EDITORIAL. 
383 
A  report  to  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine,  on  Solidified  Milk,  by  the 
Standing  Committee  on  Public  Health  and  Legal  Medicine,  New  York, 
1855. 
We  have  already  given  a  brief  account  of  the  establishment;  of  Mr.  S.  T. 
Blatchford,  (see  page  112)  from  the  New  York  Med.  Monthly,  to  which  we 
refer  our  readers.  The  above  report,  by  Prof.  Griscom,  Dr.  Van  Kleek,  and 
others,  is  entirely  favorable  to  the  success  of  the  enterprize.  The  report 
says ; 
u  Your  committee  have  perhaps  said  all  that  is  necessary  to  satisfy  the 
Academy  that  the  article  before  us  is  not  only  available  as  a  substitute  for 
milk,  but  that  it  is  in  fact  pure  milk  itself,  with  the  addition  of  sugar  only. 
There  is  no  loss  of  any  nutritive  material,  a  fact  of  which  we  can  always 
be  assured,  for  the  article  cannot  be  produced  except  from  fresh  milk,  as 
any  change  in  the  character  of  the  original  fluid,  either  by  spontaneous 
decomposition,  or  otherwise,  must  spoil  the  result." 
As  the  Committee  observe,  there  is  every  inducement  on  the  part  of  the 
manufacturer,  to  use  the  richest  milk  in  its  preparation,  as  such  yields  the 
largest  product.  We  quote  the  concluding  remarks  of  the  Committee,  de- 
scribing this  substance  and  its  capabilities  as  a  substitute  for  milk  : 
"  1  Blatchford's  Solidified  Milk '  comes  to  us  mainly  in  the  form  of  a 
tablet,  covered  with  tin-foil.  It  has  a  light  yellow,  slightly  mottled  ap- 
pearance, is  of  very  firm  texture,  but  yields  readily  to  the  knife  or  grater. 
Each  tablet  weighs  a  pound,  and  will  make  in  solution  five  pints  of  rich 
milk.  When  pulverized,  it  is  readily  soluble  in  hot  or  tepid  water,  while 
cold  water  requires  rather  longer  time,  but  the  solution  is  perfect  in  either. 
The  tepid  solution  approaches  nearer  the  standard  of  natural  milk.  The 
only  objection,  besides  that  of  the  presence  of  sugar,  which  can  be  made 
to  it  is  an  empyreumatic  flavor  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  boiled  milk, 
which  it  receives  in  the  process  of  manufacture.  This  varies  in  degree, 
but  is  much  less  distinct  when  the  solution  is  made  with  cold  than  with  hot 
water,  and  in  the  preparation  of  custards,  puddings,  arrow-root,  wine 
whey,  ice  creams,  &c,  in  all  of  which  your  committee  have  practically 
tested  it,  it  disappears.  To  many  persons  this  flavor  is  not  objectionable, 
and  with  many  others,  the  palate  soon  becomes  reconciled  to  it,  and  in  a 
short  time  fails  to  recognise  it.  By  contemplated  improvements  in  the 
apparatus  for  manufacturing  it,  this  objection  is  expected  to  be  entirely 
obviated. 
"  A  solution  in  cold  water,  allowed  to  stand  sufficiently  long,  will  exhibit 
a  surface  of  rich  cream,  much  more  abundant  than  is  found  in  the  same 
quantity  of  milk  carefully  selected  in  the  city ;  from  this  cream  your  com- 
mittee have  caused  good  butter  to  be  made,  from  which  all  traces  of  sugar 
are  easily  washed  away,  showing  that  this  substance  is  only  mechanically, 
and  not  chemically,  incorporated  with  the  milk  constituents.  In  solution, 
it  does  not  acidify  so  soon  as  the  milk  of  city  consumption. 
11  Besides  the  hard  tablet,  the  solidified  milk  is  also  furnished  in  agranu- 
lar  form,  inclosed  in  cans;  it  is  thus  more  convenient  for  use,  and  will 
doubtless  keep  sweet  for  many  months,  though  probably  more  liable  to 
change  than  in  the  other  form. 
11  With  regard  to  the  economy  of  its  use  for  ordinary  purposes  in  families, 
its  cost  (25  cents  a  pound)  might  appear  to  be  a  bar  to  its  general  introduc- 
tion. But  when  it  is  considered  that  the  milk  thus  made  is  much  superior 
in  quality  to  that  commonly  found  in  this  city,  and  that  the  sugar  it  contains 
