704 



NATURE 



[February 24, i9i(. 



age, and is 14° higher than the previous highest 

 mean minimum, 39-4° in 1846, whilst there have only 

 been three previous Januarys with the mean minimum 

 as high as 39°. The mean minimum of 408° is in 

 agreement with the average minimum at the begin- 

 ning of May or end of October. 



The lowest mean temperature for January during 

 the last seventy-five years is 3 16° in 1879, and 31-8° 

 in 1881, which, with "January this year, gives a range 

 of 14° for the possible mean temperature. 



In January, 19 16, there were three frosty nights at 

 Greenwich, the lowest temperature being 29° on 

 January 23, and in the last seventy-five years January, 

 1884, had only one frost, and January, 1872, had two 

 frosts, whilst the other Januarys during the long 

 period with as few as three frosty nights were 185 1, 

 1853, 1875, and 1890. In twelve Januarys there have 

 been as many as twenty or more frosts, and in 1879 

 there were twentj'-six frosts.. There has been no 

 January with more than seventeen frosty nights since 

 the memorable frost of 1895. 



There were twenty days at Greenwich with the 

 temperature 50° or above, and the nearest approach 

 to this in previous Januarys since 1841 is seventeen 

 days as warm as 50° in 1890, whilst there is only one 

 other instance, in 1899, with as many as fifteen days 

 as warm. 



The highest temperature recorded at any time in 

 January during the seventy-five years is 57° on January 

 28, 1843, and this temperature was reached iDoth on 

 January i and 17 this year. The two closing days 

 of the month were the only occasions on which the 

 maximum or highest day temperature was below the 

 normal ; the lowest maximum temperature was 42° on 

 January 31. 



There have only been two Decembers in the last 

 seventy-five 3'ears with a higher mean than in January, 

 1916, the instances being 47-2° in 1852, and 45-8° in 

 1868, and in December, 1912, the mean was 45-7°, 

 identical with last Januarv. The only February with 

 so high a mean was in 1869, the value being 45-8°. 



Previous observations to those of the new series 

 from 1841 made at Greenwich show a mean tempera- 

 ture of 44-6° in January, 1834, which is the highest 

 during the last 100 years, and i-i° lower than January, 

 1916. Chas. Harding. 



6? Holmewood Gardens, Brixton Hill. 



Lipoids and Vitamines in Margarine and Butter. 



In the issue of Nature of Juno 3, 1915, there is an 

 interesting discussion on the presence of "vitamines" 

 in butter and in margarine. The writer of the article 

 on " Modern Substitutes for Butter " states that butter 

 fat is the only fat or oil in which American investi- 

 gators have shown the presence of vitamines, and he 

 further states that vitamines are closely associated 

 with lipoids, and that it is doubtful whether vitamines 

 could be formed during lactic fermentation. 



" S. H. B.," stating as a fact that vitamines are 

 formed by lactic fermentation, concludes that butter 

 and margarine, by being both churned with skim milk, 

 should be equally rich in the precious substances men- 

 tioned. 



Now there is no evidence about the quantities of 

 vitamines in butter and in margarine. But recent 

 investigations of my own "throw some light on the 

 quantities of lipoids in those substances, and with 

 those lijx)ids the vitamines are closely allied. To find 

 the lipoid content, I proceed as follows : — The liquid 

 fats, oils, butter, and margarine are shaken with an 

 equal volume of hydrochloric acid (sp. gr. 1-19). After 

 the separation of both liquids, part of the acid is let 

 off and diluted with water. The precipitate of lipoids 



NO. 2417, VOL. 96] 



is collected and washed with water, dried, and 

 weighed. I found in 100 c.c. of liquid : — 



Buiter M.irjjarjii Se>aiiie oil 



llran-butltr 

 (VcKctabie butter) 



1125 



Arachis oil 

 (CulLi p^e^sed> 



traces 



The first conclusion from these figures is that the 

 seat of the lipoids in butter and butter substitutes is 

 not the fat, but the solution with which it is mixed 

 and emulsified. 



Further, it is obvious that of the ±0075 per cent, 

 of lecithin in milk onlv a part is enclosed in the butter. 

 The remaining lipoids in the skim milk are responsible 

 for the greater part of the Hi)oid content in margarine. 

 Egg yolk, if added, may prove another source of 

 lipoids in marj^arine. The high figure for margarine 

 as compared with those for "vegetable butter" may be 

 due to that source. 



There is another store of lipoids in the seeds (if 

 plants, which is turned to profit in a recent Dutch 

 patent process. There was a serious obstacle in the 

 fact that lecithin enters into chemical combination 

 (Hoppe Seyler, Juckenack), or absorption (Rol>. 

 Cohn), with albumins.' In order to set it free the 

 seeds are treated with diluted acids or alkalis. " Bran- 

 butter," e.g., is made by treating bran with diluted 

 lime water. The solution thus obtained consists of 

 water, glutelin, lipoids, and Salts. With it a mixture 

 of arachis oil and raffinated coconut oil is thorough Iv 

 emulsified. To this emulsion is added skim milk, and 

 the butter separated after ripening. Working on these 

 lines a vegetable butter with 1-125 gr. of lipoids in 

 100 c.c. could easily be obtained. By changing the 

 proportions a higher content may be reached if desired. 



It is obvious that a "vegetable butter" of this kind 

 in its lipoid content, and ])robably also in its vita- 

 mine content, is more than equal to butter. As a fact, 

 it has a most marked advantage as a part of the daily 

 diet. 



Anyone interested in the process above mentioned 

 and its possibilities as to making butter-like, and 

 even cheese-like products, is invited to correspond 

 with the writer. J. dk Ruiter. 



Sneek, Holland. 



Science Scholarships. 



The leading article in Nature of February 17 (p. 671) 

 quotes Dr. Shipley and Mr. Roberts, who say, in 

 reference to the candidates for science scholarships at 

 Cambridge : — " No candidate in natural science who 



' reaches the necessary standard of ability is likely to 



j be rejected. But the supply of candidates of sufficient 

 ability is not so great as it should be." 



I have not had the opportunity of reading the 



I original letter, but this quotation contains two points 

 on which I may be permitted to make a few remarks. 

 I feel entitled to ask this privilege as between i8qo 

 and 1904 I took a share in the work of scholarship 

 examination, and I am now able to review my work 

 in the light of a more general experience. 



Urst, as to the type and standard of the questions 



I that are set to the candidates, these appear now to 



1 The ab'orpt'on of lipoids by alb'imins could be obse v d by heating 

 sesame oil with bran tj ico" C-, by which the oil is prcvid to Vave lost half 

 its lipoid content. 



