Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1915-03-11
SYLVIA DESERVES
MUCH CREDIT FOR
THE MILK TESTER

A tea kettle gave Watt his first ideas
On steam power; a falling apple was
the foundation of Newton's law of
gravity; by means of a key and kite
Franklin gained much knowledge OF
electricl,y- if it hadn't been for
grade Jersey COW named Sylvia, the
creamerymen of this and other states
might still be buying cream on the
old and wasteful gauge system and
thousands of "boarder" COWS would be
eating up the hard earned profits on
many farm.
it is considered bad form for domestic
animals to be stubborn, but in this
case her refusal to do the expected
thing led to wonderful results. 1t was
like this: Scientists at the Wiscon-
sin experiment station, being in the
heart of the worlds greatest dairyland,
were cropping about in search of sim
pie, accurate means of testing the milk
and cream of different COWS. w. A.
Henry, then director of the experiment
station, realized the immediate need
of better system of checking up the
performance of mich COWS, so he set
in motion a series of careful expert
ments, using the university herd as
basis for them. Sylvia, the Jersey
heifer, was a member of this herd.
The first of the Badger scientists to
make any progress along this line was
F. G. Short assistant chemist at the
station, but his test, while tried out
at several creameries, was too slow
and complicated to be popular. Its
use, however, stimulated further in
terest in the subject of milk testing,
and finally started on the trail of tho
elusive idea one of the most persist
ent and shrewd of chemists-.Dr.
Stephen Moulton Babcock-who never
gave up until he cornered the prob
lem, in spite of, and by the aid OF
Sylvia.
During the winter of 18S9-90, Doctor
Babcock spent much time in modify
ing what was then known as the
Soxhlet test. This test consisted of
ether in a rotary machine, then evap-
Grating the ether after the fat had been
dissolved, and measuring the fat col
umn thus obtained. Hundreds of tests
were made with good results, and had
it not been for one curious circum-
stance, this first method would have
been recommended to the world as
suitable for general use.
This curious circumstance was the
milk of Sylvia. Her milk, though rich,
failed to give clear separation of the
fat from the ether solution. Time af-
ter time her milk was tested, but al
ways with the same battling conclu-
sions.
Doctor Babcock and Sylvia thus
stood deadlocked for a short time.
symbolizing, as it were, Science facing
the Unknown. Weeks of strenuous
laboratory work followed. The little
professor" centered all his enormous
energy and creative instinct on this
big problem. He liked the game be-
cause it was tantalizing and perplex-
ing. The puzzle Of Sylvia and her non-
conformist tendencies must be solved.
How we'll he succeeded all the world
knows, and he did his work so well
that his invention remains toda.. ex-
actly as he gave it to us nearly a quar-
ter Of a century ago.
How did he circumvent Sylvia? Sim.
ply by finding a simple, inexpensive
solvent for the nonfatty solids of her
milk. This made it possible to get
clear separation of the fat, SO that
cumulative measurements could be TAX