OLEOMARGARINE. 131 



appreciable difference between them, but between the butter and the 

 'oleo' there was a marked difference at the end of each period. 



"Fig. 4, Plate I, and fig. 1, Plate II, shows the difference between 

 6 oleo ' and genuine butter after being acted upon by the digestive fluid 

 for one hour. It will be noticed that there is no emulsion at all of the 

 ' oleo ' while the butter is well advanced. 



"Fig. 5, Plate I, and fig, 2, Plate II, shows the same at the end of 

 four hours. It is seen that the ' oleo ' is not nearly as much emulsified 

 as the butter was at the end of one hour. 



"Fig. 6, Plate I, and fig. 3, Plate II, presents the same at the end 

 of twelve hours, which shows that the ' oleo ' is but a trifle, if at all, 

 further emulsionized than the butter was at the end of the four hours." 



And again: 



"It is important to know that the approval given to Mege's oleo- 

 margarine as an article of food by the council of health of Paris, in 

 1872, on the strength of the favorable report made by M. Felix Baudet 

 (an abstract of which is given on page 30 of this report) was morally, 

 at least, withdrawn in consequence of a report of an investigation made 

 by a commission of the academy of medicine for the prefect of the 

 Seine, disappro ving of the article for use except to a limited extent in 

 cooking, on the ground of its comparatve indigestibily. It was 

 never allowed to be sold in the public markets of Paris except under 

 its own name. Its sale is now prohibited in the public markets. 



" The insolubility of those artificial butters made from animal fats 

 is another potent quality for rendering them indigestible. In man the 

 digestive process is carried on with greater rapidity than in any of the 

 lower animals; and the gastric juice acts upon food from the outside 

 toward the center; that is, it does not soak the material and exert its 

 solvent action upon the whole of it at the same time. Consequently 

 the greater amount of surface of food directly exposed the more rapid 

 its digestion. It is for this reason that it is so necessary for man to 

 carry out the process of mastication thoroughly. It is for this reason 

 also that some people experience distress after eating eggs boiled just 

 hard, but none after eating them soft boiled, or after being boiled for 

 some time, when they become ' mealy.' The difference in the digestion 

 of an egg is again felt when eaten raw without beating and when it is 

 beaten. The beating mixes the albumen with the air, rendering it 

 porous. 



" The artificial butters made from animal fats, although the olein and 

 palmitin are separated as much as possible by pressure, will not liquefy 

 at the stomach temperature, as is demonstrated by the following experi- 

 ments: We placed in an oven kept at a temperature of from 100 to 104 

 F. four beakers containing, respectively, pure butter, oleomargarine 

 butter, oleomargarine oil (commercial), and lard oil, about 20 drams of 

 each, and which were all of the temperature of about 60 F. when taken. 

 At the expiration of thirty-five minutes, and the temperature at 100 

 F., the butter presented a clear limpid appearance, but the others 

 remained solid, being but very little affected, and at the end of five 

 hours, the temperature being from 101 to 104 F. , they were in a semi- 

 solid condition, the oleomargarine oil being most softened, the oleo 

 butter next, and the lard the least softened. 



>fc These insoluble fats, then, must interfere with digestion in two 

 ways: First, by not being acted upon themselves by the gastric juice, 



