290 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF DAIRYING. 



to a Cossack village in the steppes. At present there are, in different 

 districts of Russia, at Samara, Odessa, and at Ufa in the Urals, and 

 elsewhere, well-equipped establishments, conducted under the direc- 

 tion of physicians, where the koumiss is prepared. With regard to 

 the nature of the koumiss ferment, no extensive investigations have 

 as yet been carried out, nor has the chemical composition of koumiss 

 been so exactly determined as that of kephir. 



As already stated, the word koumiss is derived from the name of an 

 old tribe, the Kumanen, mentioned by Xenophon and Pliny, who first pre- 

 pared koumiss, and who in the course of time transmitted the knowledge 

 to other tribes. There is historical evidence to show that koumiss was 

 already known to the Tartars as early as the thirteenth century. 



Koumiss has been prepared by different methods in the past. One 

 method was by putting old koumiss, or the residue obtained by drying 

 koumiss in the sun, into a vessel, pouring fresh mares' milk in, and stirring 

 for fifteen minutes, the mixture being left to stand all night. Next day 

 fresh milk was again added, and the mixture again stirred, this being 

 repeated as often as possible in the course of the day. By this method 

 a weak preparation of koumiss is obtained in the evening, which may be 

 transferred, with the exception of a small residue, to another vessel. In 

 order to prepare more koumiss, fresh milk is added to this residue, and 

 the same process carried out. In this way, on the evening of the third 

 day, a preparation of weak koumiss, as well as a preparation of fairly 

 strong koumiss, is obtained. This process may be repeated as often as 

 desired. 



An approved method of preparing koumiss from skimmed cows' milk 

 is as follows: 100 kilos, of skim-milk, obtained from the separator, and 

 mixed with 42 kilos, of water, 1'75 kilos, of ordinary sugar, -78 kilos, of 

 milk-sugar, and 160-180 grams of yeast, is allowed to stand for 32 hours at 

 37 C. During this period the mixture is stirred about six times at equal 

 intervals. It is then carefully decanted into champagne bottles, corked 

 and fixed with wire, and the bottles left in a cellar at a temperature of 

 1 2 C. It is not desirable to keep it, at the very most, more than six days 

 at this temperature, since it gets too sour. 



Good koumiss, six days old, has a specific gravity of 1-008 to 1'020, 

 and the following composition : 



Skimmed Cows' Milk 

 Mares' Milk Koumiss. Koumiss. 



Water, 91-535 88-933 



Fat, 1-274 -854 



Albuminoids, ... 1-913 2-025 



91-812 



