Lard is extensively adulterated, particularly keg-lard manufactured in England, Irish being acldom so treated. American lard seems to be commonly selected for adulteration after its arrival in this country. It is melted with a little water in false-bottomed copper pans, through which circulates ateam. The dirt and foreign matters fall to the bottom, and the clear fat is withdrawn into a wooden vessel, where it is atirred in contact with cold water ; it is then ground with a thick paste of potato-starch, mixed with a little potash-alum and quicklime, which aeem to facilitate the absorption of the water and atarch by the fatty matter. The quantity of alum used is such as to leave a small exceaa, to prevent the mildew attacking the starch. It also helpa to increase the lightness and whiteness of the pastry in which the lard is used. Other aaline matters, as salt, and the carbonates of soda and potash, are likewise used. The addition of a little mutton tallow to lard is very common, especially in warm weather, to correct the softness of the article. Really good lard is seldom sophisticated, as its market value is much more likely to be reduced than augmented thereby. The frequent adulteration of American lard is owing to its inferior quality and excessive softness, much of it being the entire fat of the pig melted down ; some means of rendering it firm is actually necessary.
" Lard-oil " is prepared by placing the lard in woollen bags between wickerwork and the plates of hydraulic presaea, where it is left for about 18 hours under a pressure of about 10 cwt. a aq. in. in the cold. The oil or liquid portion (oleine) is thus expressed in a pure, colourless, and limpid state, in the proportion of 62 per cent. of the weight of lard. It remains liquid even in the presence of great cold. It is largely used for adulterating olive-oil in France, and sperm-oil in the E. States of America ; it is esteemed as a lubricant, and is said to be also used for illumi nating. In Cineinnati, there are some 40 manufactories, turning out about 1 million gal. of this oil annually. The production of lard-oil in the United States in 1875 was 8,552,583 gal.
The lard produced in the United Kingdom is chiefly Irish. Of European countries, Russia, Hungary, and Servia hold the foremost position. Hungarian lard is supplied to the whole Continent ; many of the pigs are so lean as to be useless for food, and some establishments in Budapest boil down million yearly for the lard alone. Pig-keeping is the leading industry of Servia, and large supplies of lard may be expected from that country in the near future. At present, America is the chief producer. In the United States, the average yield of lard from eaeh pig was 25 lb. in 1862, and 37* lb. in 1874. The total exports of lard from the United States in 1870 were but 35,809,000 lb. ; in 1878, they reached the enormous figure of 342,668,000 lb.,
value 30,014,000 dollars (of 4s.), but fell to 326,659,000 lb. in 1879. The exports of lard from New York in 1879 were 2,412,395 cwt.; and of lard-oil, 1,236,442 gal. Philadelphia exported 12,915,027 lb. of lard, and 268,479 gal. of lard-oil, in 1879. Baltimore exported 21,262,610 lb. in 1878, 26,950,519 lb. in 1879, and 34,797,502 lb. in 1880. New Orleans despatched 1350 tierces in British ships in 1880. The Canadian exports of lard have fallen from 38,048 cwt., value 94,5091., in 1876, to 4509 cwt., 7801/. in 1879. Denmark, in 1878, exported 160,066 lb. of lard and grease to Great Britain.
Malabar ambiguous term " Malabar " oil is applied to a mixture of the oils obtained from the livers of several kinds of fish frequenting the Malabar coast of India, and the neighbourhood of Kurrachee. The species chiefly caught are Rhyncobatus pectinata, B. lwvis, Galiocerda tigrina, and Carcharias melanopterus. This last is found in considerable numbers, and is taken principally in October-November, the livers being then much more developed, though the quality of the oil is about the same at all seasons. The most esteemed livers are firm and rosy coloured, the white and flabby ones are inferior. The livers are cleansed, cut up, placed in earthen vessels with enough water to cover them, heated for 15-20 minutes, and then allowed to cool. The oil is skimmed from the surface, poured into earthenware jars, then passed through a sieve; 3-4 days later, it is filtered through a thick strainer, to separate the abundantly deposited stearine, and this operation is repeated 4 times, at intervals of 20-25 days, after which, the oil remains clear, exhibiting a fine straw colour, and smelling much like cod-liver-oil. Thus prepared, it is employed medicinally. The inferior oil is compounded with that obtained from the livers of the other kinds by heating, without previous washing or picking, and without any aubsequeut purification ; the whole is used for lighting, and other domestic purposes, and might be utilized for soap-making.
(FR., Huile de Lamantin). —There are several species of Hanatus, found in the rivers of Central and S. Africa, and in the estuaries, bays, and inlets of the W. Indies, and the coasts of Mexico, Brazil, and Guiana. Beneath the skin of these animals, is a layer of fat, gene rally about 1 in. thick, and which is boiled down to afford an oil used for lighting and cooking, each animal yielding 5-25 gal., according to its size and condition. By exposing the oil to the sun, it acquires a fine odour and flavour, and does not become rancid. The fat of the tail has a harder consistence, and, when boiled, is more delicate than the other.