270 
NATURE 
[ Yan. 19, 1882 
came generally known. Now these remarks are in no sense 
derogatory to the value of this product as an article of 
food. We quite agree with Dr. Playfair that “ butterine” 
may be, and frequently is, very much better than many 
qualities of butter; but this fact cannot be held to defend 
or extenuate the practice of substituting “ butterine” for 
butter without the knowledge and consent of the pur- 
chaser. The common-sense of buyers and sellers has 
practically settled this point. The manufacture of “ but- 
terine” has now reached such extraordinary proportions 
that we are bound to recognise it as a legitimate in- 
dustry : the substance is now sold openly for what it is 
and on its merits, and it is perfectly obvious that it 
supplies a public demand. A recent report by Mr. Bate- 
man to the Board of Trade, on the manufacture of these 
‘butter substitutes” in the United States, throws fresh 
light on the subject, and the statistics which the report 
contains are calculated to afford a very precise idea as to 
the magnitude of the industry. The greater part of the 
substance is made in the States by the patented method 
of M. Mége Mouries. The process is as follows :—The 
beef suet, on arriving at the factory, is thrown into tanks 
containing tepid water, and after standing a short time it 
is repeatedly washed in cold water, and disintegrated and 
separated from fibre by passing through a “ meat-hasher” 
worked by steam, after which it is forced through a fine 
sieve. It is then melted by surrounding the tanks with 
water of a temperature of about 120° F.; great care is 
taken not to exceed this point, otherwise the fat would 
begin to decompose and acquire a flavour of tallow. 
After being well stirred, the adipose inembrane sub- 
sides to the bottom of the tank, and is separated under 
the name of “scrap,” whilst a clear yellow oil is left above, 
together with a film of white oily substance. This is re- 
moved by skimming, and the yellow oil is drawn off and 
allowed to solidify. The refined fat, as the substance is 
now termed, is then taken to the press-room, which is 
kept at a temperature of about 90° F., and is packed in 
cotton cloths and placed in galvanised iron plates in a 
press ; on being subjected to pressure oil flows away, and 
cakes of pure white stearine remain: these find their way 
to the candle-makers. The oil is known as “ oleo-mar- 
garine”: it is packed in barrels for sale or export, or is 
directly made into “butterine” by adding 10 per cent. of 
milk to it, and churning the mixture. The product is 
coloured with annato and rolled with ice to “set” it; salt 
s then added, and the “‘butterine” is ready for packing in 
kegs. The taste of “butterine” is described as being 
similar to that of second-class butter, but it is rather 
more salt; owing to the very snall quantity of the cha- 
racteristic fats of natural butter—the so-called “ butyrin,” 
“caprin,” &c., which it contains, it lacks the flavour of | 
high-class butter. On the other hand, as these fats are 
specially liable to become rancid, butterine is free from 
the disgusting smell and taste of the lowest class butters. 
The composition of natural butter and of ‘‘ butterine” 
may be stated as follows :— 
Butter. “ Butterine.”” 
Water ... 11°968 11203 
Solids ... 85°032 £8°797 
100°0CcO 1c0'000 
Olein \ ~oe ; 
Palmitin f 23824 24°893 
Insoluble Fats \ Stearin ) 
| Arachin 51°422 56°298 
| Myristin \ 
Butyrin 
. ) Caprin / — 
Soluble Fats Gane 7°432 1823 
Caprylin \ 
Casein... reece eas o'192 0°621 
SDRILE ses 8 ose. ach 57162 57162 
Colouring Matter trace trace 
83032 88°797 
It will be seen that in the main “butterine’’ is very 
similar in chemical composition to butter, and its value 
as an article of food is probably quite as high. Indeed 
to some people “butterine’’ might possibly be more 
wholesome, owing to its comparative freedom from the 
readily decomposable fats which are apt in some cases to 
be specially disagreeable ; for cooking purposes it may 
be safely averred that the artificial butter would be gene- 
rally preferable, owing to the ready alteration of butyrin 
and its congeners by heat. 
The yield of oleo-margarine is found to be about 35 per 
cent. of the beef caul fat employed, and its present retail 
price may be set down as about one shilling per pound. 
It is very difficult to obtain an accurate return of the pro- 
duction of oleo-margarine and butterine ; but it is certain 
that in the Eastern States of America alone the yearly 
manufacture is not less than ten million pounds. Chicago 
and the West, moreover, contribute their share, and Mr, 
Nimmo, the chief of the U.S. Statistical Department, 
states that the export of oleo-margarine for the year 
ending June 30, 1880, was close upon nineteen million 
pounds. Probably this is under-estimated, for it is almost 
certain that considerable quantities of “‘ butterine” passed 
through the Customs under the designation of butter. 
The exports of oleo-margarine from the port of New 
York in 1879 and in the first nine months of 1880 are 
given in the annexed table :— 
? January 1 to 
Cleared for Year 1879. Sept. 30, 1880— 
9 months. 
Pounds. Pounds. 
Rotterdam 11,931,174 11,127,574 
Antwerp 173.537 1,367,526 
london... 128,426 58,639 
Liverpool 1,091,266 590,974 
Glasgow oe 274,023 1,390,694 
Other ports ... 222,438 1,215,246 
13,880,864 15,759;953 
Of the 152 million pounds which were exported in the 
first nine months of 1880, 124 millions went to Holland, 
there to be churned into butterine, most of which is sent 
into this country. Statistics show that the import of 
“butterine’’ into this country from Holland goes on in 
the same ratio as the import of oleo-margarine from the 
States into Holland. The poor British farmer has indeed 
cause to grumble: for not only do the Americans, as he 
says, send him “ acres and acres” of bad weather, and 
upset all his calculations as to his crops, but the ‘cute 
Yankee and the persevering Dutchman between them 
give him no chance even with his dairy-produce! The 
| world in general, however, will not complain of “ but- 
terine,” provided that its composition does not differ mate- 
rially from that shown by Dr. Mott’s analysis given above, 
but unfortunately from its very nature and the somewhat 
anomalous position it even yet holds, it is very liable to 
sophistication, and the people who adulterate butter with 
oleo-margarine are liable to get the oleo-margarine adul- 
terated to begin with, An ingenious American has 
recently sought to place butter, as he calls it, 0” @ soap- 
stone basis, by which is implied that finely-ground soap- 
stone added to the fat will, in his opinion, make a 
marketable commodity! We are told, on high authority, 
that if we ask for bread we are not to be offered “a 
stone”: neither are we when we ask for butter. ps 
SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IN LIVERPOOL 
{* the youngest city of the Empire, which on Saturday 
witnessed the inauguration, by Lord Derby, of its 
new university, already endowed with more than a hundred 
thousand pounds, the public recognition of the practical 
value of scientific education to the community, commenced 
only in 1860, when Sir William Brown gave to the town 
the magnificent pile of buildings forming the Free Library 
and Museum, which at once received from the late Lord 
