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Oils and Fain. 



" It is conceded by the government that the importation in question is refined 

 cocoanut oil. The reason given for classifying it otherwise is that it is in fact cocoa- 

 nut oil deodorized and prepared for edible purposes ; that the refining process had 

 rendered it agreeable to the taste and edible, and that it is not placed on the market 

 under the name of cocoanut oil, but under various names indicating a different 

 product and use from cocoanut oil, such as ' Mannheim butter,' ' vegetable butter,' 

 etc. 



" The refining process which constitutes what is called the ' manufacture ' 

 of the oil, merely removes from it the impurities due to the manner in which the 

 kernel is handled and dried, and to its partial decay. There is no standard of im- 

 purity by which the cocoanut oil of commerce is known. That oil, for anything 

 that appears to the contrary, may be a pure and edible oil. An edible cocoanut 

 oil is not a butter because it is edible. Other vegetable oils, like olive oil and cotton- 

 seed oil, are edible, and with butter are used in culinary purposes by Chinamen 

 in the Straits Settlements. It must be assumed that whether an oil is an oil or a 

 butterine does not depend upon the degree of rancidity it has, by which its general 

 culinary use is affected. A product to be dutiable as cocoa-butterine must be useful 

 as a substitute for cocoa-butter. It must be an artificial substitute for cocoa-butter. 

 Such is the holding of the Board of General Appraisers. 



" As already appears, cocoa-butter is a product of the bean of the cacao or 

 chocolate tree. The oil from cocoanuts, to be classed as cocoa-butterine, must be an 

 imitation of this cacao or cocoa-butter — it must, in other words, be an artificial 

 cocoa butter. The testimony in the case shows a wide difference between the two 

 articles. One of the witnesses, a dealer who has sold cocoanut oil of the manufacture 

 in controversy for a year and a half, testifies that he never offered it for sale or knew 

 of anyone else offering it as cocoa butterine ; that it differs in appeai'ance from cocoa- 

 butterine ; that there are of the imported butterines and those manufactured here 

 some 12 or 15 different cocoa butterines ; that they are all solids, with a melting point 

 of about 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and are usually sold in cakes, wrapped in paper and 

 packed in cases, while the oil in question melts at about 80 degrees completely and 

 becomes a liquid, and is sold in hermetically sealed packages ; that the two products 

 differ in color, in texture, and in the use to which they are applied ; that cocoa-but- 

 terine is sold to confectioners and pharmacists as a substitute for cocoa-butter ; that 

 in the pharmaceutical trade the cocoa-butter and butterines are largely used for 

 suppositories]; that they are similar in colour, in texture, in the nature of the fracture 

 when broken, and in the degree of melting ; that in many cases the odour of the cocoa- 

 butter is attempted to be introduced in the butterines, not always successfully, but 

 that they are put up in the same manner, packed in the same weight of packages, 

 and bear, as nearly as an imitation may bear, all the characteristics of cocoa-butter ; 

 that they are readily recognized by everyone in the trade ; that conf ectioners refuse 

 to buy the oil in question because its low melting point makes it entirely unsuitable 

 as a substitute for cocoa-butter. The testimony of the confectioners is that the 

 importation in question is not used as a substitute for cocoa-butter ; that any sweet, 

 clean fat can be used to a limited extent in thinning chocolate ; that most fats 

 dissolve at a very low degree, while cocoa-butter, because it melts at a higher degree, 

 is more suitable for thinning chocolate, ' so the chocolate won't dissolve and spread,' 

 and that in the confectioner's business cocoa-butter is chiefly used for this purpose. 

 Some of these witnesses testified that they had used the cocoanut oil in question, 

 but it was not successful ; that it was no more suitable for their use than lard or 

 cottonseed oil. From the testimony in the case it appears that this cocoanut oil is 

 used chiefly for soap making, and that more than three-fourths of the importation on 

 account of which this action is brought was purchased by one manufacturer for 

 such use. 



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