ANIMAL, FISH, AND INSECT OILS AND FATS.
term " blackfish" is very promiscuously applied by whalers, and includes the common black whale of the Australian seas (Bakena australis), Physeter microps, and P. Tursio, besides the pilot whale (Globioeephalus Svineval), the American G. intermedias, and the killer (G. macrorhyneus) of the South Sea whalers. The two speciea of chief importance as oil-yieldera are G. intermedias and G. macrorhyncus. The former is puraued by the Tasmanian whalers, and affords an average of 30-35 gal. of dark, unpleasantly odorous oil. This fishery, in 1869, produced 13 tuns ; in 1873, 14 tuns ; and the exporta in 1875 were 25 tuns, value 965/. The American cetaceans appear about the shorea of Cape Cod and Barnstaple Bay from early summer till early winter. They are surrounded by boats, and frightened till they beach themselves in endeavouring to escape. They are then lanced, and when the tide leaves them, their blubber is cut out, and " rendered." The product is about 30 gal. of oil. In addition, a portion of the head, reaching from the spout-hole to the end of the nose, and from the top of the head to the upper jaw, and forming a piece weighing about 25 lb., affords acme 6 qt. of a very limpid oil, which is commonly termed "melon-oil" This oil ia said to have an unusually low congealing-point, and to have no corrosive effect on metallic aurfaces ; it is specially prepared by a few firma in the United States as a superior lubricator for delicate mechanisms. (See also Spermaceti, p. 1371 ; Whale-oil, p. 1374).
(FR., Self d'os, Graisse d'os, Petit self ; GER., Knochenfett).--A fat of varying quality ia obtained from slaughter-house and kitchen bones, by boiling them in water, previous to their utilization for articlea of turnery, manurial purposes, &e. The conduct of the operation and the nature of the products are described in the article on Bones (p. 521). Some improved methoda of separating fat from bones will be found under another section of thia article (see p. 1448).
Dippel's Oil, Animal the dry distillation of animal gelatinous subatances, the oil known by these various names is produced, it being a result of the decomposition of gelatinous tissue. That first introduced into pharmacy was obtained from staga'-horn, but all now found in commerce is recovered as a product of distillation during the calcining of bones for the preparation of animal charcoal or bone-black. The operation is described and illuatrated on p. 1450. The orude oil is dark-brown to black ; ita ap. gr. ia ; it consists chiefly of a mixture of volatile organic bases, with lesser proportions of acids and neutral hydrocarbons.
Butter (FR., Beurre; GER., Butter).—The fatty portion of the milk of all mammalian animals is called " butter," but the term in a commercial sense is restricted to that from the cow. The methods adopted for making butter vary widely throughout the world, but the object of the operation is always the same, viz. to rupture the thin membranous sacs in which the butter is disseminated through the milk, and to enable their contents to coalesce. Butter is produced in moat countries which possess pastures, but in some much more extensively than in others. The quantity made annually in the United Kingdom is estimated at million cwt. Much of thia is Irish, Munster being the great butter-producing province. The chief ports for its shipment are Cork, Waterford, Limerick, and Belfast. Cork monopolises the foreign export trade, and the butter shipped there is usually more heavily salted, with a view to its longer preservation. The supplies from the other three ports are leas atrongly cured, and better adapted for immediate consumption. About of the total exporta go to foreign markets, principally to Brazil, smaller quantities to the Mediter ranean, W. Indies, and Australia. Irish buttera are divided into six qualities, and are esteemed inferior to good Continental butters. France is noted for its butter, the foremost quality being from Isigny, and including not only that made in the district, but also the beat produce from Normandy and Calvadoa. The Gournay butter, made in the departmenta of Eure and Seine-Infe'rieure, ranks second. French salted butter comes from Brittany, especially Morlaix, Rennes, Nantea, and Vannes. Dutch butter is of three kinds—(1) " grass " butter, made from cream when the cows are at grass ; (2) " hay " butter, made from cream when the cows are being stall-fed ; (3) " whey " butter, made from the whey of new-milk cheeae. A peculiarity in the Dutch way of making cream butters is the cooling of the new milk by cold-water troughs for a couple of hours, the milk being stirred mean while. This hastens and perfects the separation of the cream. American buttera are now aaid to be largely adulterated with powdered soapstone or steatite (a natural silicate of magnesia), which inereasea the weight without affecting the bulk. For shipment to warm climates, butter should be packed in 1-1b. or 2-1b. glass bottles, with mouths about 2 in. across, and fitted with glass stoppers with a cement that will keep air-tight. A spoonful of the very best salt should be added at the top before stoppering. French butter is thus sent to the E. Indies.