ne, it would
not produce that effect.

MRS. B.

Perhaps not. But I would strenuously advise you not to place too much
reliance on your slight chemical knowledge in medical matters. I do not
know why whey is not separated from curd by rennet, or by an alkali, for
the purpose which you mention; but I strongly suspect that there must be
some good reason why the preparation by means of wine is generally
preferred. I can, however, safely point out to you a method of obtaining
whey without either alkali, rennet, or wine; it is by substituting lemon
juice, a very small quantity of which will separate it from the curds.

Whey, as an article of diet, is very wholesome, being remarkable light
of digestion. But its effect, taken medicinally, is chiefly, I believe,
to excite perspiration, by being drunk warm on going to bed.

From whey a substance may be obtained in crystals by evaporation, called
_sugar of milk_. This substance is sweet to the taste, and in its
composition is so analogous to common sugar, that it is susceptible of
undergoing the vinous fermentation.

CAROLINE.

Why then is not wine, or alcohol, made from whey?

MRS. B.

The quantity of sugar contained in milk is so trifling, that it can
hardly answer that purpose. I have heard of only one instance of its
being used for the production of a spirituous liquor, and this is by the
Tartan Arabs; their abundance of horses, as well as their scarcity of
fruits, has introduced the fermentation of mares' milk, by which they
produce a liquor called _koumiss_. Whey is likewise susceptible of being
acidified by combining with oxygen from the atmosphere. It then produces
the _lactic acid_, which you may recollect is mentioned amongst the
animal acids, as the acid of milk.

Let us now see what are the properties of curds.

EMILY.

I know that they are made into cheese; but I have heard that for that
purpose they are separated from the whey by rennet, and yet this you
have just told us is not the method of obtaining pure curds?

MRS. B.

Nor are pure curds so well adapted for the formation of cheese. For the
nature and flavour of the cheese depend, in a great measure, upon the
cream or oily matter which is left in the curds; so that if every
particle of cream be removed from the curds, the cheese is scarcely
eatable. Rich cheeses, such as cream and Stilton cheeses, derive their
excellence from the quantity, as well as the quality, of the cream that
enters into th