OLEOMABGAEINE. 777 



Representative WILLIAMS. And the amount of stearin in oleomar- 

 garine, 0.007, from the statement of the Secretary of the Treasury. 



Dr. WILEY. I know about the amount in butter, because it is only 

 lately that I have made up this table, and looked the matter up afresh. 

 But in regard to the amount in oleomargarine I have not looked at it 

 for many years. I wish to reserve the right to correct my statement in 

 that respect after further investigation. 



(A copy of the report of the Secretary of the Treasury was handed to 

 Dr. Wiley.) 



Dr. WILEY. He does not give the amount of stearin in the neutral 

 lard and the oleo oil and cotton-seed oil. He does not give that at all. 

 He only gives some that is used specially; but stearin is found in those 

 other ingredients, which he does not mention there at all. I will give 

 the committee the exact figures on that point. 



[Dr. Wiley subsequently submitted to the committee the following 

 letter:] 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE, 



DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY, 

 Washington, D. C., May 16, 1900. 

 Hon. JAS. W. WADSWORTH, 



Chairman of Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives. 



DEAR SIR: I desire to submit the following additional statement in regard to the 

 percentage of stearin in oleomargarine: 



In the statement furnished by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue it is said 

 that only 0.007 per cent of stearin are found in oleomargarine. On examining care- 

 fully these data I find that they refer to the amount of stearin which is added in 

 the process of manufacture, but this statement does not refer to the stearin which 

 is normally found in the natural constituents used iu the manufacture of oleomar- 

 garine. 



Stearin is a natural glyceride found in the fats of all animals and in the oils of 

 all vegetables. It has the highest melting point of any of the ordinary natural fats, 

 and those bodies which contain the largest percentage of it have the highest melting 

 point, such as tallow, while those bodies which have smaller quantities of stearin 

 have low melting points, as, for instance, cotton-seed oil. 



The natural quantity of stearin found in lard, oleo oil, and cotton-seed oil varies 

 largely with different samples. The average composition of neutral lard, from the 

 data which I am able to find on record, may be given as 62 parts of olein and 38 parts 

 of stearin and palmitin combined, of which the greater amount is stearin. Tal- 

 low contains a very much larger proportion of stearin, but the oleo oil which is 

 used in the manufacture of oleomargarine has a large part of its stearin separated 

 by subjecting it to cold before it is used in the manufacture. It is difficult, there- 

 fore, to state even approximately the quantity of stearin in oleo oil, but I should 

 say that 20 per cent would be a very low estimate. 



Cotton-seed oil has a still lower percentage of stearin, but I can not give 

 definitely the quantity which the average oil employed would represent. 



From the above i % t is seen that in neutral lard and oleo oil, which are the chief 

 constituents of oleomargarine, there would be an average content of at least 25 per 

 cent of stearin. These two fats constitute about 60 per cent of oleomargarine; 

 hence the total amount of stearin in oleomargarine is approximately 15 per cent. 

 This, you will see, is exactly in accordance with my statement before the committee, 

 where I said I thought that oleomargarine would contain 20 per cent of stearin. 



Yon will understand that the above is an approximate estimate, but it will be 

 found on further investigation, I am sure, to be very close to the truth. You will 

 notice from the testimony which I gave before the committee this morning that 

 butter fat contains about 4 per cent of stearin in various forme. Oleomargarine 

 contains, say, at least 16 per cent. Thus the quantity of stearin in oleomargarine 

 is approximately four times as great as in butter. 



I trust the above, given in harmony with your request, will prove satisfactory. 

 Respectfully, 



H. W. WILEY, Chemist. 



Representative WILLIAMS. Do you not think it would be a step for- 

 ward, which would be advisable, to prohibit impartiality, in connection 

 with all food products, artificial coloring of one product in the sem- 

 blance of other products, or of other articles of the same product, or 



