Casein

“ If a concentrated solution of pure casein is exposed to the air it rapidly putrefies, and passes through a series of changes that I must not tarry to describe, beyond stating that ammonia is given off, and some crystalline substances, such as leucine, tyrosine, &c., very interesting to the physiological chemist, but not important in the kitchen, are formed.
A solution of casein in water is not coagulated by boiling; it may be repeatedly evaporated to dryness and [129] redissolved. ”

“ The extensive researches of Mendel and Osborne have shown that casein is in a certain sense a perfect food in that it is, in normal animals, capable of promoting growth and maintaining nitrogenous equilibrium, at least for long periods of time. The burden of proof, however, rests with the promoters of Sanatogen to show that the casein in Sanatogen is superior to the natural product of the cow. ”

“ If alcohol is added to a concentrated solution of casein in water, a pseudo-coagulation occurs; the casein is precipitated as a white substance like coagulated albumen, but, if only a little alcohol is used, the solid may be redissolved in water; if, however, it is thus treated with strong alcohol, the casein becomes difficult of solution, or even quite insoluble. Alcohol added to solid soluble casein renders it opaque, and gives it the appearance of coagulated albumen. ”

“ This curd, when freed from fats, is insoluble in water, but is soluble in dilute acids, or alkalies, or alkaline carbonates, from [Pg 166] which substances, however, it is reprecipitated by acidulation. Instead of the above method, casein may be precipitated from milk by saturation with sulphate of magnesia, and washing the precipitate with a solution of that salt until the washings contain no albumen, and then redissolving the prepared casein by adding water. ”

“ The curd so prepared is dissolved by digestion at 110° Fahr., with a large quantity of water; the solution, after filtration, is coagulated with carbonate of ammonia; the coagulum is washed with water, ether, and alcohol, and finally dried.
Prop., &c. Coagulated casein is readily dissolved by the alkalies and alkaline carbonates. The most remarkable property of casein is its coagulation by certain animal membranes, as in the process of cheese-making with rennet. See Lactarin.
CASKS. The care and management of casks is an important affair in a large establishment. ”

“ The basis of cheese is casein or coagulated curd, a protein substance; it therefore cannot fail to prove nutritious, provided it is properly digested. Cheese-curd, carefully freed from water and milk by expression, and the addition of salt, is a mixture of casein and butter. It contains all the phosphate of lime and part of the phosphate of soda of the milk. (Liebig.) When taken as a condiment, especially when rich and old, it powerfully promotes the secretion of the saliva and gastric juice, and thereby aids the stomach in performing its proper functions. Rotten cheese is very unwholesome. ”

“ The coagulation which occurs in the living stomach when milk is taken as food appears to be due to the lactic acid of the gastric juice.
Casein, when thoroughly coagulated by rennet, then purified and dried, is a hard and yellowish hornlike substance. It softens and swells in water, but does not dissolve therein, nor in alcohol nor weak acids. Strong mineral acids decompose it. Alkalies dissolve it readily, and if concentrated, decompose it on the application of heat. When moderately heated, it softens and may be drawn into threads, and becomes elastic ”

“ I NOW come to a very important constituent of animal food, although it is not contained in beef, mutton, pork, poultry, game, fish, or any other organized animal substance. It is not even proved satisfactorily to exist in the blood, although it is somehow obtained from the blood by special glands at certain periods. I refer to casein, the substantial basis of cheese, which, as everybody knows, is the consolidated curd of milk. ”

“ The following results of Mulder's analysis of casein, when compared with those by the same chemist of albumen, gelatine, and fibrin, show that there is but little difference in the ultimate chemical composition of these, so far as the constituents there named are concerned:
of cookery. It contains (as I shall presently show) more nutritious material than any other food that is ordinarily obtainable, and its cookery is singularly neglected, is practically an unknown art, especially in this country. We commonly eat it raw, although in its raw state it is peculiarly indigestible ”

“ Indeed, with the exception of a small amount of albumen and Lacto Protein, all the nitrogen of milk exists in the form of caseine. Caseine forms the basis of our cheeses of every kind, except the real cream cheese. It will therefore scarcely surprise you to hear that it is highly nutritious. We all know how hardworking men live, to a very great extent, upon cheese with a quantity of bread, and not only do they thrive on the food, but perform an amount of physical work which most of us in this room would be quite incapable of undertaking. ”

“ The young animal, therefore, receives in the form of caseine,—which is distinguished from fibrine and albumen by its great solubility, and by not coagulating when heated,—the chief constituent of the mother's blood. To convert caseine into blood no foreign substance is required, and in the conversion of the mother's blood into caseine, no elements of the constituents of the blood have been separated. When chemically examined, caseine is found to contain a much larger proportion of the earth of bones than blood does, and that in a very soluble form, capable of reaching every part of the body. ”

“ Casey admitted that it was. A man who handled dynamite ought to shun liquor above all things, she went on; and Casey agreed restively. He had not felt any inclination to imbibe until that minute, when the Irish rose up hotly within him.
“Casey, dear, are you sure you have nothing in camp?”
Casey assured her solemnly that he had not, and drove off down the hill vaguely aware that he was not so content with life as he had been. “Damn that sirup!” he exploded once, quite as abruptly as had the giant powder. After that he chewed tobacco and drove in broody silence. ”

“ Afterwards they drank the cassine, which is the potion of the white word, i. e., the potion of oblivion and peace.
Bernard Romans, “Natural History of Florida” (1775) , page 94, writes as follows:
The cassine is used by them (the Creeks) as a drink; they barbecue or toast the leaves and make a strong decoction of them; then men only are permitted to drink this liquor, to which they attribute many virtues. It is made so strong as to be black and raise a froth. When they drink it at their assemblies in the square they call it black drink. ”

