em, and with damped hay placed on the top
of them, and then covered down with a lid. They must be well wiped
before they are put on table.

_Seasonable_.--Should be stored away in September or October.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XXXII.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON MILK, BUTTER, CHEESE, AND EGGS.

MILK.

1608. Milk is obtained only from the class of animals called Mammalia,
and is intended by Nature for the nourishment of their young. The milk
of each animal is distinguished by some peculiarities; but as that of
the cow is by far the most useful to us in this part of the world, our
observations will be confined to that variety.

1609. Milk, when drawn from the cow, is of a yellowish-white colour, and
is the most yellow at the beginning of the period of lactation. Its
taste is agreeable, and rather saccharine. The viscidity and specific
gravity of milk are somewhat greater than that of water; but these
properties vary somewhat in the milk procured from different
individuals. On an average, the specific gravity of milk is 1.035, water
being 1. The small cows of the Alderney breed afford the richest milk.

1610. Milk which is carried to a considerable distance, so as to be much
agitated, and cooled before it is put into pans to settle for cream,
never throws up so much, nor such rich cream, as if the same milk had
been put into pans directly after it was milked.

1611. Milk, considered as an aliment, is of such importance in domestic
economy as to render all the improvements in its production extremely
valuable. To enlarge upon the antiquity of its use is unnecessary; it
has always been a favourite food in Britain. "Lacte et carno vivunt,"
says Caesar, in his Commentaries; the English of which is, "the
inhabitants subsist upon flesh and milk." The breed of the cow has
received great improvement in modern times, as regards the quantity and
quality of the milk which she affords; the form of milch-cows, their
mode of nourishment, and progress, are also manifest in the management
of the dairy.

1612. Although milk in its natural state be a fluid, yet, considered as
an aliment, it is both solid and fluid: for no sooner does it enter the
stomach, than it is coagulated by the gastric juice, and separated into
curd and whey, the first of these being extremely nutritive.

1613. Milk of the _human subject_ is much thinner than cow's milk;
_Ass's milk_ comes the nearest to human milk of any other; _G