The butter-for-a-burn folk remedy presumably owes its origin
and persistence, at least to some extent, to the soothing nature
of a cool yet greasy substance like butter and its immediate
availability where minor burns often occur in the kitchen. It
gained significant credibility when the Prussian Surgeon
General Friedrich Von Esmarch recommended in his influential
19th Century handbook that burnt surfaces should be
covered with a grease, oil or butter.