BUTTER-MAKING IN THE EAST.


BUTTER was doubtless much in use among the ancient Jews, and, from the information that can be obtained, it is thought that it was prepared in the same manner as at this day among the Arabs and Syrians, who use a kind of boiled butter called gee.

The milk is put into a large copper pan over a slow fire, and a little sour milk, or a portion of the dried entrails of a lamb, is thrown into it. The milk then separates, and is put into a goatskin bag, which is tied to a pole, as seen in the picture, and constantly moved backward and forward for two hours; or, sometimes, the bag is placed upon the ground and trodden upon. 

Job referred to this manner of churning when he said, "I washed my steps with butter." The buttery substance having coagulated, the water is pressed out, and the butter is put into another skin. After the lapse of two days, the butter is placed over the fire and allowed to boil for sometime, during which it is carefully skimmed; when so prepared it will keep in a hot climate.

Butter is chiefly used among the Arabs and Syrians to impart softness to barley, or bruised wheat, the common diet of the country. The Greeks and Romans used butter as a medicine and for external application not as an article of food.