BOOK VII. VII. 2-viii. 2 



has changed to summer, or, if it was autumn, has 

 changed to spring. If only individual goats are 3 

 suffering from the disease, we shall apply the same 

 remedies as to sheep ; for when the skin is distended 

 with water — the malady which the Greeks call hydrops 

 (dropsy) — a slight incision should be made in the skin 

 under the shoulder, causing the fatal liquid to flow 

 away ; then the wound thus caused should be treated 

 with liquid pitch. If, after a she-goat has borne 4 

 young, the genital pai'ts swell up and the after-birth 

 has not put in an appearance, a sextarius of boiled down 

 must, or, if this is not available, the same quantity of 

 good wine, should be poured down the throat and the 

 sexual parts filled with a liquid solution of wax. But, 

 not to enter into more detail now, we shall give goats 

 the same remedies as we have prescribed for sheep. 



VIII. It will be necessary too not to neglect the cheese- 

 task of cheese-making, especially in distant parts of making. 

 the country, where it is not convenient to take milk 

 to the market in pails. Further, if the cheese is made 

 of a thin consistency, it must be sold as quickly as 

 possible while it is still fresh and retains its moisture ; 

 if, however, it is of a rich and thick consistency, it 

 bears being kept for a longer period. Cheese should 

 be made of pure milk which is as fresh as possible, for 

 if it is left to stand or mixed with water, it quickly 

 turns sour. It should usually be curdled with rennet 

 obtained from a lamb or a kid, though it can also be 

 coagulated with the flower of the wild thistle or the 

 seeds of the safilower,* and equally well with the liquid 

 which flows from a fig-tree if you make an incision in 

 the bark while it is still green. The best cheese, how- 2 



" Carthamus tinctoriu6. 



28s 



