[Illustration: FIG. 1.—Micro-photograph of a Drop of Whole Milk, showing distribution of fat globules. (Magnified 450 diams.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.—Micro-photograph of Separated Milk, showing the almost complete absence of fat globules as compared with whole milk. (Magnified 450 diams.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 3.—Micro-photograph of Cream, showing agglomeration of fat globules. (Magnified 450 diams.)]
Fats distributed through a watery liquid in this finely divided condition form together what is called an emulsion, in which the particles of fat are kept apart by surface tension. The specific gravity of milk fat averages 0.93, and compared with water weighing 10 lbs., a gallon of fat would weigh 9 lbs. 5 oz. It is thus considerably lighter than the other constituents, and when milk is left at rest, the fat globules gradually rise to the top and float there, forming cream. The difference in specific gravity between cream and milk is taken advantage of in the mechanical separator, now so much used, and which makes such a thorough separation between the two. Cream is an article of the most varied composition, according to the ideas of the person who produces it, but it ought to contain at least 20 per cent. of butter fat, and may be made with a much larger percentage if necessary. When cream is agitated in a particular way, as by churning, the surface tension of the particles is overcome, and they run together into a mass which forms butter.
The casein of milk is not held in solution in the ordinary sense, but in a peculiar state of suspension called the colloidal condition, practically the whole of it remaining behind when milk is filtered through clay filters.
It is this state of suspension of the casein which makes milk opaque, but the opacity is considerably increased by the emulsified fat.
The coagulation of the casein in milk by the addition of rennet has already been referred to. Acids, either mineral or organic, also precipitate it in the form of flakes. Skimmed milk is now largely used for the preparation of casein by this method, and the washed and dried precipitate is used very extensively in the arts for such varied purposes as the manufacture of billiard balls, paints, cements, etc.