[originaltext] Milk was a basic food of man long before history was written.

Milk was a basic food of man long before history was written. It will probably keep on being one as long as there are animals that give milk. Even the word milk is very old. It comes from Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages known to man. A picture of milking has been found in the ruins of an ancient city. It was drawn about 3500 B.C. Milk is often mentioned in the Bible. This shows what an important food milk was thought to be in ancient times.
    Many ancient people also thought that milk had great healing power. One of the most famous Greek doctors told his patients to drink milk to cure illness. The Romans rubbed bread soaked in milk on their faces. They thought that this would make their skin paler. They also thought that it would keep their beards from growing! The wife of one emperor of Rome took a milk bath every day. She believed this would improve her health and beauty. She kept five hundred animals to make sure of having milk each day.