58 



REPORT OF hUE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



able. Great care had also to be exercised in mixing the butter with 

 alkali and in the combustion. 



In the moist combustion about 300 mg. of the butter were taken and 

 distillate nesslerized in the usual way. The moist combustion process 

 is much to be preferred, as far as manipulation and economy are con- 

 cerned, and the results seem equally reliable. 



SALT. 



Salt has been estimated in two ways, viz., (a) the usual process Of titra- 

 tion and combustion, and (b) by washing out the salt with hot water 

 and titrating it with a standard Solution of silver nitrate, using potas- 

 sium chromate as indicated. This latter process gives good results, and 

 repeated analyses show fair agreement. 



About 5 g. of the butter are placed in a bulb separating funnel and 

 shaken with successive portions (50 c. c.) of hot water. After this the 

 subsidence of the water it is drawn off. It will be found that live wash- 

 ings will remove all but a trace of the salt. It is then directly titrated 

 with the silver solution. The following duplicate numbers show the 

 reliability of this process. When it is remembered that the salt is often 

 put in butter in lumps of considerable size, the agreement is all that 

 can be desired : 



Table of the duplicate analyses of salt. 



Articles 



Dairy butter 



do 



do 



do 



do 



do 



do 



do 



do 



do 



do 



do 



Creamery butter. 



do 



do 



do 



Tub butter 



do 



do 



Oleomargarine.. . 



do 



do 



rest. 



Highest. 



Average. 



1.99 



2.05 



2. 03 



2. 52 



2. 58 



2. 55 



1.76 



1. 76 



L 76 



1.23 



1.23 



1.23 



L 64 



1.64 



1.04 



1.64 



1.64 



1.64 



2. 11 



2.11 



2. 11 



2. 81 



2.81 



2.81 



3. 22 



3. 33 



3. 28 



1.87 



2. 05 



1.86 



2. 87 



2. 93 



2. 90 



2. 75 



2.81 



2. 78 



4. 39 



4. 50 



4.45 



2. 52 



2. 58 



2. 55 



5. 10 



5. 15 



5. 13 



2. 28 



2. 34 



2. 31 



3. 80 



3. 86 



3.83 



3. 63 



3. 63 



3. 63 



1.93 



1.99 



1.96 



3.98 



4. 05 



4. 03 



3. 28 



3. 34 



3. 31 



2. 81 



2. 81 



2. 81 



SATURATION EQUIVALENT. 



The saturation equivalent is the amount of potassium or sodium hy- 

 drate necessary to saponify a given weight of the fat. The fat is pre- 

 pared for saponification by melting, allowing curd, salt and water to 

 subside, and filtering. An approximate semi-normal solution of the 

 alkali in alcohol is employed for the saponification. The alcohol em- 

 ployed should be previously filtered through bone black, otherwise the 

 solution will be too highly colored for delicate titration. 



The saturation equivalent is expressed in abstract numbers obtained 

 by dividing the molecular weight of the alkali employed by the number 

 of milligrammes of it used in saponification. The numbers for the two 

 hydrates thus become the same. 



