Supplement to tlie "Tropical Agriculturist." [Aug. 1, 1894. 
receives 9 2 per cent, of milk solids. In other 
words, whilst the density goes up only three 
per cent., the solids go up nine per cent. It is, 
therefore, disadvantageous to estimate rise in 
solid content by rise in density. Mineral swb- 
stances, when they dissolve in water, raise the 
density far more rapidly than organic substances. 
The contrast in this respect is very well shown 
when chloride of potassium is compared with 
milk solids. Thus a ton per cent, solution of 
chloride of potassium has a specific gravity of 
1*065 at 15* cent., whereas a ten per cent, solution 
of easeine and milk-sugar has a specific gravity 
of about 1-085. 
To be of any value at all, a specific gravity 
determination in the case of such a fluid as milk 
must be taken with extreme accuracy ; and, as is' 
well known, the taking of specific gravities with 
great accuracy is not by any means one of the 
most facile of operations, and is certainly not 
easier than the taking of solid residues directly. 
From a careful consideration of the whole sub- 
ject 1 am convinced that one of the ino6t necessary 
steps to be taken in milk analysis is to abandon 
the use of the lactometer. 
DK. WANKLYN. 

KOUMISS. 
Many people do not know the real origin of 
the substance known as koumiss. Koumiss is a 
sort of milk wine got by the fermentation of 
milk- In Tartaiy, where mare's milk is used 
for the purpose, the beverege is of great im- 
portance as an article of nourishment for the 
people. The use of koumiss is said, moreover, 
to impart immunity from phthisis. In England, 
Where the substance is believed by many to be 
at least as efficacious as cod-liver oil, koumiss 
is to some extent made from cow's milk, but 
inasmuch as mare's milk contains a larger pro- 
portion of sugar than cow's milk, an addition 
of a little sugar is macle to the milk before it 
is .set to ferment. 
"'Full ;koumiss" forty-eight hours old, which 
had a specific parity of 67° ¥., was found to 
contain in two j parts by weight:^ 
Wate.r .. .. .. 8732 
AlQphol . . ... .. 1-00 
Carbonic acid . . . . 0 90 
Solids .. .. .. 10-78 
The ,10-,78 parts of solids contained 
,C»seine .. .. .. 2-84 
Lactose and lactic acid . . 6-60 
Fat .. .. .. 0-68 
Ash .. .. .. 066 
At first, when fresh,, koumiss contains about the 
same precentage of solids as skimmed milk ; but, 
as it grows. qlder t it loses sugar and total solids. 
It is claimed for koumiss that it presents the 
casejne in a form specially assimilable by in- 
valids, and that it will nourish persons when 
nothing else will. 
There is more than one recipe given for making 
koumiss. 
BREEDS OF INDIAN CATTLE. 
The vast continent of India has such a variety 
of climate and soil, that it is no wonder that 
we there find so many distinct breeds of cattle. 
In some districts the Indian cattle are taken 
good care of, and hence are of a superior type, 
but in others they are much neglected and are 
therefore poor >j<ecimens. Two factors help to 
keep up the quality of the breed of lndiun 
cattle, one of which is the religious veneration 
in which cows are held by the Hindu*, aouic 
of whom consider it a sin even to cell an 
animal. Cattle are thus well fed and taken 
care of; they are the pets of the children und 
women, and are, in many instances of a very mild 
disposition. The second factor referred to is, the 
general esteem in which milk and butter i> held as 
articles of diet. A Hindu does not take meat 
in any form, but ghee or clarified butter he 
must have, ,and milk and curds are im- 
portant articles of diet, be he ever 60 poor. 
There are however other agencies at work which 
tend to check to a great extent these desir- 
able influences, such as the waut of pasture in 
many places, the ignorance of the peasant, who 
often neglects the first rules of breeding, does not 
concern himself much about the selection and 
mating of proper animals. 
Up to recent times wild cattle were abundantly 
met with in some places of Hindustan and are 
even now to be seen in the large forests of Assam, 
the vicinity of the river Brahamaputra and in the 
forests of Deccan. The domesticated animal is 
met with in every district, for without cattle an 
Indian will have to starve not only because 
he will be without milk and butter, but because 
he will be unable to grow his crops, without 
animals for ploughing, irrigating, threshing, 
and carting. 
The principal varieties of cattle that deserve 
notice on account of their special characters and 
uses are, the Nellores, Gujerats, Sinds, Mysores, 
Hissars, Deccanese and the Nepalese breeds. 
The Mellon* are met within the Xellore district of 
the Madras Presidency. They are of a heavy build 
and measure on an average GO inches from the tip 
of the hump to the ground. These ainmals have 
a broad head and face with short horns inclined 
backwards ; their eyes are large and prominent 
and their ears droop. The neck is short, chest 
deep and wide, and the back short with a well- 
developed hump. The dewlap is as a rule of 
conspicious size. In temper the Nellores are mild, 
slow and hardy, and in geneial good milkers and 
powerful draught animals. 
Gujerat cattle are also known as Gir and Kathia- 
war, and are met with in Gujerat and the billy 
districts of the Kathiwar Peninsula of the Bombay 
Presidency. In build they are heavy with a short 
head and a broad prominent forehead, the horns 
are crumpled and inclined backwards and the ears 
large and pendant, — a special characteristic of this 
breed. The Gujerati cattle are deep-chested and 
short-legged, and have comparatively thin tails 
and prominent humps. They are on an average 
about 58 inches in height and are very good 
draught animals and fairly good milkers. 
The Sinds are a neat-looking breed of cattle found 
in the Province of Sind, a district bordering on 
Beluchistan, where there are extensive pasture 
lands, though not favoured with an abundance of 
rain. The Sind animals have a tapering head, a 
straight face, shorthorns and comparatively large 
drooping ears. Their hind quarters are well deve- 
loped and the limbs fairly proportioned with a 
