No. 7. OEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. M 



poses and they will be fitted out for analytical and business pur- 

 poses as speedily as possible. This laboratory will be under the 

 direct care of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Dairy and Food 

 Commissioner, with a chief chemist in charge of the scientific inves- 

 tigations. 



SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION IN THE BULLETIN. 



While ordinary statistics are, perhaps, dull or uninteresting to the 

 average reader, it is not amiss to invite special attention to the 

 copies of the "Monthly Bulletin" published during the past year for 

 a detailed statement of the thousands of analyses which were made 

 by the chemists, as such reports give information that is valuable 

 and interesting to both laymen and professional scientists. Such 

 reports can scarcely fail to stimulate an increased interest in the 

 work assigned to this Bureau. Whether food adulteration or food 

 preservation is concerned, the seriousness of the situation is made 

 self-evident, and the necessity for strong, pure food legislation is 

 demonstrated. Food adulteration is usually defined as the substi- 

 tution of spurious or cheaper material for any of the normal ingredi- 

 ents of a food or food preparation. Unlawful food preservation is 

 the addition of an ingredient that may be harmful to health, such 

 as salicylic acid, boracic acid, formaldehyde, etc. Where such pre- 

 servatives are employed, the same is regarded as a crime, and as 

 in the case of food adulteration, proper punishment is meted out to 

 the offender. The chemist's connection with each and every prose- 

 cution is, therefore, of prime necessity, and his share in the correc- 

 tion of certain abuses is made evident by an examination of the 

 files of the "Monthly Bulletin." The question of thoroughly compe- 

 tent and reliable chemical help can therefore not be too strongly 

 accentuated. 



SHERIFF'S RIGHT TO COMMISSION ON PENALTIES. 



An Act of Assembly regulating sheriffs' fees, approved the elev- 

 enth day of July, 1901, contains the following proviso: "For levy- 

 ing or paying out fines, three cents per dollar to be paid by party 

 receiving fine." The Pure Food Act of June 26, 1895, clearly states: 

 "That all penalties and costs of the violation of the provisions of 

 this Act shall be paid to the Dairy and Food Commissioner, or his 

 agent, and by him paid into the State Treasury." In several in- 

 stances county officials attempted to deduct or claim a three per cent, 

 commission when fines were settled through the Dairy and Food 

 Commissioner's representatives, but as the Commissioner and his 

 agents held that they could not effect any legal settlement with the 

 State for a less sum than the full amount of the fine imposed by the 

 Court, the Courts were called upon for an interpretation of the mean- 

 ing of the statute. In at least two or three instances the Court de- 

 creed that the sheriff could not properly claim the commission, and 

 that the Commonwealth prescribed and demanded the full amount of 

 the fine and costs paid by legislative action in the language, to wit: 

 ''That all penalties and costs of the violations of the provisions of 

 this Act shall be paid to the Dairy and Food Commissioner, or his 

 agent," and that, therefore, there was no sanction for retaining 

 any portion of the fine or costs. It is probable, however, that this 



