286 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



stomach, especially in persons of weak con- 

 stitution." Liebig condemns the use of 

 alum in bread-making on this ground among 

 others, that it combines with the soluble 

 phosphates, forming insoluble salts, and 

 thus the phosphorus of the grain is lost to 

 the system. Dr. Mott's paper exhibits as 

 follows the results of the analysis of four 

 brands of baking-powder : 



dooley's standard baking-powder. 



Burnt alum 26-45 per cent. 



Bicarbonate of soda 24-17 " " 



Sesquicarbonate of ammonia 2'31 " " 



Cream of tartar None 



Starch 47-07 " " 



10000 



PATAPSCO BAKING-POWDER. 



Burnt alum 2003 percent. 



Bicarbonate of soda 22-80 " " 



Cream of tartar None 



Starch 57-17 " " 



10000 



CHARM BAKING-POWDER. 



Burnt alum 30-06 per cent. 



Bicarbonate of soda 31-82 " " 



Cream of tartar None 



Starch 38-12 " " 



1U0-00 



BAKING-POWDER MANUFACTURED BY C. E. AN- 

 DREWS & CO., MILWAUKEE, WIS. 



Bumtalum 22-53 percent. 



Bicarbonute of soda 21-79 " " 



Cream of tartar None 



Starch 55-68 " " 



10000 



Adnlteration of Food and Drngs. Some 

 astounding facts with regard to the adul- 

 teration of articles of food and medicine are 

 brought together by the " Medical and Sur- 

 gical Reporter,"' being taken from various 

 medical and pharmaceutical periodicals. 

 Thus we are told that in New England sev- 

 eral mills are engaged in grinding white 

 stone into powder for purposes of adultera- 

 tion, three grades of powder being ground 

 at some of the mills, viz., a soda grade, a 

 sugar grade, and a flour grade. A Boston 

 chemist has found seventy-five per cent, of 

 terra alba in a sample of cream-tartar; and 

 most of our confectionery contains thirty- 

 three per cent, or more of this substance. 

 These and many other adulterations of ma- 

 terials used in the preparation of food have 

 been pointed out in " The Sanitarian." The 



adulteration of drugs is practiced to such an 

 extent that " in some localities a conscien- 

 tious pharmacist is hardly able to earn a 

 livelihood, owing to the mean and dishonest 

 competition which surrounds him." " Sali- 

 eine," writes a physician in a Louisville 

 medical journal, " is heavily adulterated by 

 mixing it with cinchonidia sulphate." Again, 

 the editor of " The Pharmacist " sought in 

 vain among the druggists of Chicago for 

 black sulphuret of antimony. He obtained 

 what purported to be that substance at 

 seven wholesale drug-houses ; but not a 

 trace of antimony was to be found in any 

 of the samples ! Analysis showed it to be 

 in most cases simply marble-dust blackened 

 with soot. 



Pinto's Trip across Southern Africa. A 



telegram received at Lisbon, on March 11th, 

 announced the arrival of Major Serpa Pinto 

 on the eastern coast of Africa, after having 

 traversed the continent from Benguela on 

 the west coast. We take from " Das Aus- 

 land " the following account of Major Pinto's 

 memorable journey : On November 12, 18*77, 

 he set out from Benguela, in Lower Guinea 

 (about latitude 13 south), and on March 8, 

 1878, entered the negro kingdom of Bihe, 

 where he had his first fight with the natives. 

 He devoted himself particularly to the ex- 

 ploration of the upper and middle Zambesi, 

 that grand stream which, lying some ten 

 degrees of latitude south of the Congo, 

 like that river traverses almost the entire 

 breadth of the African Continent. If it 

 is the purpose of Portugal to found in 

 equatorial Africa another Brazil, the most 

 accurate knowledge of the course of the 

 Zambesi must be of the utmost importance 

 to her. Portugal controls the coast on 

 both sides, the western and the eastern, in 

 equatorial South Africa, and, if she suc- 

 ceeds in establishing communication be- 

 tween these two coasts by means of the 

 Zambesi, the new colonial empire would 

 be a fact. This project is favored by the 

 wealth of gold found in the lower Zambesi 

 regions, and it is surely no mere accident 

 that latterly the Government has been mak- 

 ing large concessions to English and Portu- 

 guese companies. Incidentally Major Pinto 

 appears to have revealed the mystery of the 

 Cubango, a stream whose sources are not 



