CHAPTER XXXII 



EENNET 



" TN the making of cheese the first step is to cause 

 JL the milk to curdle. Lemon juice, vinegar, or 

 any other acid would bring about this result, as we 

 have already seen ; but it is customary to make use 

 of another and much more efficacious liquid called 

 rennet. Let us learn first what this liquid consists 

 of. That calls for certain explanations apparently 

 foreign to our subject, but nevertheless leading di- 

 rectly to it. 



Among our domestic animals three, the ox, goat 

 and sheep, are remarkable for their horns and split 

 hoofs. All three have a way of eating very different 

 from that of other kinds of animals. The dog, for 

 example, after masticating 

 its food sufficiently, swal- 

 lows it once for all and 

 passes it into a single diges- 

 tive Cavity Called the Stom- Typical Ruminant Stomach 



ach, where it becomes a fluid mass suitable for nu- 

 trition. On the contrary, the goat, sheep, and ox 

 chew and swallow the same food twice; at two dif- 

 ferent times, with a rather long interval between, 

 the same fodder is subjected to mastication and 

 passed down the throat. 



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