Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-22
MASQUERADING MILK.
Chemistry SubStantiateS Little But
tercup's Assertion That
THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM
A Little COloring Makes Rich Cream Out
of Skim Milk.
DISEASES LURK IN THE MILK PITCHER
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATCH.I


made butter for external application only
milk, as now, was recognized as VaIuaoi
article OF food, second in Importance onl!
to bread. Indeed, milk has often super
seded the staff OF life as an article OF dlet-'
fact not to be wondered at when 1t is con
sidered that milk may be used without tn
intervention of unskilled cooks. In day
when mans ingenuity had not supplied hin
with the endless variety of food stutfs which
now wreck his stomach, milk in many case
formed all three courses of his dinner.
Long ages before the advent of the par
yepu milk shake the Tartar was wont Il
ouench his thirst and nourish his body
with koumiss, beverage differing chiefly
from the milk shake in the fact that it con-
tains alcohol and much carbonic acid, thu
latter making it sparkle like champagne. Ii
this connection it may be stated that thu
milk shake is wholesome enough If not par
taken of too often. Milk is a !ood, not a SIM
pie beverage, so when taken often it is APT
to disarrange the stomach, just as frequent
lunching would.
WHAT MILK REALLY is.
Chemically, milk consists of water,
albumen, casneir, sugar, various salts, espe-
cially those of lime, and fat These in
solved in the water, while the fat is held in
closed in little round cells or globuleS,
which NAV be seen under the microscope,
and look like little transparent beads float
ing around in the clear liquid portion OF
the milk. The fat they contain is butter,
which. in the process Of churning. is lib
Grated by the rupture OF the lncloslng en-
velope. so that, strictly speaking, butter is
not made" but rather collected. The
amount of fatty matter in a given quantity
of milk varies greatly in different species of
animals and in different individuals of
the same species. The Holstein, Dur
ham and similar cattle furnish
good, rich beef; but their milk is poor in
tat, though the quantity of milk as a whole
is large. On the other hand the Alderney,
Jersey and the Guernsey are butter pro-
ducers, their milk containing comparatively
an enormous percentage OF fat. A phe-
nomenon in this respect has record Of 45
pounds ana some ounces oi butter as the re-
suit OF milk produced in one week. When
it is considered that such COW only weighs,
herself, in the neIghborhood of 500 or 600
pounds, it is seen that she produces her own
weight, not in gold, but in golden butter in
q period of few months.
Milk is perfect food. This is a we'll
known fact, but why il is so is not so gen.
erallv known. The reason is this: 1t con-
tains all the mineral and organic principles
necessary to build up and repair the waste
OF animal tissues.
WHY MILK SOURS.
The milk sugar which all milk contains
is what gives the latter its sweet taste
When milk sours this sugar is converted
into Tactic acid. This it is often noticed
that Just before becoming absolutely sour,
milk loses its sweet taste, the sugar having
become partly converted. The albumen is
similar to the white OF egg and the casein is
the cheesy matter.
Condensed milk consists, or ought to
consist, simply of milk from which por-
ton OF the normally contained water has
been removed, and to which sugar has after
ward been added as a preservative. II
properly made, it is wholesome and nutri-
tious. being especially useful where fresh
milk is difficult to get in good condition.
The quality ot milk varies greatly &C
cording to various conditions, such as food,
care and attention to the COW, her age, con-
dition of health and FRESHNESS" indie
pendent of sophistication, milk varies to the
greatest extent in the amounts of cream and
ofwater present in it, and it is on this that
the most usual and readieSt tests of purity
are based. Unfortunately, though, neither
Of these tests can be conveniently applied in
the household.
Milk is one of the most commonly sophis-
ticated articles of food on the market. The
writer has examined 80 samples OF milk
taken from wagons and milk depots of the
two cities. The result Of the examination is
as follows:
WHAT A TEST SHOWS.
Water in adulteratiye quantities found in 16
samples.
A deficiency of cream found in the same sam
pies.
Starch found in one sample
Lead found in one sample.
Chalk found in no sample
Anuatto found in two samples
Salicylic acid found in one sample
Colostrum corpuscles found in one sample
Germs of consumption found in one sample
Blood and pus corpuscles (matter) in one
sample.
1.-The COW with the iron tail" has long
furnished the humorist with material for
his monotonous grind, and, as a matter of
fact, water is by lar the most common adul-
teration, though it is not often added as
pure water, but generally in the form of
skim milk, which is used to dilute what is
represented as whole milk. Skim milk is
not often watered. An interesting point
was raised on this question when, some
years ago, milkman in Allegheny distrlb-
uted typhoid fever to nearly all the families
he supplied. His well was found to be the
source of the disease germs, but, neverthe-
less, he had not watered the milk; the germs
gained entrance into the cans when the lat
ter were rinsed out with the well water. and
they remained in with the few drops of
water which adhered to the sides. These
few were sufficient to do the deadly work.
for they multiplied themselves BY billions
every As hours.
The fact of the deficiency of cream in one
half of all samples examined is rather start
ling showing, and yet the estimation is
based on a low standard requirements lit
tie lower than that of the milk of an aver
age COW in good health. In four instances
the quantity of fatty matter fell so low as to
indicate the bluest kind OF skim milk, In
two of these instances the milk looked al
most as rich as cream, but the color
was due to annatto or cheese color.
1t is to the credit of the dairymen that
this is not used even more, since it is kept
in the house OF a great many farmers and
dairymen who use ii to color butter with.
The use of it in genuine butter is not repre-
hensible, since it gives an appet.zing ap-
pearance to pure product, but when used
in milk or cream it is with the object of
selling skim milk Tor more than it is worth.
Good cream or whole milk is alwavs yellow
in proportion to its quality, while butter
often is not, especially in winter time; hence
the need of coloring matter.
The starch present in one sample had
been cooked and was probably added to
thicken what was really skim milk colored
with annatto. The lead present in one In
stance probably came from the solder or the
timing of the cans in which the miIl bod