Butter

(but'tr.) [FromGr. bous,acow, and turos,cheese.1 Afat unctuous substance, procured from the cream of milk. This kind of oil, in its natural condition, is distributed through all the substance of the milk in very small particles, which are interposed between the caseous and serous parts, among which it is suspended by a slight adherence, but without being di olved. Being in the same state as oil in emulsions, it causes the milk to be white. 100 parts of cream contain about 4.5 ofB. and3-5 curd; they are separated by the proce of churning, during which the B. aggregates. B. soon becomes sour and rancid, unle purified by melting and straining it so as to separate adhering curd; it is generally preserved by the addition of salt. Its elain or oily part has been called butyrine. Rich natural meadows afford the best food for cows intended to produce B. The B. known as Philadelphia Print is unsurpa ed in the U. States for sweetne , solidity, and golden color. It was only at a late period that the Greeks appear to have had any notion of B.; their poets make no mention of it, and yet they frequently speak of milk and cheese. The Romans used B. only as a medicine, never as a nutriment. B. is also the name given in old books of chemistry to several metallic chlorides, on account of their appearance when newly prepared. Hence But'ter-bu there are the r. butters (Bot.) of See antimony, TUSSILAGO. arsenic, . [s. 126]