Coagulation

Coagulation, the amorphous (q.v.) solidification of a liquid, or part of a liquid, as when the casein of milk is solidified by rennet in making Cheese (q.v.), or the white of an egg by boiling. The process varies in various substances. Albumen, or the white of an egg, coagulates at a temperature of 160°. Milk is coagulated or curdled by the action of rennet or by acids. The fibrin in the blood, chyle, and lymph of animals is coagulated by the separation of these fluids from the living body. See BLOOD.