CREAM. A semifluid yellowish sub stance which collects on the surface of milk, and which is made into butter by the process of churning. When the milk of any animal is allowed to stand for some time, it spontaneously undergoes certain changes ; this substance rises to the sur face and forms a thin stratum, which is called cream, and which consists chiefly of oily particles ; while the milk below, which of course is thinner than it was before the cream separated from it, is of a pale, blueish color, and consists of curd, coagulurn, or the matter of which cheese is made. When cream is kept for some days it gradually becomes thicker, and partially coagulated ; and if put into a linen bag, and suspended from the coil. Mg of a cool room, it will acquire the consistence of cheese; and this is one among other modes of making cream cheeses. When cream is shaken by churning, it is resolved into its compo nent parts, and hence we have butter and buttermilk. In order to make butter it is not always necessary that the cream should be separated from the milk ; but whether separated or not, the process is facilitated by allowing the liquid to stand for some time, during which a part of the sugar contained in the serum is changed into an acid, which shortens the process of churning by facilitating the separation of the butter from the milk. When
either cream or milk is churned without having previously become sour, the pro cess is much more tedious ; and some times, from causes not easily accounted for by the dairy-maid, it is unsuccessful, and the milk is said to be bewitched. The true cause, however, is the want of acid ity ; because it has been found that the addition of a small portion of vinegar will dissolve the charm, and cause the almost immediate appearance of butter. Cream, when separated from milk, and kept till it has become acid, is frequently mixed with milk newly drawn from the cow ; and this eaten with sugar is one of the most delicious preparations of the dairy. Common clotted cream is simply milk and cream in a coagulated state, and sour. When the clotted cream is broken and stir red, and the whey drawn off, the mass may be turned into cheese by artificial pressure, by which the whey is separated. instan taneously ; or by suspending it in a po rous bag, in a cool airy situation, when it will be separated by