Food Preservatives and Butter Increasers. 463 



It would seem unwise to endanger the healthful condition of 

 the stomach and diminish the digestibility of cream and milk, 

 naturally rated among the most digestible food products. That 

 milk and cream treated with formalin are injured, is not founded 

 upon theory but upon facts. Digestion experiments have been 

 made upon milk with and without the presence of formalin. In 

 the cases so far reported the milk containing the formalin re- 

 quired a longer time for digestion than that which contained no 

 formalin. Furthermore, the behavior in the Babcock test of 

 milk which had been preserved by formalin shows that its com- 

 position is in some way affected. Ordinarily, the curd of milk 

 is dissolved by the sulphuric acid that is used in this test. 

 Where formalin is used the curd often fails to dissolve and be- 

 comes a compact mass. If this preservative can so alter milk 

 that sulphuric acid may fail to dissolve its curd, is it not at 

 least probable that the action of the gastric juices of the stomach 

 may be rendered less effective? 



CHASE'S BUTTER INCREASER. 



Agents have been busy throughout different parts of the State 

 attempting to introduce the above named substance. It was 

 guaranteed to bring about an increased yield of butter in churn- 

 ing. A sample of this substance was examined at this Station. 

 It was a liquid having the general appearance of vinegar and a 

 slight odor of oil of wintergreen. The label bore no name of the 

 firm manufacturing it nor any address showing where it might be 

 obtained. It guaranteed to double the yield of butter from cream 

 if added in small proportions to the cream before churning. 



It was a 25 per cent, solution of acetic acid, which is the acid 

 of vinegar, and a small amount of salicylic acid. (Salicylic acid 

 is a constituent of the oil of wintergreen.) 



The action of acids on milk is to curdle the casein. This is 

 shown in the souring of milk itself when lactic acid is formed 

 from the milk sugar; or by adding vinegar or other acids to milk. 

 Hence it is plain what the effects of Chase's Butter Increaser 

 would be. The acetic acid would curdle the casein which would 



