316 



COMPOSITION OF BUTTER 



and seeing the variable quantity of water found in butter, it 

 is wisest not to certify on the grounds of water alone unless there 

 is sufficient to lower the percentage of fat below 80 per cent. 



" At the Bath Police Court (January, 1879), a dairyman had 

 been summoned for selling butter, the proximate analysis of which 

 showed a considerable addition of water. An appeal to the 

 Somerset House elicited the following certificate: 



" We hereby certify that we have analyzed the butter and 

 declare the result of our analysis to be as follows: 



Per Cent 



Water 23 . 27 



Butter-fat 74-69 



Salt 7$ 



Curd i . 26 



" The result of our analyses of numerous samples of ordinary 

 commercial butter obtained from different parts of the country, 

 including the south of England, shows that the portion of water 

 is very variable and that it occasionally amounts to as much as 

 19 per cent." 



James Bell obtained, for 117 samples of butter collected in 

 various parts of the kingdom, and asserted by him to be genuine, 

 proportions of water varying from 4.15 to 20.75 P er cent. 



Lewkowitsch in his work says: 



" The proportion of water in butter should not exceed 16 

 per cent." 



He gives the following table to illustrate the amount of 

 water present in butter on the English market : 



