COMPOSITION OF CHEESE. 

 TABLE XII. 



171 



No. 1 represents a skimmed milk cheese: it will be 

 seen that the proportion of butter is very much small- 

 er than in Nos. 2, 3, and 4; it is, however, weight for 

 weight, more nutritious than any of the others. It 

 will surprise most persons, to know that cheese con- 

 tains from J to J its weight of water; and that in eat- 

 ing very rich cheeses, fully J of what they eat is 

 butter. No. 4 is a rich Ayrshire cheese, of the kind 

 with which some of our American dairies come espe- 

 cially into competition. This was a particularly fine 

 sample. Cheese, judging from the above analyses, 

 is both a very nutritious and a very fattening food. 

 The richness of the finer varieties, prevents their being 

 eaten in large quantities. On skim milk cheese, such 

 as that in the first column, a man might live very 

 well as a principal article of diet. 



It will be noticed that all of these cheeses contain 

 a considerable proportion of ash: this ash is more 

 than half phosphates, chiefly phosphate of lime; of the 

 remainder a large part, as might be supposed, is com- 

 mon salt, that has been added to the cheese in curing. 

 In various districts there are different ways of intro- 

 ducing the salt. In some cases it is all put in before 

 the cheese is pressed; in others it is all absorbed from 

 the exterior, after the*cheese is made. This will not 

 do for very thick cheeses. In making these, a portion 

 of the curd is sometimes doubly salted, and placed in 

 the centre; the intention being to ensure that the salt 

 absorbed from the exterior shall penetrate till it meets 



