c.	Tendon reduced to a soft grey mass.
Fat of ham	Leptothrix, streptococci, and numerous zooglea masses.	Fat cells interspersed with various bacteria	Fat cells, brown granular matter (? worm casts), bacteria, &c.	Fat cells with zooglea masses, spirilla, &c., various infusoria, opalina, oscillaria, &c.	Fat largely reduced to a soft pasty mass.
Brewery refuse in sewage	Yeast cells practically destroyed, leptothrix, zooglea masses various infusoria.	All odour of brewery refuse disappeared, grey surface deposit.	-	-	-