276 THE ox. 



When cream is agitated for a time, or when the entire 

 milk, without separation of the cream, is agitated, the buty- 

 raceous globules collect and adhere together, forming a soft 

 solid, which is Butter, and which floats in the liquid. The 

 separation of the butter, which takes place suddenly, is per- 

 formed by the familiar process of churning, and in certain 

 countries by agitating the milk in bags of hide or leather. 

 What remains after the separation of the butter is termed 

 Buttermilk. Buttermilk is therefore merely milk deprived 

 of its butter, and still contains the caseous and other con- 

 stituents. 



Butter thus obtained has the properties of an expressed 

 oil, and fuses at about the temperature of the human body. 

 It is a very compound substance, being resolvable into various 

 animal fats and acids ; and, further, it is not obtained pure 

 by the mechanical means employed to separate it, but retains 

 a portion of caseine, serum, and the soluble matter of the 

 milk. When exposed to the air, it speedily undergoes a 

 change, and becomes rancid. To preserve it from decompo- 

 sition, it is mixed with v salt and other substances. The 

 people of the warmer countries of the East subject it to 

 fusion, by which means the extraneous matters are sepa- 

 rated. It is then termed Ghee, in which state it is used by 

 the Hindoos and other Asiatics. The Arabs consume it in 

 enormous quantities. Burckhardt informs us, that it is a 

 common practice among all classes to drink every morning 

 a coffee-cupful of ghee. The taste for it is universal, and 

 the poorest persons will expend half their daily income, in 

 order that they may enjoy their melted butter in the morn- 

 ing and at noon. Large quantities of this substance, accord- 

 ingly, are yearly shipped for Arabia from Abyssinia and 

 Egypt. 



The butter of milk, it has been seen, is separated by 

 means purely mechanical ; the caseous or cheesy portion is 

 obtained by causing the albuminous matter of the milk to co- 

 here or coagulate. When milk, with or without separation 



