CHAPTER VIII. 



MARGARINE AND MARGARINE CHEESE. 



147. Margarine. The manufacture of margarine as at present 

 carried on has as little to do with dairying as the manufacture of 

 margarine cheese. It is, however, desirable to say a few words on 

 its nature, as both these products enter into competition with dairy 

 products, and because the fraud connected with the trade in mar- 

 garine, which is growing in extent every year, and for the purpose of 

 checking which special legislation has become necessary, not merely 

 affects the dairying industry, but the whole agricultural industry. 



Before the year 1887, margarine was universally known both 

 in Germany and in Austria as butterine. The preparation of 

 margarine was first carried out in France. Shortly before the 

 Franco-German war in 1870, M. Mege-Mouries, a French chemist, 

 was requested by the Emperor Napoleon III. to investigate the 

 question of obtaining a good cheap substitute for butter, for 

 the French Marines, and for the poorer inhabitants of Paris. 

 The animal fats of all domestic animals used for meat are not 

 suited for use for kitchen purposes, since for many purposes they 

 are partly too hard and friable, and partly too soft and greasy, 

 and since all of them possess a peculiar smell and flavour, pro- 

 bably caused by small quantities of volatile fatty acids. The 

 above-mentioned chemist quickly carried out his commission in 

 an excellent manner, and discovered by experiment a cheap butter 

 substitute possessing many excellent qualities, and capable of being 

 prepared in a simple manner from the best ox-tallow. According 

 to a regulation of the Paris Health Council of 12th April, 1872, the 

 public sale of the new fat, which was named margarine-mouries, was 

 sanctioned under the condition that it was not to be brought into 

 commerce under the name of butter. According to the process of 

 Mege-Mouries, a portion of stearin separated from the best kidney 

 fat is converted into a fat which possesses properties similar to 

 butter, and which has practically lost the peculiar flavour of raw 

 fat. This method thus renders the use of the fat of the animal 



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