OLEOMAKGABINE. 



791 



much larger sale for oleomargarine, but, on the other hand, the more profitable returns 

 for the dairy product will greatly encourage the business and farmers, who have 

 devoted so much attention to grain and stock raising, will now give attention to the 

 dairy herds, believing that the restoring of remunerative prices is not for a single 

 season only but for some years to come. 



The fluctuations in prices have been most marked, showing a variation from the 

 lowest to the highest point of 12 cents a pound, and the average for the year was 2-J 

 cents higher than for the previous year. The shortage of supplies during the winter, 

 after the storage goods were practically exhausted, forced the market so high as to 

 curtail consumption largely, but when the market was 25 cents or less the movement 

 was generally free and healthy. 



[Extracts from pages 659, 660, and 661 of No. 7, Vol. XI, of United States Experiment Station Kecord, 



edited by E. W. Allen, Ph. D.] 



The relative digestibility of several sorts of fat by man. I, Margarin and natural butter, 

 E. Luhrig (Ztschr. Untersuch. Nahr. u. Genussmtl., 2 (1899), No. 6, pp. 484-506). The 

 author reviews the literature of the subject and reports results of 4 experiments on 

 the digestibility of margarin and butter made with a healthy man, 29 years old, 

 weighing 74 kg. Holstein butter and 3 sorts of uiargarin were used, called according to 

 their quality, No. 1, 2, and 3. The tests were quite similar, the fat in each case form- 

 ing part of a mixed diet of meat, bread, vegetables, etc. The composition of the 

 margarin and butter was determined and the fat content of all the articles of diet. 



The average results of the tests follow : 



Average digestibility of margarin and butter. 



If corrections are made for the fat in the food supplied by other materials than 

 margarin or butter, the average coefficients of digestibility in the 4 tests are 97.35, 

 97.39, 97,90, and 96.53 per cent, respectively. The author studied the undigested 

 fat in the 4 experiments and determined the amount of true fat in the undigested 

 ether extract. Taking account of these values, the corrected digestibility of the 

 margarin and butter fat in the tests reported above is 98.31, 98.25, 98.46, and 97,77 per 

 cent, respectively. In the author's opinion the true undigested fat was not butter or 

 margarin fat, and accordingly he believes that it is safe to conclude that butter and 

 margarin are completely digested. (The fat recovered in the feces is believed to be 

 derived from the digestive juices and metabolic products produced in the body 

 during the experiment.) If it is insisted upon that the two kinds of fat are not 

 completely digested, it must still be granted that as regards digestibility they are 

 practically alike, since the difference is very small. * * 



From a study of the chemical characteristics of the undigested fat the author intro- 

 duces certain corrections in the above values and concludes that 97. 86 per cent of the 

 butter was actually digested and 97.55 per cent of the margarin. From a physio- 

 logical standpoint the 2 fats are thought to be completely digestible and of equal 

 value. 



[Extract from pp. 375, 376, Experiment Station Kecord, Vol. XI, No. 4, Department of Agriculture.] 



The nutritive value of margarin compared with butter, E. Bertarelli (Eiv. Iq. e. San. 

 Pubb., 9 (1898), Nos. 14, pp. 538-545; 15, pp. 570-579). Three experiments with healthy 

 men are reported, in which the value of margarin and butter was tested when con- 

 sumed as part of a simple mixed diet. In one experiment the value of a mixture of 

 olive oil and colza oil, which is commonly used in Italy, in the neighborhood of 

 Turin, was also tested. The author himself was the subject of one of the tests. 

 He was 24 years old. The subjects of the other tests were two laboratory servants; 

 one 27 years old, the other 32 years old. * * * 



The principal conclusions follow: When properly prepared, margarin differs 

 but little from natural butter in chemical and physical properties. On an average, 

 93.5 to 96 per cent of fat was assimilated when margarin was consumed, and 94 to 



(*209) 



