288 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF DAIRYING. 



In the preparation of kephir, the first point of importance is to bring 

 the kephir grains to a state of great activity. For this purpose they are 

 soaked in water at 30 C., allowed to stand for several hours, and then 

 they are drained off. The swollen grains are then washed with pure 

 water. They are put in ten times the quantity of boiled milk, and cooled 

 to 20 C. They are left standing at 20 C., repeatedly shaken, and after 

 the lapse of an hour the milk is poured off. This is repeated for six or 

 seven days, or even for a longer period so long, indeed, as the liquid 

 possesses the smell of sour milk, and till the grains are perfectly swelled 

 and begin to rise to the surface. 



The grains thus prepared are again put in ten times their weight of 

 milk, which has been boiled, and then cooled to 20 C. They are allowed 

 to stand half a day at 20 C., are filtered through gauze, and placed in 

 new milk in the same manner. The filtrate which is poured off, and 

 which is not usually pleasant, is poured into half -sized champagne bottles 

 to the extent of 75 c.c., which are then filled with boiled milk, cooled to 

 20 C., and corked. The bottles are allowed to stand at 15 C., and 

 during the first day are hourly shaken, and after two to three days are 

 used. The swollen kephir grains which are used must be freshened up 

 every eight days. In order to do this they are washed with pure water, 

 soaked in a 1-per-cent soda solution, and left to steep in it for about two 

 hours. They are then vigorously stirred, and washed again with 

 water. 



Among the few scientific investigations which have been carried on 

 up till now with regard to kephir and its preparation, the bacteriological 

 investigations of Hueppe and the chemical investigations of Hammersten 

 are the most striking. According to Hueppe, the kephir grains not only 

 cause a lactic and alcoholic fermentation, but also peptonize a portion of 

 the casein and albumin in milk. Hammersten, on the other hand, has 

 shown that in kephir, bodies of the nature of peptone are only present in 

 small and diminishing quantities, and that true peptone that is, albu- 

 minoid bodies which are precipitated by saturating the solution with 

 sulphate of ammonia do not occur. He has further shown that kephir 

 casein is not practically different from milk casein. It is true that it is 

 less soluble in the carbonates of the alkalies, and dilute salt solution and 

 dilute hydrochloric acid, than milk casein. Since, however, casein, sepa- 

 rated by the spontaneous coagulation of milk, is of a similar nature, it 

 cannot be said that in the preparation of kephir from milk there is any 

 real change in the condition of the casein. Three samples of kephir from 

 Gothenburg, which Hammersten has submitted to accurate investigation 

 about the age of which nothing is stated, but which appeared to be about 

 four, or at the most, six days old, had the following average composition: 



