116 TESTIMONY OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



Q. Yes sir. A. It would at once excite suspicion that it had 

 been falsified with water, but it would not be, without observation, 

 sufficient evidence that it had been watered. 



Q. You do not mean to say it would be no evidence ? A. Oh, 

 no ; it would not be conclusive evidence. 



Q. Suppose a sample of milk, commercial milk, which to the eye 

 as it appears in the glass and upon the lactometer is tested, and 

 and also by the taste, and on the lactometer shows at 60 Fahrenheit 

 a degree of 90, these observations occurring, what would it deter- 

 mine ? A. Almost absolutely convincing the mind of the observer 

 that it had been tampered with by the addition of water. 



Q. Is there any more accurate method of determining ? A. "Well, 

 practically no. 



Cr oss-examined by Mr. LA WHENCE : 



Q. Professor Silliman, have you personally tested milk with the 

 hydrometer ? A. Do you ask that question of the hydrometer in 

 general, or the Board of Health instrument ? 



Q. The modification of the hydrometer which is called the lacto- 

 meter. A. I have. 



Q. Very often ? A. Very often. 



Q. How many times ? A. I cannot say how many times ; every 

 year during the last forty years. 



Q. Have you ever used the lactometer of the Board of Health of 

 New York ? A. I have not. 



Q. Do you know whether its mechanical construction is correct ? 

 A. I conceive from the examination that I have made of the instru- 

 ment that it is very skilfully constructed for its purpose, inasmuch 

 as the stem is very small in proportion to the bulb. 



Q. Did you not assist the other day in court at the reading by 

 four lactometers which were alike in bulb and stem ? A. I did. 



Q. They differed I believe? A. Slightly. 



Q. Can you point out any mechanical defects about the Board of 

 Health's lactometer ? A. I do not know that I exactly understand 

 the purport of your question. 



Q. "Will you take that instrument and see whether you can dis- 

 cover any mechanical defects in its construction ? A. Judging 

 merely from the external form, the appearance of the instrument 



