769 



CHEESE. 



CHEESE. 



770 



duced not by differently coloured threads, but by threads of different 

 fineness and quality. Thus, if the chain, warp, or longitudinal yirns 

 of the web be composed of alternate parcels of white cotton and woollen 

 threads, and the transverse yarns, or the woof, be also composed of such 

 alternate parcels, we shall have a check very distinctly brought forth 

 without any distinction of colour, properly so called. 



Cotton handkerchiefs checked of various colours have been manu- 

 factured in India probably from time immemorial under the name of 

 pullicates. They were first imported into this country from Madras, 

 whence they derived the name by which this style is still known in the 

 trade, there being a town of Pulicat or Pullicate a few miles north of 

 Madras. The ground of these has usually a pale buff colour, and is 



woven with the nankin yellow cotton. Checks in this country are 

 mostly manufactured for the coarser purposes of seamen's shirts, 

 aprons, and bedgowns of females in the lower ranks of life. -The 

 quantity required is so great as to make it a very important branch of 

 business, and to render every mechanism which facilitates the fabri- 

 cation an object of consequence. Blackburn in England, and Kirkaldy 

 in Scotland, are the two chief seats of the check trade ; the former in 

 cotton, and the latter, till of late years, chiefly in linen yarns. 



For the decussation or weaving of woof yarns of different kinds or 

 colours in one web, different shuttles must be in readiness for alternate 

 use. The mode in which this is effected is shown by the figure. 



Here we see the picking peg (F), which the weaver seizes in his right 



hand, and with a dexterous jerk causes one of the shuttles lodged in 

 the separate cells at D D to move from one side of the loom to the 

 other across the line of the warp, by means of the string which extends 

 from that peg to the drivers or peckers (E E) seen at the end of the 

 cells. The three shuttle-boxes here shown, are so constructed as to be 

 made to slide up and down in a vertical plane, so that each box with 

 its appropriate shuttle may at pleasure be brought on a level with the 

 shuttle-race, or open shedding of the warp, and thus be thrown across. 

 These three boxes are suspended by cords from the cross levers (a a), 

 which turn upon centres, in the suspending bars marked B B, or the 

 swords of the lay, being the levers which make it vibrate backwards 

 and forwards in the act of weaving : A represents the cross-bar of wood 

 on which the lay c oscillates upon iron gudgeons, or pins driven into 

 each of its ends, and resting upon the upper rails of the loom, as shown 

 in section. The under part of the lay is seen at c, and the upper part, 

 called the lay-cap (a), is seized by the weaver's left hand in driving 

 home each shute or shoot of weft. The two pieces of buffalo hide 

 called the drivers or peckers (E E) are perforated, and traverse or slide 

 horizontally upon smoothly polished iron rods. These pieces give the 

 immediate impulsion to the shuttle. The weavers' twitch at the 

 picking peg H must be sufficiently smart to communicate adequate 

 velocity to the shuttle, so as to lodge it in the opposite box, and over- 

 come its friction along the warp-race ; on the other hand, he must 

 avoid giving it too forcible a pull, which might do injury to its point, 

 or throw it out of the shed. The pin H is made to slide freely from 

 right to left upon the upper bar of the lay, and thus give such motion 

 to the levers (o o) as may bring the proper box opposite to the shuttle- 

 driver. 



As diversity of woof renders diversity of shuttles necessary, it 

 becomes expedient to shift them rapidly, otherwise the operation 

 would be much impeded. The above plan is not the one originally 

 employed, but is in many respects better. The pin (H) being fixed by 

 friction only, so as to slide from right to left on the upper shell of the 

 lay, the levers (o o) connected with it may be readily moved, being 

 within reach of the weaver's hand, as he works the lay. ' The driver, 

 if drawn forward, would present an obstruction to the shifting of the 

 boxes, but this may be easily avoided by an experienced operative. 



Mr. Robert Kay, of Bury, son of the most ingenious but persecuted 

 inventor of the fly-shuttle, invented the above-described drop-box, for 

 making checks ; by means of which, as we see, the weaver could at 

 pleasure use any one of three shuttles without rising from his seat, 

 neb shuttle containing a differently coloured weft. 



TUe relation which this production of checks bears to other depart- 

 ments of textile manufacture will be further illustrated under 

 WEAVING. 



CHKKSK. [CASEIN.] 



