FERMENTED MILKS 
19 
Unlike kefir, there is no dried ferment, seeds, or grains with which 
the fermentation of the mare's milk is started. When it becomes 
necessary to establish the fermentation anew, it is the practice of the 
natives to add to milk some fermenting or decaying matter, such as 
a piece of flesh, tendon, or vegetable matter. Whatever the material 
used to supply the essential organisms, it is evident that the milk is 
so cared for that a combination of an acid and an alcoholic fer- 
mentation is favored and the necessary bacteria and yeast are soon 
established. No doubt the change in the milk is produced under 
different circumstances by different combinations of bacteria and 
yeast, and there are usually present various contaminating organisms 
which are detrimental or at least are not essential to the production 
of the kumiss. Native kumiss makers lay great stress on the quality 
of the milk, the breed of the mares, and the condition of the pastures ; 
but it is probable that their troubles ascribed to variations in these 
conditions are more likely attributable to imperfectly controlled 
bacteriological factors. 
There was at one time much interest ,in kumiss as a therapeutic 
agent in the treatment of tuberculosis, and sanatoriums were estab- 
lished in Russia where invalids could get this treatment. It is 
probable that the benefits, real or imaginary, derived from it came 
from the general methods, which correspond somewhat to present 
practices, rather than from the action of kumiss. 
Mare's milk is lower in nutritive value than cow's milk, as Table 2, 
taken from Richmond's Dairy Chemistry (77), shows: 
Table 2. — Average composition of cow's milk and mare's milk 
Milk from— 
Water 
Fat 
Sugar 
Casein 
Albumin 
Ash 
Cow 
Per cent 
87.10 
90.06 
Per cent 
3.90 
1.09 
Per cent 
4.75 
6.65 
Per cent 
3.00 
Per cent 
0.40 
Per cent 
0.75 
Mare 
1.89 
.31 
The composition of kumiss varies somewhat with the age, the 
rapidity of the fermentation, and the nature and extent of contami- 
nation with extraneous organisms. The analysis in Table 3 is taken 
from Richmond's Dairy Chemistry (77, p. 2Ifl) : 
Table 3. — Composition of kumiss made from mare's milk 
Item 
1 day 
old 
8 days 
old 
22 days 
old 
Item 
1 day 
old 
8 days 
old 
22 days 
old 
Water 
Per cent 
91. 43 
2.67 
.77 
1.63 
.77 
Per cent 
92.12 
2.93 
1.08 
.50 
.85 
Per cent 
92.07 
2.98 
1.27 
. 23 
'.si 
Albumin 
Per cent 
0.25 
.98 
1.16 
.35 
Per cent 
0.27 
.76 
1.12 
.35 
Per cent 
0.24 
.77 
Fat 
1.30 
Sugar 
Ash 
.35 
It will be observed that this fermentation produces no changes that 
could be expected to increase appreciably the digestibility of the 
nitrogenous part of the milk except the possible advantage of a 
finely divided curd. Mare's milk differs from cow's milk in giving 
