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50
in the winter months. It was not a fact that it always showed a low
soluble volatility. At Somerset House they had 2,000 or 3,000
samples of butter a year, among them from 50 to 100 samples of
Russian and Siberian produced at all seasons of the year. The product
seldom gave so low a figure as 23.75. When he analysed the sample
he had no information as to the origin of the butter, which was treated
as a sample of commercial butter. By Dr. Sanders: Assuming that he
and Mr. Young had analysed the same substance and it was
homogeneous, the differences between their results should not vary
more than .10. By Mr. Cousins: In his opinion, the difference of 2.1
between the Reichert-Wollny figure he arrived at and the figure
Mr. Young arrived at might have arisen from two causes; one was
that the sample might not have been homogeneous and the other a
deterioration of the sample. But in his case he tasted the butter and
noticed no appreciable deterioration. If the Reichert-Wollny figure
was 25, the suggestion of foreign fats would be 5 per cent., and if the
figure was 24 there should be 10 per cent. He quite admitted that at
certain seasons of the year butter produced in England would fall
below the standard. This would be taking the standard at 26. But
his conclusion that butter was adulterated was not arrived at merely
by reason of the standard he had taken.
Mr. A. More, of Somerset House, said he did the analysis with
Mr. Simmonds, and agreed with the evidence given by that gentleman.
Mr. MacMorran said the defence was that this butter was a genuine
butter, the analysis of which was only remarkable by reason of its
production in the winter in Siberia. To trace the butter from its
source he would have to ask for an adjournment in order that he might
call witnesses from Russia. Dr. Sanders said he did not think that
need be done; he was willing to admit that this was a Siberian butter.
Mr. MacMorran: Are you willing to admit it came from Siberia,
where it was produced in April from Siberian beasts? Dr. Sanders:
Yes, I'll admit that. Mr. MacMorran, for the defendant, said that the
adulteration of butter with other fats was both costly and troublesome,
and was perhaps only resorted to by the ingenious in Holland, which
was full of manufactories for adulteration. Water could be used
cheaply and easily, but here the fact was that the water in the sample
was less than normal. The trade in this Siberian butter was a very
large one, and the matter at stake was a most serious one. Siberian
butter had been tested in various places, and in every case it had been
decided in its favour, and for the same reason. The Reichert-Wollny
figure of 24 for the soluble volatile acids was the test for the detection
of foreign fat in butter, and the only substantial one. It was often
assumed that this test had something to do with the dietetic properties,
but it had nothing whatever to do with it; it was merely an arbitrary