Babcock bottle

[2][3][4][5] This bottle (or variations thereof) may also be used to estimate the amount of a lighter phase in other two-phase mixtures, such as are obtained in standard tests for gasoline and other petroleum products.

[10] The Babcock bottle for milk testing was standardized with great detail in 1917 by the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA).

A variant of the Babcock bottle has a glass tube parallel to the neck, that crosses the wall of the body and ends just above its bottom.

[14] Another variant of this flask is the Paley-Babcock or Paley bottle, which is intended for viscous liquids or solids (like cheese or meat) that would be difficult to introduce through the narrow neck.

[15][16][17] A Babcock bottle with different dimensions (165 mm high, 10 mL capacity) is used to determine the amount of unsaturated hydrocarbons in gasoline.

[3][4] Other uses of the container and its variations include measuring the contents of: The bottle and the test were developed in 1890 by Stephen M. Babcock (1843–1931), professor at the University of Wisconsin,[28][29] In 1911, ADSA's Committee on Official Methods of Testing Milk and Cream for Butterfat, chaired by O. F. Hunziker, met in Washington DC with the Dairy Division of the USDA, the U.S. Bureau of Standards and manufacturers of glassware.

Milk testing laboratory, Wisconsin dairy school (1894). A few Babcock bottles are on the counter, just below center.
Hand centrifuge for the Babcock test, with three Babcock bottles inserted in their holders.