Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/562

 544 MILK SUGAR OF MILK with high fever and inflammation of the bow- els. The milk was scanty and hlue, and con- tained, in addition to the broken-down butter FIG. 4. FIG. 2. globules and spores of conferva, blood glob- ules which are not shown in the drawing. Fig. 4 is a sample of the same milk after standing closely corked for 24 hours. The spores of confervas have grown to perfect plants, with branching stems. These drawings were given in the "Report of the New York State Medical Society" for I860. Prof. James Law of Cornell uni- versity has made some investigations in re- lation to fungi in cows' milk, of much practical interest. He arrived at the conclusion that several of the low forms of vegetable life were introduced into the water of which the cows drank, as he found the same forms in the water and also in the blood of the animals. The experiments were made in such a manner as to preclude the possibility of the introduction of the organisms from any other source. The details are given in a pamphlet reprinted from the "Lens," and also in an address on poison cheese before the American dairyman's association in 1872 by L. B. Arnold of Ithaca, N. Y. Prof. Gerlach of Hanover has recently made a series of investi- gations in regard to the effect of a diet of milk from tuberculous cows, which would lead to the conclusion that tuberculosis may be trans- mitted in this manner from the bovine to the human race. The subject is at the present time undergoing examination in this country, but no conclusive results have yet (January, 1875) been arrived at. The preservation of milk from putrefaction is an object of no little importance. In France this is accomplished by causing the solid portion of the milk to combine with other matters, and thus separate in a solid form from the aqueous portion ; but the compound is not properly milk. It is also evaporated down to the consistency of sirup, and then by the addition of sugar made into a solid compound of milk and sugar ; and by a third method it is preserved by expelling the air from it, and hermetically sealing the bottles while they are under a steam heat of about 100 C. In this way milk has been preserved perfectly fresh for 5 years. In the United States a patent was granted in 1856 to Gail Borden, jr., for another method, which he suc- cessfully conducted in Litchfield co., Conn., and afterward in Texas, supplying what is called " condensed milk " to consumers through- out the country. By his process the milk when drawn from the cow is immediately cooled to about 60 F., in order to check its changing. It is soon after rapidly heated in a vat surrounded with hot water to 180 or 190, when refined white sugar is added in the pro- portion of about one part to nine of milk. It is kept in the hot water vat about 30 minutes after adding the sugar, and is then removed to vacuum pans in which evaporation of the water is effected at a temperature not exceeding 160. When it is sufficiently concentrated, the pans are quickly cooled down by passing cold water in the place of steam through the heating pipes. The milk, converted into a paste, can then be removed from the pans without adhering to their sides. Another preparation, known as " solidified milk," is also made by a process like one of the French methods above referred to. To 112 Ibs. of fresh milk 28 Ibs. of sugar are added, together with a teaspoonf ul of bicarbon- ate of soda, merely enough to neutralize any slight acidity. The mixture is then evapora- ted by the heat of a water bath carefully regu- lated, and the process is hastened by a cur- rent of air made to pass over the surface. An apparatus is kept in operation gently stirring the mixture during the evaporating process, until at last the milk and sugar are reduced to a creamy -looking powder. This when cooled in the air is weighed out into pound parcels, and compressed by machinery into the shape and size of small bricks. These, covered with tin foil, are ready for sale, and are well adapted either for preservation during long voyages or for immediate domestic use. The prepara- tion of condensed milk is conducted upon a large scale in Switzerland. MILK, Sugar of, or Lactine, one of the constit- uents of milk. It is prepared in Switzerland as an article of food, and is used by homoe- opathists as the vehicle for their medicines, and in other practice as an article of food for infants in teething, being less apt to produce acidity than cane sugar. It is also recommend- ed as a non-nitrogenous article of diet in pul~ monary diseases. It is prepared from the whey obtained from milk coagulated with a little dilute sulphuric acid, and'left several weeks in a cool place to crystallize. The crystals of sugar of milk are collected and decolorized by animal charcoal and repeated crystallizations. They consist of C 2 4H 19 O 18 + 5Hq. They are hard and gritty, rather insoluble in water and alcohol, slightly sweet, and not easily ferment- able. When converted into grape sugar by 1 the action of dilute acids, sugar of milk may I furnish a spirituous liquor, as noticed in the