- CHAPTER XXXII. 



OLEOMARGARINE. 



OLEOMARGARINE, Butterine, Dutch Butter and Mar- 

 garine are terms that are used synonymously. All refer 

 to articles which are manufactured as butter substitutes. 

 They are all made chiefly from beef fat, and are made 

 to imitate butter as nearly as possible. To some of the 

 better grades (as butterine), a definite amount of real 

 butter or cream is added. Beef fat is chiefly composed 

 of tissue and fats belonging to the non-volatile and in- 

 soluble group, such as stearin, palmatin and olein. The 

 chief difference between butter and margarine is that the 

 butter contains fats of the lower series which belong to 

 the volatile and soluble group, of which butyrin is the 

 chief one. Margarine does not contain any noticeable 

 amount of the volatile fats unless butter has been added, 

 as is sometimes the case. Oleomargarine is therefore not 

 a dairy product, but is briefly mentioned here because dairy 

 products are used in connection with its manufacture. 



Origin of Margarine. According to history, marga- 

 rine was first manufactured in France. It is said that a 

 French chemist named M. Mege-Mourier was requested 

 by the French Emperor, Napoleon III, to investigate the 

 problem of getting a good, wholesome and cheap substi- 

 tute for butter. This was evidently done to reduce the 

 expenses during the France-German war of 1870. In 

 a short time he had prepared a quality of goods which 

 resembled butter to such an extent that it required an 



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