116 ADULTERATION OF COFFEE. 



although not so openly and flagrantly carried on as it used to be 

 (thanks to the "Adulteration of Foods' Act "), is still practised to a 

 very large extent. As science brought its powers to bear on the 

 discovery and detection of adulterations, so did the would-be 

 defrauders engage science also on their side ; hence there is, in 

 reality, a lasting conflict between science and science : just as our 

 Admiralty build armour-plated vessels to withstand the penetrating 

 power of the heaviest guns, which is no sooner done, than some 

 clever inventor produces a still heavier gun, which shall once 

 more penetrate the ship. 



Perhaps no article of daily consumption in our homes is more 

 open to the practice of adulteration than Coffee ; and an epitome 

 of the facts of a case relating to this subject, which appeared in a 

 local paper a few weeks ago, may not be without interest to our 

 members as microscopists, while it will also serve as a fitting 

 introduction to my subject. 



A sample of Coffee, purchased from a grocer, was submitted 

 to the public analyst, who certified that the coffee contained a 

 large admixture of chicory ; and he felt sure that he could not 

 possibly have made a mistake, since he had twice tested the 

 coffee, analyfkally, with precisely the same result down to a 

 millegramme. So certain, however, was the defendant that the 

 coffee was not mixed, that he put in two certificates from other 

 public analysts, who declared the coffee to be pure ; he also 

 produced a paper from Somerset House, signed by Messrs. Bell 

 Bannister and Harkness, certifying that the coffee was pure and 

 free from chicory. The case was accordingly dismissed, with costs 

 against the Corporation. 



I am of opinion (open to correction) that there is no chemical 

 process by which the adulteration of coffee with chicory can be 

 undeniably proved. I know that the ash of coffee and of chicory 

 differ materially, both as to quantity and as to their behaviour 

 under different re-agents, and on this fact many analysts base their 

 results ; but I would ask, is no other adulterant than chicory ever 

 used ? I am afraid that many are : — even chicory itself is largely 

 mixed with other things, and pure chicory is almost as difficult to 

 obtain as pure coffee. 



Where Chemistry fails, the Microscope steps in ; and now 

 most of our public analysts put as implicit faith in the revelations 

 of the microscope as they do in their chemical processes. Had 

 the unfortunate analyst in question appealed to his instrument, it 

 would have told him with absolute certainty, whether or not any 

 chicory existed in the sample of coffee. 



The examination of coffee is a simple matter, and may be 

 accomplished by the most unpractised microscopist. After 