“ She underrated Casey's knowledge of minerals; or perhaps she wanted to test it,—you never can tell what a woman really has in the back of her mind. Casey sat there eating a sour-dough biscuit of his own making, and staring at the steep wall of the canyon because he was afraid to stare at the Little Woman, and so his uncannily keen eye saw a bit of rock no larger than Babe's fist. It lay just under that particular clump of bushes, in the shade. ”

“ And as he came to bat each day his bosom heaved a sigh, While a look of hopeless fury shone in mighty Casey's eye. The lane is long, someone has said, that never turns again, And Fate, though fickle, often gives another chance to men. And Casey smiled—his rugged face no longer wore a frown; The pitcher who had started all the trouble came to town. All Mudville has assembled; ten thousand fans had come To see the twirler who had put big Casey on the bum; And when he stepped into the box the multitude went wild. He doffed his cap in proud disdain—but Casey only smiled. "Play ball!" ”

“ Wherefore, Casey Ryan once more came larruping down the grade to Camp Cajon and turned in there with a dogged purpose in his eyes and with his jaw set stubbornly. History has it that whenever Casey Ryan gets that look in his face, the man underneath might just as well holler and crawl out; because holler he must, before Casey would ever let him up.
Behind him, stowed under the bedding, grub and camp dishes, rode his eight cases of bootlegger's bait, packed convincingly in the sawdust, straw and cardboard of the wet old days when Uncle Sam himself O. K.'d the job. ”

“ For after Casey fanned that day the citizens all left,
And one by one they sought new lands, heartbroken and bereft;
The joyous shout no more rang out of children at their play;
The village blacksmith closed his shop; the druggist moved away.
Alas for Mudville’s vanished pomp when mighty Casey reigned!
Her grandeur has departed now; her glory’s long since waned.
Her place upon the map is lost, and no one seems to care
A whit about the old town now since Casey biffed the air. ”

“ Beside it stood a rather clever heating apparatus which Casey did not examine in detail. His Irish heart was beating rather fast while he unfastened the door. Beyond that door his thoughts went questing eagerly but he hesitated nevertheless before he lifted his knuckles and rapped.
There was no reply. Casey waited a minute, knocked again, then pulled the door open a crack and looked in. The old woman sat there rocking back and forth, steadily, quietly. But her thin fingers were rolling a corner of her apron hem painstakingly, as if she meant to hem it again. ”

“ The Little Woman probably wondered why he seemed so unexcited, but she did not know all of Casey's traits. He put away his pipe and almost immediately reached for his plug of tobacco, taking a chew without remembering where he was. "If you feel able to ride," he said, "I'll ketch up the mule in the morning, and we'll go over there."
"So your heart is really set on finding it, after all. I've been wondering about that. You haven't seemed to be thinking much about it, lately."
"A feller can prospect," Casey declared, "when he can't do nothin' else." ”

“ When the Irishman emerged he found waiting for him a curious crowd. His friends crowded around asking eager questions. Casey answered with vague but bloodthirsty generalities: he wasn't a man to be trifled with, and egad some people had to find that out! blackmailing was not a healthy occupation when it was aimed at a gentleman! He left the impression that King had recanted, had apologized, had even begged—there would be no more trouble. Uttering brags of this sort, Casey led the way to the Bank Exchange, a fashionable bar near at hand. Here he set up the drinks, and was treated in turn. ”

“ Black coffee, drunk hot and strong, gave the world a brighter aspect. Casey decided that the situation was not so desperate, after all. Easy enough to bluff it out—easiest thing in the world! He would just go along as if there wasn't a thing on his mind heavier than his thinning, sandy hair. No man living had any right or business snooping around in his car, unless he carried a badge of an officer of the law. Even with the badge, Casey told himself sternly, a man would have to show a warrant before he could touch a finger to his outfit. ”

“ The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate; He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate; And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go, And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow. Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light; And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout: But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out. ”

“ Casey Ryan was never frightened in his life. But he was Irish born—and there's something in Irish blood that will not out; something that goes beyond reason into the world of unknown wisdom.
It's a tricksy world, that realm of intuitions. For this is what befell Casey Ryan, and you may account for it as best pleases you.
He circled the rock as a wolf will circle a coiled rattler which it does not see. Beyond the rock, built close against it so that the rear wall must have been the face of the ledge, a little rock cabin squatted secretively. ”

“ Casey sat down on a rock, took a restrained drink from his canteen, and said everything he knew or could invent that was profane and condemnatory of his luck, of the unseen assassin, of the country and his present predicament. ”

“ He was Casey—Casey who had let all the gang run for shelter from the Sioux while he had remained for one last and final drive at a railroad spike. But the cool, devil-may-care indifference, common to all his comrades as well as to himself, was not the strongest factor in the Casey of to-day. Up out of the rugged and dormant soul had burst the spirit of a race embodied in one man. ”

“ Casey saw that it was hopeless. Nothing would budge the fat man from his yard. Cars! They were a necessary evil, not to be encouraged beyond the limit of necessity.
Ann wanted to know more about René, but Casey could tell her nothing. He repeated his eulogy of young Fourmy’s skill as a driver, and added:
“We’ve got has-been gentlemen on the ranks, scores of them. But they’re not like him. It’s a treat to hear him talk, it is. ”

“ This was one of John's weak points; he was immensely proud of his prowess as a fighter; so when one of the boys said in his presence: "Worth said to-day that he could lick Casey," he did not correct the falsehood there and then, but put on an air of superiority that had the effect desired. Casey, though not a big fellow, was out of his 'teens, and had the reputation of being a "scrapper from 'way back," as the boys said. He also heard the young mischief-maker's statement. "Jab him, Casey; he's only a bluffer," said several of his companions. ”