FERMENTATION OF THE FATTY ACIDS. 607 



sugar. Sack combined fermentations probably occur in 

 the preparation of cliicha from maize, as well as of the 

 Japanese kosi from rice (Marcano*) ; further, in the two 

 kinds of milk wine which have been already mentioned 

 on page 372 koumiss and kephyr. 



Kephyr is, without doubt, the most important of these pre- 

 parations as an article of diet.f The method ordinarily Native mode 

 employed in its preparation by the inhabitants of the of manufac- 

 Caucasus is very simple ; the fresh cow or goat milk is Ure * 

 collected in a flask, a small quantity of the kephyr bodies is 

 introduced, the flask is closed and placed, in summer in a 

 shady place and during the cooler part of the day in the sun, 

 in winter in the dwelling rooms, and frequently thoroughly 

 shaken. The drink is ready after one or two days; it is then 

 poured off ; over the remains of the kephyr bodies left in the 

 flask new milk is poured. Elsewhere, two methods are 

 employed in its preparation. According to the first, the dry, Preparation 

 brownish kephyr bodies, which are sold in this condition, are from dry 

 placed for five or six hours in lukewarm water, till they swell ke P n y rbodies - 

 up. They are then carefully washed, and introduced into 

 fresh milk, which is changed once or twice daily till the 

 kephyr bodies become of a pure white colour, and in fresh 

 milk rapidly rise to the surface (after twenty to thirty 

 minutes). On a table-spoonful of granules so prepared about 

 a litre of milk is then poured, and the whole introduced into 

 a flask which is allowed to stand open for five or six hours, 

 then tightly closed and kept at about 18 C., being shaken up 

 about every two hours. After eight to twenty-four hours the 

 fluid is passed through a fine sieve into another flask (this 

 must not be more than four-fifths full) ; it is then corked and 

 shaken from time to time. After twenty-four hours the so- 

 called one-day-old kephyr is obtained, which contains only 

 little carbonic acid and alcohol ; as a rule it is the two-day-old 

 which is drunk, and which, after standing at rest for some 

 time, divides into two layers a lower, whey-like and trans- 

 parent ; and an upper, formed of extremely fine flakes of 

 casein ; when it is shaken up it has a cream-like consistence. 

 Three-day-old kephyr is still thinner and very sour. What 

 remains after filtration through the sieve can be added to 

 fresh milk after being thoroughly washed with water. 



The second and more simple method can be employed where Preparation 

 a good two or three-days-old kephyr is obtainable. Of this, j^J a r ctive 



* Marcano, Compl. rend., vol. 95. 



t After Krannhalls. Kephyr was introduced into Germany at the 

 establishment of Dr. Stern in Kissingen. 



