Donkey milk even exist). In addition, the flavour and appearance of donkey milk have been found to be attractive to children. Equid (donkey and horse) milk can be considered a suitable substrate for probiotic beverage production. The use of fermented equid milk is an ancient tradition in central Asia, like koumiss or airag, a fermented mares milk very popular in Asia and Russia; but there are also traditional variants made from donkey milk. In Mongolia, where koumiss is the national drink, people have a saying that ‘kumys cures 40 diseases’. It is said that Cleopatra, Queen of Ancient Egypt, took baths in
Charmion (servant to Cleopatra) appeared as Charmion in 1934's "Cleopatra" starring Claudette Colbert. Jean Byron was Charmion in 1953's "Serpent of the Nile", and Elizabeth Taylor's 1963 "Cleopatra" had Isabel Cooley in the role of Charmian. Mezzo-soprano Rosalind Elias portrayed Charmian in the initial run of Samuel Barber's 1966 opera "Antony and Cleopatra", based on Shakespeare's play. Most recently, a version of Charmian was portrayed by Kathryn Hunter in the HBO/BBC television series "Rome" in 2005 and 2007. Charmion is the main character in the novel "Hand of Isis" by Jo Graham. She is also a main character in "Queen Cleopatra" by Talbot Mundy.