No. 149.] 383 



name of ghee. In Arabia this substance is used as a drink for 

 breakfast. 



Beekman states that butter was not used either by the Greeks 

 or Romans in cooking ; nor was it brought upon their tables at 

 certain meaJs, as is the present custom. It is not mentioned by 

 Galen and others of his time as food, though they have spoken of 

 it as applicable to other purposes. No notice is taken of it by 

 Apicius ; nor is there anything said of it as food by the authors 

 who treat of agriculture, though they frequently mention oil, 

 cheese, and milk. Butter is seldom made use of in Portugal, 

 Italy or Spain. But in England it has been known and appre- 

 ciated since the days of her conquerors ; who are supposed to 

 have taught her the art of making cheese 1 — for the manufacture 

 of which she is still famous. 



The liquid left after the butter is made is called butter milk. 

 " Parmeutier says that it dilfers from milk principally by the 

 absence of the oily part or butter ; and that it retains the salts of 

 milk, sugar and casein." It is exceedingly nourishing, easy of 

 digestion, and may be recommended to invalids. It is a very cool- 

 ing beverage in summer, and particularly refreshing to laborers 

 in the field ; but should not be taken freely when the body is 

 overheated, as it is a refrigerant. When kept for two days it ac- 

 quires an acid taste, but may still be used with impunity, as its 

 acidity does not increase the acidity of the stomach, neither does 

 it cause flatulence, as vegetable acids are apt to do. A capital 

 dish may be made by putting thick butter milk in a linen cloth, 

 and after the whey has passed through, there will remain a thick 

 mass, Avhicli is to be sweetened with loaf sugar, and eaten with 

 cream. 



Cheese is prepared from milk by artificial coagulation, separa- 

 ting the cream from the milk. The rennet used to coagulate it 

 as I have before mentioned renders the curd or casein insoluble 

 in water. This casein is identical in constitution with the albu- 

 men contained in eggs, or the fibrin of wheat. This is the reason 

 why chemists insist that cheesy matters found in the milk of 

 quadrupeds is derived immediately, and without any subsequent 

 change, from the food on which the animal feeds. The casein 



