188 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



color, or falls altogether, until the wine assumes its original imperfect 

 tint. 



We do not wish to " horrify" any one ; but those who take a pint 

 of such port as we have reprobated may be assured that they take 

 nearly as much alcohol as is contained in the same quantity of cherry 

 brandy. Let us examine the matter a little. A pipe of wine con- 

 tains 21 almudes. We have shown before that the average quantity of 

 brandy in a pipe of the port wine brought to this country is 4 almudes ; 

 the pipe, therefore, contains 17 almudes of what is called wine, and 

 4 almudes of adventitious brandy. We have also seen that 8 pipes 

 of the commonest and weakest wine will yield 1 pipe of brandy; 

 therefore, 17 almudes of fully fermented wine will yield 2i almudes 

 of brandy. But supposing that, the fermentation of the 17 almudes 

 having been checked, they are equal in strength to the 13 almudes of 

 wine properly so called, then they will yield, if distilled, If almudes 

 of brandy. But this brandy is of the strength of 10 degrees of Tessa, 

 or 26 per cent, above proof, whereas the spirit used in making cherry 

 brandy is about 17 per cent, below proof, or more than 43 per cent, 

 below the strength of the brandy in the pipe; therefore, the 5i al- 

 mudes of brandy which the pipe contains of 10 degrees of Tessa, are 

 equal to 7i|j almudes of the spirit used in making cherry brandy, 

 consequently the pipe contains more than one third of spirit, 17 per 

 cent, below proof! Any gentleman may ascertain from his house- 

 keeper the proportion of brandy used in making cherry brandy. 



A vigorous effort is now, however, making to do away with this 

 wholesale adulteration. 



ADULTERATION OF DRUGS. 



AT a meeting of the New York Academy of Medicine, June, 1849, 

 an elaborate report was presented by Dr. M. J. Bailey, on the prac- 

 tical operation of the law prohibiting the importation of adulterated 

 and spurious drugs, medicines, &c. 



The report states, that since the Jaw took effect, July, 1848, over 

 90,000lbs. of drugs of various kinds have been rejected and con- 

 demned in the ports of the United States. Of these, 34,000lbs. were 

 included under the comprehensive title of Peruvian bark, 16,343lbs. 

 rhubarb root, ll,707lbs. jalap root, about 2,000lbs. senna, and about 

 15,000lbs. of other drugs. The agitation of the bill which preceded 

 the passage of the law had its effect abroad, and the supply of adul- 

 terated drugs from foreign markets has greatly decreased. The do- 

 mestic supply has, on the contrary, increased. Within a recent 

 period, quinine in considerable quantities has been found in the mar- 

 ket, adulterated to the extent of some twenty or twenty-five per cent. 

 These frauds were undoubtedly perpetrated by or among our own 

 people. The material used for the adulteration of the quinine was 

 found, on analysis, to be mannite and sulphate of barytes, in nearly 

 equal weights. The latter article has long been used for this pur- 

 pose, but not until lately has mannite been detected in the sulphate of 

 quinine. It seems to have been ingeniously substituted for salicine, 



