Vol. VII, No. 3.] Some Asiatic Milk-Products. 65 
[N.S.] 
Travellers in Tibet and Mongolia frequently speak of 
chura or dried cheese prepared from yak’s milk as an article of 
diet among the people. Mr. W. W. Rockhill refers to it in the 
account of his interesting travels in 1891 and 1892,' and distin- 
guishes between chura (dried curd), ti (a mixture of butter, 
sugar and chura), djo or tarak (sour milk) and pima (cream 
cheese). Itis therefore a preparation of casein similar to the 
karut of Western Asia. Chura is also a substance of great 
antiquity in Upper Asia, and Rockhill furnishes an interesting 
lum of acidulous whey is separated and dried in the sun. 
The cakes are hard, they retain their virtues for long periods, 
and when required for use they are placed in warm water 
where they disintegrate on agitation, and the liquid is taken as 
k. 
The sample of dried cheese found in the Lepcha’s medicine 
bag on the Nepal Frontier was a preparation of this kind. It 
had the appearance and odour of cheese, but it would be des- 
cribed by experts as harder and drier than any fromage maigre 
met with in Switzerland. 
Submitted to analysis it was found to have the composi- 
tion of a dried skim cheese. No. 2 is the analysis of a sample 
of karut kindly forwarded by Mr. J. Cumming, of the Quetta 
Museum. 
No. 1. No. 2. 
Moisture es aoe 88 
Fat oe : 3:0 7:1 
Casein 74:4 580 
Sugar, etc. i a 8°7 
Lactic acid oe .. traces 1:4 
Ash ee 16-0 
“160-0 100°0 
Nitrogen = a esl 7°70 
Phosphoric anhydride ~ 288 1:87 
1 Rockhill, Journey through Mongolia and Tibet, 1894, 176, 278. 
2 Rubruk, Itinerarium (1253), 229. 
