Commissioner of Agriculture. 79 



" This facile adaptation was at once the symptom of perfect 

 health and its best preservative." 



Lord Bacon wrote: 



" It hath been anciently in use to wear tablets of arsenic as 

 preservatives against the plague." 



The statute itself declares salt, spirituous liquors and sugar to 

 be preservatives. 



It permits the use of salt in butter, but prohibits it in milk. 



It permits the use of sugar in milk, but prohibits it in butter. 



It permits the use of spirituous liquor in fancy cheese, but pro- 

 hibits it in plain cheese, milk or butter. 



The statute further provides that butter may not be preserved 

 except by salt, cheese except by liquor, condensed milk except 

 by sugar. It prohibits the use of all preservatives which may 

 bp more wholesome, inexpensive and readily available. 



A somewhat similar statute prohibiting the sale of articles 

 of food was declared unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals 

 in People v. Gillson, 100 N. Y., 380. 



The statute under consideration in that case prohibited the 

 sale of any article of food or offer or attempt to sell the same 

 upon any representation or inducement that anything else 

 can be delivered as a prize, gift or premium to the purchaser. 

 The unanimous opinion of the Court of Appeals by Peckham. J., 

 contains the following language (fols. 308-400): 



"At the same time it must be remembered that the Constitu- 

 tion is the supreme law of the land, and that when an act of 

 the Legislature properly comes before the court to be compared 

 by it with the fundamental law, it is the duty of the court to 

 declare the invalidity of the act if it violate any provision of 

 that law. 



The defendant here appeals for his protection to the clause, 

 among others, in the Constitution which provides that no per- 

 son shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due 

 process of law. The meaning of this provision in our State Con- 

 stitution has frequently been the subject of judicial investiga- 

 tion, and this court has had occasion, very recently, to discuss 



