TESTIMONY OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 115 



milkmen ; that it is lower than the accepted standard of France, 

 which is 1.030, and that in some sense, and perhaps in a general and 

 best sense, it may be considered a safe standard. 



Q. Is the hydrometer an accurate instrument for determining 

 the specific gravity of liquids? A. It is, if properly made and 

 used. 



Q. Is there any more accurate method of determining the spe- 

 cific gravity of liquids than by the use of such an instrument? 

 A. No, it is a preferred method for liquids lighter than water, and 

 for many that are denser than water, both for the rapidity and the 

 accuracy with which it may be used. It is an instrument of in- 

 comparable practical importance, alike in the arts and in the 

 sciences. 



Q. What is the best opinion, according to the best authorities, 

 with regard to the use of the lactometer for detecting the watering 

 of milk ? 



(Objected to ; objection overruled ; exception.) 



A. As I understand the best knowledge on that subject, it is 

 that, within certain limits, the lactometer is very generally if not 

 universally accepted as a means of determining the watering of 

 milk. This, I believe, will be found to be true by examining the 

 writings of Bouchardat, Quevenne, Von Baumhauer, and all the other 

 authorities that are considered, both abroad and at home, as the 

 best representatives. I would qualify that answer, if you please, by 

 one remark. It is not intended to apply to extreme cases, nor even 

 to an individual case. You may have the milk of a cow that in an 

 exceptional condition may contain an enormous and unusual quan- 

 tity of cream, and the hydrometer would fail utterly. With that 

 qualification, I think the answer is correct. 



Q. I will limit it to the use of the lactometer for detecting the 

 watering of commercial milk ? A. I consider it a suitable and an 

 accurate instrument for that purpose. My answer is affirmative. 



Q. I will ask you, if you should find a sample of commercial milk 

 which, at a temperature of 60 Fahrenheit, should show a degree 

 of 90 on the lactometer, what would that determine ? A. It would 

 at once excite the suspicion that the milk had been falsified with 

 water, if I understand your question, that it should read at 90 on 

 the lactometer? 



