Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-07-12
Weight OF Milk.

cefhtu III protecting l"phld'i' iH"'f
scientific men have been found willing, for
fee, to assist the lawyers to middle the
question so as to protect the rogues from The
consequences Of their roguery.
One Of these venal scientists by the name
Of Doremus, did not hesitate to repeat the
following stale trick
Now here {. some milk drawn from cow
this Afternoon know 1t is pure dip the lac
tometer into it and Il stands at one hundred and
five. now pour some cream into the milk and
the lactometer gradually sinks to thirty-two in pure
cream Now take some Of the same milk In |
which the instrument stands at one hundred and |
five and pour in water, and precisely the same re-
suit is acheyed-the scale marks about thirty |
two. So that we may have two samples Of milk, |
one rich in cream and the other diluted with wa
ter, aud the lactometer show precisely the same
purity / found the other day, experimenting
with sample Of pure milk that stood at one hun
dred aud thirteen with the lactometer, ON remoy-
ing the cream 1t stood at one hundred and thirty
five thus having discrepancy when permitted
nay, iuyted-tLe addition Of oue-seyenth of wa
ter In Orange county, twelve cows were MIXED
in my presence took sample OF the milk Of
each aud FIVE ont Of the twelve stood below the
standard hundred They mn from ninety
five down to ninety, and subjccting the milk to
chemical analysis I found the fact was owing to
IT, richness In cream.
DIR. Doremus is called 10y those who are
Interested on the wateredmilk side, the
most renowned chemist in the country"
This is rdiculously false, but lac is quite
well enough skilled to know that in making
these statements he was, as Professor Chan
der did not hesitate TO say trying 10 throw
dust in the eyes Of the people" The facts
which he made use OF for this purpose are
we'll known and understood by all men at
all skilled in physiological chemistry. They
are not denied, and well informed men who
descend TO juggle with them in this way,
while they may be scientific, degrade their
scientific standing by their dishonesty.
The specific gravity instrument, called
lactometer, simply shows the relative weight
of the milk in which it is suspended This
relative weight, water being the standard of
comparison is more or less in different sam
pies, or in the same sample with more cream
added, or with all the cream renewed. No
body disputes this. 1t will also vary at diff
ferent temperatures, and 1t will be seen that
In these scientific experiments of DR..
Doremus, no note is taken of the tempera-
ture, though a variation Of ten or fifteen de
grees in the milk will make a large variation
in the reading of the lactometer.
1t is not claimed by those who use the
lactometer in testing for water aduteration,
that milk, even at the same temperature,
does not show varying specific gravity in
different samples, when pure. still less do
they claim that the lactometer will tell
whether the milk is rich or poor (by nature
or artifcially) in cream. That must be
determined 10y other means. What they do
claim is that in the mingled milk of a
healthy herd of cows, on common feed, at a
fixed temperature, the variation never ex-
ceeds few degrees one way or the other
aud that if the lactometer shows a lightnes,
greater than common, there is presumption
that water has been added, the presump
ton strengthening rapidly as the lightnesl
shown by the instrument increases Thi
is the claim, and all the claim that is mad
in relation To this instrument. II is II,
answer to say that milk in single samples o
first and last milk from individual COWS, on
different feeds at different temperature
varies considerably more than the entir
milk of herd on ordinary feed at fxe,
temperature. We know that. But no MAJ
not fool, or seeking to make fools OF others
would bring forward one series of these fact
To disproye the other. They are both true
and being true, do not conflict with eac
other in the least.
DIR. Sturtevani, of birmingham, Mass
TO whom we offered TO refer this questio
when discussing it with the Boston CuliicdfC
an offer which the agricultural editor &
that paper could not be induced even To- N
tiee) has published an article upon it in
recent number OF the Scientific Farmer.
that article, though Dr. Sturteyant does ne
seem 10 have gone over the matter eNper
mentally in so thorough a manner rs oursel
probably considering il unnecessary, l,e coli
eides entirely with our view. lie says
The lactolneter Is an instrument with which q
dairymen are familiar for testing the sledi
gravity of milk. It, action Is on the prinep
tina, II body il plunged beneath the surface OF
liquid, Il displaces bnlk Of liquid equal {" t.r
and consequently is supported in the liquid viii
force exactly equal that with which the PARTED
ofthe liquid were supported when they occupied
place. Thus when a barometer Is placed In milk
water II will sink until 1t has displaced bulk Of
quid equal TO It's own weight, and OF course, "
sink to less distance in a denser than in light
fluid, When the actometer is placed in disll
water at the temperature Of sixty degrees, il "
sink TO certain point, and this point let NJ e
the zero When il sinks 10 this depth in anotl
inid We know that this other iluid IL OF the Al
density as distilled water that Is, cubic f.