Specification of William Newton : preparing and preserving milk.

  • Newton, William.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specification of William Newton : preparing and preserving milk. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Newtons Improvements in Preparing and Preserving Milk. NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said William Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (that is to say) :— The Method of Preparing Animal Milk, and bringing it into such a State as 5 shall allow of its being preserved for any Length of Time with its Nutritive Properties, and capable of being Transported to any Climate for Domestic or Medicinal Purposes, consists in simply evaporating the aqueous parts from the liquid milk, and leaving the other constituent parts of the milk in a concen¬ trated state, unaltered by any chemical change, which I effect in the following 10 manner:—Taking the milk in a fresh state, as drawn from the animal, having- first strained it, if necessary, to get rid of any dirt or other improper matter which may have accidentally fallen into the pail or other vessel while milking, I introduce into the milk a small quantity of pulverised loaf sugar, say from fiftieth to one hundreth part in wreight of the whole quantity of the milk, which 15 quantity may however be greater, dependant upon the desired sweetness of the preparation when completed. On the sugar becoming perfectly dissolved I subject the milk to a tolerably rapid evaporation, either by blowing through the milk warm or cold air by means of a suitable apparatus of any convenient form, such, for instance, as those at present in use for evaporating syrups, or by 20 means of external warmth in connexion with a vacuum above the surface, produced in any of the ordinary ways as applied to evaporation. By whatever process, however, the evaporation is carried on, the milk may with advantage be subjected to a gentle warmth to quicken the operation, but that warmth will be best obtained from hot water or from steam, or heated air, applied to the 25 outside of the vessel which contains the milk, as the direct action of fire upon the vessel may tend to injure the properties of the milk, and perhaps give it an unpleasant flavor. By evaporating the aqueous particles of the milk in this way, its nutritive or essential parts may be concentrated, and its substance reduced to the consistency of cream, honey, or soft paste, or even into dry 30 cakes or powder, and may in the latter states be exposed to the air for a length of time without being impaired, the sugar tending to preserve it. By dissolving the milk so prepared in a proportionate quantity of warm or cold water the original milk is reproduced, with all its properties, original flavor, and salutary qualities. It is desirable to dilute the concentrated milk at first in a small 35 portion of water, and to add afterwards the necessary quantity to bring it into the liquid state, otherwise it would be difficult to dissolve the milk completely. This process of preparing milk affords the means of conveying it, without injury, to any distance, in any climate, and of retaining, by concentration, the