State Agricultural Society. 533 



any other to the influence of delicate flavors in the food — it is, in fact, 

 the ne plus ultra of hutter. 



Scientifically, there is not very much known concerning it. So far as 

 the writer is aware, this interesting field is thus far mainly unexplored. 



DR. STURTEVANT'S EXPERIMENTS. 



In the Report of the Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Agri- 

 culture for eighteen hundred and seventy-three, there is published a 

 paper, prepared by Dr. E. L. Sturtevant, of Framingham, Massachusetts, 

 entitled "Milk: Some Considerations Concerning its Morphology." 

 From this paper I make the following quotations, taking only such as 

 refer especially to the milk of Jersey cows, but omitting nothing which 

 materially modifies the conclusions one would draw from the whole. 

 This quotation does less than justice to Dr. Sturtevant (who is an advo- 

 cate of the Ayrshires), but it is believed that had he been writing only 

 for the purposes of this essay, he would have included nothing that is 

 here omitted: 



' : Those features of animal form that are readily cognizable are usually 

 more changed by the breeder's art than other features which are not so 

 readily noted. Consequently, the grazing breeds have been brought to 

 a greater uniformity and perfection than have the dairy breeds, as the 

 changes to be desired have been more clearly indicated in the beginning 

 and recognized in the achievement. Changes in the dah*y breeds are to 

 be understandingly brought about by breeders and farmers 'who have a 

 practical belief in the universality of law — that inheritance of form is 

 not more important in modifying the shape of the body than it is in de- 

 termining the products from the animal. 



" Whether a cow's milk is better fitted for the making of butter or 

 cheese, or for any other purpose, is largely determined by inheritance, 

 as is also the amount she will give, the manner in which she will give it, 

 the economy with which she will produce it from her food, and the effect 

 of the production upon the health of the animal. 



********* 



"Milk is one of the products of the animal body which possesses a 

 form. It is composed of myriads of minute globules of mixed fats, in- 

 closed each in an enveloping substance, which not only preserves the 

 form, but protects the contents from the action of ether. These globules 

 float at will in a colorless fluid composed of sugar of milk, caseine, etc., 

 in solution. These globules, by their structure, give to the combined 

 fluid a physical quality, as distinct from chemical quality. 



********* 



"As the shapes of animals have been modified to suit human needs or 

 fancy, through the taking advantage of those laws controlling form, we 

 should likewise expect that these globules, either knowingly or unwit- 

 tingly, would participate in changes, and would bear'a relation to the 

 wants or requirements of the breeder. 



********* 



" The globules in milk are of varying sizes, some so small as to appear 

 as granules under a magnifying power of eight hundred diameters; 

 others very much larger. The small globules — for an increased power 

 has invariably defined them as such — I shall for convenience* term 

 granules. As ^jion ^ nc ^ * s > with my micrometer, a convenient division, 



