BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY. 455 



evade the requirements of the law. The number of factories in- 

 spected is somewhat over 1.000. Tliis. however, does not inchide the 

 special inspection of manufacturing establishments which may have 

 been perfunctory in their nature and yet thorough enough to yield 

 the information desired. 



Special investigations. — Of the special investigations undertaken 

 the last year, either by the inspection force alone or in conjunction 

 with the chemical force, probably the most important, and the one 

 which required the eii'orts of the largest number of inspectors over 

 protracted periods, was the bleached flour camj^aign inaugurated to 

 restrict interstate traffic in flour which had been bleached with nitro- 

 gen peroxid. The work was divided into two periods and carried on 

 during the sunmier and autumn of 1909 and the spring of 1910. It 

 was found impracticable to collect and deliver samples of all the 

 interstate shipments located to the laboratories for examination, 

 therefore the inspectors were provided with reagents to make prelimi- 

 nary examinations of samples of such flour, and if it appeared that 

 the product had been bleached, a sample was forwarded to the labo- 

 ratory and a check analysis made. A number of seizures were made 

 in various sections of the country, and the preparation of the evidence 

 necessary for the prosecution of these cases required an inspection of 

 practically all of the mills in the Middle West and Northwest en- 

 gaged in bleaching their output. Two cases have been tried, one at 

 New Orleans, La., and the other at Kansas City, Mo., the former 

 before a commissioner and court and the latter before a jury. In 

 both instances decisions were rendered in favor of the Government. 



Another important investigation related to interstate traffic in 

 desiccated and frozen liquid egg products. This class of material is 

 used exclusively in foodstuffs produced in wholesale quantities, and 

 the consumer is thereby deprived of the opportunity to judge of its 

 actual character before it is mixed with other substances and sub- 

 jected to the process of baking and cooking. Necessary factory in- 

 spections and vigilant supervision of interstate shipments led to the 

 institution of a number of criminal prosecutions and the confiscation 

 of shipments on the charge of adulteration due to the contaminated 

 or filthy character of the product. Several tons of eggs in both 

 liquid and dry form have been confiscated and, under order of the 

 courts, destroyed. 



Another matter which has received considerable attention is the 

 investigation conducted in connection with the Food Division as to 

 the manufacture of cider vinegar. This was very comprehensive, in- 

 volving a great many inspections and the collection of authentic sam- 

 ples in the States of Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, 

 Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas. 



The inspection begun last year of the shipment of citrus fruit from 

 certain districts in Florida has been continued, with special reference 

 to the practices of some growers in shipping their crops to northern 

 and eastern markets in an immature condition, where the fruit is 

 subsequently treated by artificial means to bring about the appear- 

 ance of a well ripened and mature product. 



In collaboration with (he Fnological Laboratory, some work has 

 been done in regard to the wine industry in northern Ohio, not only 

 for the jiurpose of detecting instances of violations, but also to secure 



