THE OX AND THE DAIEY. 1 81 



verum, or yellow lady's bed straw, hence called cheese-rennet. 

 Where better rennet cannot be procured, they may be substi- 

 tuted for the best curdler of milk, which is the gastric juice of 

 the stomach of a sucking calf. This juice rapidly coagulates 

 the milk as the calf sucks ; and the only difficulty is in col- 

 lecting and keeping it from putrefaction, which begins from 

 the instant the stomach is taken from the calf. The prepara- 

 tion of the rennet, as it is called, is a most important part of 

 the process of cheese-making. The following may be consi- 

 dered as the simplest, and perhaps the best. As soon as a 

 sucking calf is killed, the stomach should be taken out, and if 

 the calf has sucked lately, it is all the better. The outer skin 

 should be well scraped, and all fat and useless membranes 

 carefully removed. It is only the inner coat which must be 

 preserved. The coagulated milk should be taken out and 

 examined ; and any substance besides curd found in it should 

 be carefully removed. The serum left in it should be pressed 

 out with a cloth. It should then be replaced in the stomach 

 with a large quantity of the best salt. Some add a little alum 

 and sal prunella ; others put various herbs and spices, with a 

 view of giving the cheese a peculiar flavour ; but the plain 

 simple salting is sufficient. The skins or veils, as they are 

 called, are then put into a pan, and covered with a saturated 

 solution of salt, in which they are soaked for some hours ; but 

 there must be no more liquor than will well moisten the veils. 

 They are afterwards hung up to dry, a piece of flat wood being 

 put crosswise into each to stretch them out. They should be 

 perfectly dried, and look like parchment. In this state they may 

 be kept in a dry place for any length of time, and are always 

 ready for use. In some places, at the time of making cheese, 

 a piece of veil is cut off, and soaked for some hours in water 

 or whey, and the whole is added to the warm milk. In 

 other places, pieces of veil are put into a linen bag, and soaked 

 in warm water, until the water has acquired sufficient strength, 

 which is proved by trying a portion of it in warm milk. The 

 method employed in Switzerland is as follows : A dry veil is 

 taken and examined; it is scraped with a knife, and where 

 any veins or pieces of tough membrane appear, they are 

 removed. The whole surface is examined and washed care- 

 fully, if any dust or dirt has adhered to it ; but otherwise it is 

 only wiped with a cloth. A handful of salt is then put into 

 it, and the edges of the veil are folded over and secured with 

 a wooden skewer stuck through it. In this state it forms a ball 