CHEESE. The milk of animals consists of three distinct sub- 

 stances, which are separated from one another by a slight change, 

 which begins as soon as it is exposed to the ah-. The oily part rises 

 to the surface by its less specific gravity, and when it is collected into 

 a solid mass by agitation it forms butter ; the curd, coagulated by the 

 action of any acid, and pressed, becomes cheese ; and the fluid which 

 remains is the serum or whey. 



In the making of cheese there are certain general principles which 

 are essential, but slight variations in the process produce cheeses of 

 very different qualities ; and, although a very important circumstance 

 is the nature of the pasture on which the cows are fed, yet much 

 depends on the mode in which in its different stages the fabrication is 

 managed ; and hence the great superiority of the cheeses of particular 

 districts or dairies over those of others, without any apparent differ- 



ABTS AMD SCI. DIV. VOL. II. 



ence in the pasture. By skill and great attention excellent cheeses 

 are made in places where the pastures are not considered so well 

 adapted to produce milk of a proper quality; and in those countries 

 where the cows are chiefly kept tied up in stalls, and are fed with a 

 variety of natural and artificial grasses, roots, and vegetables, superior 

 cheese is often made. 



The first process in making cheese is to separate the curd from the 

 whey : this may be done by allowing the milk to become sour ; but 

 the cheese is then inferior in quality, and it is difficult to stop the acid 

 fermentation, and prevent its running into the putrefactive. Various 

 substances added to milk will soon separate the curd from the whey. 

 All acids curdle milk. Muriatic acid is used with success for this 

 purpose in Holland. Some vegetables contain acids which readily 

 coagulate milk, such as the juice of the fig-tree, and the flowers of the 

 Galium verum, or yellow lady's bed-straw, hence called cheese rennet. 

 Where better rennet cannot be procured, they may be substituted for 

 the most natural curdler of milk, which is the gastric juice of the stomach 

 of a sucking calf. This juice rapidly coagulates the milk as the calf 

 sucks ; and the only difficulty is in collecting and keeping it from putre- 

 faction, which begins from the instant the stomach is taken from the 

 calf. The preparation of the rennet, as it is called, is a most important 

 part of the process of cheese-making. The following may be considered 

 as the simplest, and perhaps the best : As soon as a sucking calf is 

 killed, the stomach should be taken out, and if the calf has sucked 

 lately, it is all the better. The outer skin should be well scraped, and 

 all fat and useless membranes carefully removed. It is only the inner 

 coat which must be preserved. The coagulated milk should be taken 

 out and examined, and any substance besides curd found in it should 

 be carefully removed. The serum left in it should be pressed out with 

 a cloth. It should then be replaced in the stomach with a large 

 quantity of the best salt. Some add a little alum and sal prunella ; 

 others put various h'erbs and spices, with the view of giving thtf che"e"se 

 a peculiar flavour, but "the plafn simple salting is sufficient. "The Skills 

 or veils, as they are called, are then put" info a pan anil covered with' a 

 saturated solution of 'salt, in which the^ "are soaked for soijie hoars'.; 

 but there must be no more liquor thaii will well jnoisten the vetjs. 

 They are afterwards hung up to dry, a piece of flat wood being put 

 crosswise into each to stretch them out. They should be perfectly 

 dried, and look like parchment. In this state they may be kept in a 

 dry place for any length of time, and are always ready for use. In 

 some places, at the time of making cheese, a piece of a veil is cut off 

 and soaked for some hours in water or whey, and the whole is added 

 to the warm milk. In other places, pieces of veil are put into a linen 

 bag and soaked in warm water, until the water has acquired sufficient 

 strength, which is proved by trying a portion of it in warm milk. The 

 method employed in Switzerland is as follows : A dry veil is taken 

 and examined; it is scraped with a knife, and where any veins or 

 pieces of tough membrane appear, they are removed. The whole 

 surface is examined and washed carefully, if any dust or dirt has 

 adhered to it ; but otherwise it is only wjped with a cloth. A handful 

 of salt is then put into it, and the edges of the veil are folded over and 

 secured with a wooden skewer stuck through it. In this state it forms 

 a ball of about three inches diameter, and is laid to soak twenty-four 

 hours in a dish containing about a quart of clear whey, which has been 

 boiled, and all the curd taken out. The next day the veil is well 

 squeezed, and put into fresh whey ; the first infusion being put into a 

 proper vessel, the second is afterwards mixed with it, and bottled for 

 use. Half a pint of this liquor, of a proper strength, is sufficient to 

 curdle forty gallons of milk. Experience alone enables the dairyman 

 to judge of the strength of his rennet ; for thU purpose he takes in a 



3 D 



