218 HISTORY. CREAM THAT RISES FIRST. 



"butter." And the expression in Prov. (30: 33), 

 ''' Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter," 

 would be better translated, according to the best 

 critics, "the pressing of the milker bringeth forth 

 milk,'' or the " pressing of milk bringeth forth cheese." 



In the oldest Greek writers milk and cheese are 

 spoken of, but there is no evidence that butter was 

 known to them. The Greeks obtained their knowledge 

 of it from the Scythians or the Thracians, and the 

 Romans obtained theirs from the Germans. 



In the time of Christ it was used chiefly as an oint- 

 ment in the baths, arid as a medicine. In warm lati- 

 tudes, as in the southern part of Europe, even at the 

 present day, its use is comparatively limited, the deli- 

 cious oil of the olive supplying its place. 



I have already stated that all good milk of the cow 

 contained butter enclosed in little round globules held 

 in suspension, or floating in the other substances. As 

 soon as the milk comes to rest after leaving the udder, 

 these round particles, being lighter than the mass of 

 cheesy and watery materials by which they are sur- 

 rounded, begin to rise and work their way to the sur- 

 face. The largest globules, being comparatively the 

 lightest, rise first, and form the first layer of cream, 

 which is the best, since it is less filled with caseine. 

 The next smaller, rising a little slower, are more 

 entangled with other substances, and bring more of 

 them to the surface ; and the smallest rise the slowest 

 and the last, and come up loaded with foreign sub- 

 stances, and produce an inferior quality of cream and 

 butter. The most delicate cream, as well as the sweet- 

 est and most fragrant butter, is that obtained by a first 

 skimming, only a few hours after the milk is set. Of 

 three skimmings, at six, twelve, and eighteen hours 

 after the milk is strained into the pan, that first obtained 



