CASEOUS MATTER, ^19 



them, have acquired so much firmness, as to resist the! 

 pressure of the finger, and present a yellow appearance : 

 the boiler is now taken from the fire, and the stirring and 

 squeezing continued, till the curd is cool, when it is put 

 into a mould and submitted to a strong pressure to extract 

 all the remaining serum. 



Afl;er these first operations are completed, the curd is 

 again kneaded, in order to give it the different forms un- 

 der which this kind of cheese is known in commerce. 

 The cheeses when formed, are rubbed over with salt ; this 

 is repeated every day, and the cheeses are at the same 

 time turned ; the salting is completed when the surfaces 

 exhibit a superabundance of moisture, as this announces 

 the cheeses to be saturated with salt. The cheeses are 

 then put into a cool place, where they will be safe from 

 insects. 



In general, cheeses made in this way are hard and dry, and 

 may be kept a long time : the nature of the caseous mat- 

 ter of cow's milk, from which they are prepared, contrib- 

 utes not a little to these qualities. 



There is no food made use of by man which presents so 

 ^reat a variety as does cheese ; this arises from some cir- 

 cumstances of which we can ascertain the causes. 



The milk which is furnished by animals of different 

 kinds, is not of the same quality, and consequently the 

 butter and caseous matter obtained from it are very dis- 

 similar, and the cheese made from sheeps' or goats' milk 

 is much more mellow and agreeable than that from cows' 

 milk. 



The milk of animals of the same kind varies very much 

 with the health, the food, season of the year, length of 

 time from bringing forth young, &c. ; all these circum- 

 stances modify the quality of this secretion indefinitely. 



The mixture of milk obtained at different times, during 

 a space of several days, the quality and proportion of the 

 rennet employed, the temperature of the weather, and the 

 calm or stormy state of the atmosphere, the cleanliness of 

 the dairy, and of the utensils employed, the degree of care 

 with which the curd is freed from whey, the choice of a 

 proper kind of salt for seasoning, the course which is pur- 

 sued in governing the fermentation, and the size of the 

 cheese upon which all these circumstances operate, com- 

 bine to influence the quality of the product ; and however 

 much care may be taken in the various parts of the process 



