82 



EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Chemical and physical characteristics of fat of Norwegian creamery but- 

 ter, F. 11. Wkkenskiold, R. Hals, and II. Gheoo {Aarshr. Ojf'int. Forand. Landln: 

 Fremme, 1901, pp. 30). — The investigations liere reported were conducted during the 

 years 1898-1901, to estal^lish the variations that are apt to occur in the cheinicai and 

 physical i)roperties of butter fat from pure Norwegian creamery butter. In all 682 

 sannjles of butter from 21 creameries located in different parts of Norway were exam- 

 ined. The following table presents the average data obtained for each month, with 

 maxima and minima for the different determinations: 



Average results of examinations of Norwegian creamerij bnlter. 



January 



February .. 



March 



April 



May , 



June , 



July , 



August 



September . 



October 



November . 

 December.. 



Month. 



Minimum 0.9082 (Sept.) 



Maximum 9130 (Dee.) 



Specific 

 gravity 



(at 37.8° C). 



. 9120 

 . 9122 

 . 9123 

 . 9120 

 .9116 

 .9110 

 .9104 

 .9107 

 .9110 

 .9114 

 .9123 

 .9123 



Refractive 

 index 



(at 45° C). 



39. 80 

 39. 85 

 39. 90 

 40. 05 

 40.50 

 41.40 

 41.95 

 41.80 

 41.40 

 40.35 

 39.50 

 39. 55 



Reichert num- 

 ber. 



31.00 

 31.00 

 30.80 

 30.95 

 29.95 

 28.55 

 28. 45 

 28.60 

 29.75 

 30.15 

 30.70 

 30.90 



38.70 (Oct.) 



(Dee.) 



43.70 (June) 



21.10 (June) 

 34.90 (Jan.) 



lortin num- 

 ber. 



33.0 

 32.1 

 32.7 

 33.4 

 35.3 

 39.3 

 39.6 

 39.3 

 38.7 

 34.9 

 30.6 

 31.0 



28.2 (Nov.) 

 45.1 (June) 



The results show that the butter fat from the creameries investigated may assume 

 such a composition during the spring months that according to the methods of anal- 

 ysis adopted it would have the same effect as an admixture of artificial butter'fat; it 

 may retain this changed character during the summer and not return to normal val- 

 ues again until in the fall. The results of van Rijn, Boggild, and Stein as to the 

 increase in Reii-hert number at the tying in in the fall were corroborated. — f. w. 



WOLL. 



Report of Danish butter exhibits during 1901, F. Friis {Copenhagen, 1902, 

 pp. 39). — During the calendar year 1901, 808 different creameries exhibited butter 

 amounting in all to 2,376 tubs. The average water content of the butter exhibited 

 was 14.06 per cent. 



A report is given of investigations conducte<l dui-ing 5 consecutive years (1897- 

 1901) concerning the refractive index and volatile fatty acids of Danish creamery 

 butter. The figures given in the following table, which have been compiled from 

 tables in the report, represent average data for the 5 years. The total number of 

 samples of butter fat examined during this period wa.s 10,475. 



Average results of examinations of butter fat, 1897-1901. 



Month. 



January 

 February 

 March . .. 



April 



May 



June 



July 



Refractive 

 index 



(at25°C.). 



50.6 

 50.7 

 50.9 

 51.0 

 51.3 

 51.3 

 51.8 



Reichert 

 number. 



30.57 



30.60 



30. 47 



30. 27 



29.6 



30.4 



29.4 



Month. 



August 



September 



October 



November 



December 



Average for year 



Refractive 

 index 



(at25°C.). 



52.4 

 52.8 

 52.4 

 50.6 

 50.4 



51.4 



Reichert 

 number. 



28.2 

 27.5 

 28.1 

 30.4 

 30.7 



29.7 



The monthly variations in the refractive indexes or volatile fatty acids are repeated 

 very regularly from year to year, and the average data for the different months 



