k is absent from the sacred
offerings amongst the Hebrews, and this was ascribed by the late
Professor Robertson Smith to the fact that all ferments were excluded
from presentation at the altar,[2] it being recognised that, owing to
the hot climate, milk of all kinds became rapidly sour, and in this way
came to be looked upon as only fit for consumption when in that
condition. It has been suggested that the prohibition referred to is on
the same level as the prohibition of the use of blood, "as milk has
sometimes been regarded as a kind of equivalent for blood, and
containing the sacred life."[3] To this day the wandering tribes of
Arabia consider the milk of their camels and flocks more refreshing when
it has been slightly fermented or soured by being poured into a
milk-skin on the inside of which are still sticking sour clots from the
previous milking, and there shaken for a brief period; but this slightly
soured milk (the _Oxygala_ of Pliny) is known widely in the East simply
as leben (milk). The name is also applied to what we term buttermilk.[4]

[Illustration: KABYLES SOURING MILK

In the north of Africa the use of soured milk is common,
and the illustration shows Kabyles shaking a skin full of
milk so as to sour it. The skin has previously been used
for the same operation, and, as a consequence, clots of
milk are left from the previous day's use, and thus
fermentation is set up.]

The use of milk-skins for the carrying of milk is not confined to one
country, as, while it is common all over the north of Africa, it is also
known in the Pyrenees and in some parts of the Balkan Peninsula, the
object being identical in each case; and when it is intended to make
butter from the milk, the skin is simply rocked between the knees until
the butter separates, a process of butter-making which was also used
after the introduction of earthenware churns.[5] Dried soured milk is
also used by the Arabs, and it is reconstituted when required by rubbing
it up with a little water, and it is known as _Meeresy_.[6] The ordinary
soured milk is the common article of diet, and is looked upon as being
necessary at every meal, and travellers frequently refer to the use of
this product, as a few references will show.

Charles G. Addison states: "A supper was brought in on a round tray. In
the centre was a huge pilaff of rice, and around it several small dishes
of stewed meats, grilled bones, sour clotted milk called _yaoor