194 ON RUNNET AND CHYMOSINE. 
ART. XXXV. — ON RUNNET AND CHYMOSINE. 
By M. Dechamps, Pharmaceutist at Avallon. 
The runnet which is used in the neighborhood of Avallon 
to curdle the milk, is prepared in several manners ; the most 
common is made with the stomach of the calf; sometimes, 
however, the mucous membrane of the stomach of the hog is 
used. 
If we examine the books to know what runnet is, we read, 
that the matter which is found in the stomach of ruminating 
animals is so called ; or rather, that runnet is that which serves 
to curdle milk, as the flower of the artichoke, and the acid 
liquor which comes from the stomach of calves, kids, &c, be- 
cause it thickens and curdles the milk. M. Berzelius, in his 
chemistry, applies this name to the mucous membrane of the 
stomach, and supposes that this membrane contains a peculiar 
matter which causes the milk to curdle. 
This difference of opinion, the remarkable action of runnet, 
and its activity, attributed by some to the acid which it contains, 
and by others to a peculiar matter, excited me to undertake a 
series of experiments, tending to discover, if possible, the ac- 
tive principle of the runnet. 
I prepared liquid runnet with alcohol of 27° c. and the 
stomach of a calf ; eight drops of this runnet were sufficient to 
curdle a pound of milk. 
This runnet was placed in a retort and distilled; the product 
was collected in a receiver, cooled by a current of water. The 
distilled liquid was slightly acid and had the odor of runnet. 
The residue was foul and very acid; its odor was that of cooked 
cheese. 
I placed 750 grs., of milk in three vessels; I added to the 
first, five drops of the distilled liquor, to the second, five drops 
of the residue, and to the third, five drops of the distilled 
liquor, and five drops of the residue; no effect was produced. 
I exposed to the solar rays, in the month of June, some 
runnet enclosed in a flask ; it became foul and lost its action 
in milk. 
