The Chemistry of Cookery

43_l._ to 90_l._ per tun of 252 gallons; cod oil, 36_l._ per tun; sardine or train (_i.e._ the oil that drains from pilchards, herrings, sardines, &c., when salted), 27_l._ 10_s._ to 28_l._ per tun; cocoanut, from 35_l._ to 38_l._ per ton of 20 cwt. (This, in the case of oil, is nearly the same as the measured tun.) Palm, from 38_l._ to 40_l._ 10_s._ per ton; palm-nut or copra, 31_l._ 10_s._ per ton; refined cotton-seed, 30_l._ 10_s._ to 31_l._ per ton; lard, 53_l._ to 55_l._ per ton. The above are the extreme ranges of each class. I have not copied the technical names and prices of the intermediate varieties. One penny per lb. is = 9_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._ per ton, or, in round numbers, 1_l._ per ton may be reckoned as 1/9th of a penny per lb. Thus the present price of best refined cotton-seed oil is 3½_d._ per lb.; of cocoanut oil, 3¾_d._; palm oil, from 3½_d._ to 4½_d._, while lard costs 6_d._ per lb. wholesale. I should add, in reference to the seed-oils, that there is a possible objection to their use as frying media. Oils extracted from seeds contain more or less of _linoleine_ (so named from its abundance in linseed oil), which, when exposed to the air, combines with oxygen, swells and dries. If the oil from cotton-seed or poppy-seed contains too much of this, it will thicken inconveniently when kept for a length of time exposed to the air. Palm oil is practically free from it, but I am doubtful respecting palm-nut oil, as most of the nut oils are ‘driers.’ Extravagant cooks delude confiding mistresses by demanding butter for ordinary frying. A veneration for costliness is one of the vulgar vices, especially dominant below stairs. In many cases a worse motive induces the denunciation of the dripping and skimmed fat recommended by Gouffé as above, and the substitution of lard or butter for it. This is the practice of selling the dripping as ‘kitchen stuff.’ FOOTNOTE: [9] The necessity for this is not so great as may appear theoretically. I have tried the experiment