a ee 
TS = 
. THE Microscope. aly 
Mr. Grunow has just issued a new price list of his objec. 
tives. Send for one. 
WE will give 25 cents each tor six copies of the December 
number, 1882, and also for the April number, 1883. We desire 
four more copies of the January number, 1884. See our Decem- 
ber number. 
———— Oo 
SELECTIONS. 
DANGERS IN FOOD AND DRINK. 
Fancy if you please, the state of mind of a citizen of New 
York as to the deceptions and dangers which may exist for 
himself and his family in the food and drink they consume. That 
the milk may be watered or skimmed, that the butter may be 
oleomargarine, or that the sweetening for his buckwheat cakes 
may be glucose syrup, he has long since learned. Notwithstand- 
ing this, he manages to make a tolerable breakfast, only reflect- 
ng, as he sips his morning coffee, that not long since he has 
heard that raw coffees are frequently “ painted,” as those in the 
trade term it, with various colors, some of which contain poisons. 
At his dinner he would like some vermicelli, but he has recently 
read in the papers of prosecutions in the courts for coloring 
vermicelli with the poisonous chromate of lead; he would like 
a salad, but remembers that a few months ago there was a stir 
about the sale of mustard colored with a poisonous coal-tar color; 
he would console himself with pickles by way of condiment, but 
again fears that he will only imbibe copper or lead in another 
form; an effervescent mineral water might serve as a substitute, 
but he has been informed that many manufacturers of mineral 
water in the city use for their wares water contaminated with 
drainage. In despair, he thinks to refresh himself with ice- 
cream, but again hesitates, since it is reported that one of the 
ingredients may be gelatine whitened with zine white. The 
good citizen, knowing not which way to turn, experiences a re- 
action, concludes to take his chances, and eats and drinks heart- 
ily, philosophically reflecting on the added significance of the 
saying, “ Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die.” 
It is my purpose here to give a brief account of some of the 
