180 TESTIMONY OF ROBERT OGDEN DOREMUS. 



that is the cream taken from the top of the cream, as they would 

 say in French, the " creme de la creme." 



Q. Do you understand my question ? A. Yes, sir. 



Q. Usually does not the specific gravity of pure milk depend more 

 upon the quantity of water it contains than the weight of all the 

 other component parts ? A. It does not, sir ; because there are 

 two substances in the milk lighter than milk ; the one is the water 

 to which your Honor alludes, and the other is cream ; it is this 

 cream that damns the lactometer. 



Q. I do not see yet why the richness of cream, that is the 

 value of the milk to make butter, the quantity of fat in it, and all 

 that, is one thing, but when you come to take the specific gravity of 

 combined elements as they come from the cow's bag, which is called 

 pure milk, and without any analysis or test other than to show the 

 specific gravity of the milk, does not the specific gravity of the 

 milk depend more upon the quantity of water than all the other ele- 

 ments ? A. If your Honor will permit me to answer as I had com- 

 menced, I think I can make it very clear to your Honor's mind. I 

 tested the gravity of very pure cream at a creamery ; I took off the 

 top of the cream from a number of cans and placed the lactometer 

 in it at a temperature of 60 Fahr., and the lactometer sank grad- 

 ually down to 32. 



Q. The lactometer showed the other day cream stood at 44? 

 A. Yes, sir ; that was not pure cream ; mine was the purest cream, 

 for it was the top of a number of cans ; here say are 30 or 40 cans ; 

 I took a spoonful of the top of the cream, the lightest portion of 

 cream, as the Irishwoman said, " Arrah, would you give the children 

 the scum ?" it is the " scum " that rises, it is that disturbing ele- 

 ment ; if the illustrious men of the Board of Health can eliminate 

 the cream, then the lactometer is a good instrument, but with the 

 cream it is impossible with the lactometer to tell whether milk is 

 low from cream or low from water ; I would defy any of the illustrious 

 experts that were here the other day to demonstrate from those 

 bottles that were so often presented, whether if the gravity was low 

 it was due to water or cream none of us could without analysis ; 

 the cream is light, the water is light, and there are two light bodies. 



Q. If you have a given quantity of pure milk as it comes from 

 the cow, and you add to it a considerable quantity of water, say a 



