and it possesses a general medicinal reputation
among the Tartars similar to that which asses' milk has partially
acquired in Britain. "That mares' milk will undergo vinous fermentation
and yield a certain quantity of spirit," says a writer in the _Magazine
of Domestic Economy_, "is not generally known, and it was reserved for a
nation of demi-savages to render this circumstance available as an agent
of health, as well as an agreeable and nourishing beverage. Every
educated person, however, has heard that the Tartars drink mares' milk,
though few know that this milk is taken on account of its specific
virtues alone, and not as a substitute for cows' milk, of which they
have abundance, and with which they adulterate mares' milk when scarce."
But the koumiss is reputed to be much more medicinal than the mares'
milk itself; and on account of its being free from all tendency to
curdle in the stomach, and of its possessing most of the nutritive power
of the milk in combination with native fermented spirit, it has been
strongly recommended by some persons as a remedy for most or all cases
of general debility, of nervous languor, and even pulmonary disease.

"Khoumese is called sometimes _koumiss_ and sometimes milk wine."

From these references it will be seen that koumiss is an alcoholic drink
made by the fermentation of mares' milk, but it is also frequently
prepared from the milk of the camel and cows' milk. It is stated that a
similar preparation to Russian koumiss is made in Switzerland from cows'
milk simply by the addition of a little sugar and yeast to skim milk;
"it contains more sugar and less lactic acid than Russian koumiss, and
on account of the much greater proportion of casein contained in cows'
milk, differs considerably from that prepared from mares' milk."
Suter-Naef gives the composition of a Swiss koumiss[20] manufactured at
Davos as follows:

In Grams. Per Litre
Per cent. (by weight).
Water 90.346 1019.64 grams.
Alcohol 3.210 36.23 "
Lactic acid 0.190 2.14 "
Sugar 2.105 23.75 "
Albuminates 1.860 20.99 "
Butter 1.780 20.09 "
Inorganic salts 0.509 5.74 "
Free carbonic acid 0.177 2.00 "

The fe