Milk flows through our history as a vital human food. This volume will be of interest not only to ethnologists, folklorists & food historians, but also to all those concerned with the role of basic foods in the human diet. Milk is a uniquely vulnerable commodity, & while in some cultures it was considered a luxury food, in others it was thought both unwholesome & unhealthy. Folklore highlights the part women play in the production of milk & milk products, & their econ. import. in the household & farm economy. In their role as producers & processors of milk, women are credited with supernatural powers to protect or promote the individual or collective dairying process. Ill.