80 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



if a few drops of dilute sulphuric acid be introduced. 18.4, 

 October 4,1871,631. 



ARTIFICIAL PREPARATION OF MILK. 



One of the latest enterprises in organic chemistry consists 

 in the preparation of artificial milk, which has been attempt- 

 ed by Dubrunfaut, and which he claims to have accomplished 

 by emulsifying fatty matters with an artificial serum. This 

 is done as follows : 40 or 50 grams of saccharine matter (lac- 

 tin, cane-sugar, or glucose), 20 or 30 grains of dried albumen 

 (the dried white of egg, as met with in Paris), and 1 or 2 

 grams of crystals of soda carbonate, are dissolved in a half 

 litre of water, and the whole is emulsified with 50 or 60 

 grams of olive-oil, or other comestible fatty matter. The 

 emulsification takes place best at a moderate temperature, 

 that of 50 or 60 being sufficient. The liquid thus prepared 

 has the appearance of cream, and requires to be mixed with 

 twice its volume of water to acquire the consistence and as- 

 pect of milk. To prepare a fluid approaching cream in its 

 qualities, gelatin is substituted for albumen; 100 grams of 

 fat are emulsified in a litre of serum, containing 2 or 3 grams 

 of gelatin. Artificial cream prepared in this way shows no 

 tendency to separate into fat or serum. 

 . Gaudin, in discussing the preceding suggestion, gives his 

 testimony as to the depriving fats of all unj^leasant odor by 

 mere subjection to an appropriate temperature. He also 

 states that very good artificial milk can be prepared from 

 bones rich in fat, by purifying this fat by means of superheat- 

 ed steam, and combining the fat thus obtained with gelatin. 

 This milk is, he says, almost like that of the cow ; and, when 

 kept, acquires first the odor of sour milk, then that of cheese. 

 The gelatin in it represents the caseine; the fat, the butter; 

 the sugar, the sugar of milk. It serves for the preparation 

 of coffee and chocolate, of soups and creams of excellent fla- 

 vor, and its cost is but trifling. 



