242 CHEESE. ITS RICHNESS. 



observed that acids of various kinds would answer, and 

 vinegar was used; and cream of tartar, muriatic acid, and 

 sour milk, added to sweet, produced a rapid coagulation. 

 In Sweden, Norway, and other countries, a handful of the 

 plant known as butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris)is some- 

 times mixed with the food of the cow, to cause the milk 

 to coagulate readily. A few hours after milking, the curd 

 is formed without the addition of an acid. Milk taken 

 into the stomach of the calf was found to curdle' rapidly, 

 even while sweet ; and hence the use of rennet, which is 

 simply the stomach of the calf, prepared by washing, 

 salting, and drying, for preservation. This acts the 

 most surely, and, if properly prepared and preserved, is 

 the least objectionable, of any article now known ; and 

 is, in fact, the natural mode of curdling the milk as it 

 enters the stomach, preparatory to the process of diges- 

 tion. Besides this, it is generally the cheapest and 

 most available for the farmer. 



The richness of cheese depends very much upon the 

 amount of butter or oily matter it contains. It may be 

 made entirely of cream, or from whole or unskimmed 

 milk, to which the cream of other milk is added, or 

 from milk from which a part of its cream has been 

 taken, or from ordinary skim-milk, or from milk that 

 has been skimmed three or four times, so as to remove 

 nearly every particle of cream, or from butter-milk. 

 The acid used in curdling milk acts upon the caseine 

 alone, and not upon the butter particles, which are 

 imbedded in the curd as it hardens, and thus increase 

 its richness and flavor without adding to its con- 

 sistency, which is due to the caseine. 



It is evident, therefore, that cheese made entirely of 

 cream cannot have the firmness and consistence of 

 ordinary cheese. It is only made for immediate use, 

 and cannot be long kept. It is, in fact, little more than 



