99 Tue MIcRoscope. 
of sales, say in a day, a month or a year, could be calculated, it 
would be found to be small; and if those articles which were 
really dangerous or had received dangerous additions were only 
reckoned, the proportion would be still smaller. People may 
be horrified to read that of more than six thousand samples ex- 
amined in the Paris municipal laboratory last year, over fifty 
per cent. were found to be bad; but an important point must 
not be overlooked. Chemists, or, as they prefer to call them in 
England, “ analysts,” do not frequently examine an article of 
food except to confirm or disprove a suspicion that it is “no 
better than it should be;” as a consequence, the percentage of 
adulterations discovered is usually high. In other words, the 
“anatomist” is apt to see the worst side of the question. 
It is unfair in the extreme to assume that all dealers are 
dishonest, or that if they have a choice they will invariably pre- 
fer to adulterate with the most deleterious substance obtainable. 
What is at the bottom of all this is a desire for gain, and results 
from innumerable causes. - Some manufacturers and dealers en- 
danger the health or the lives of their customers through sheer 
ignorance, and take the same risks themselves without being 
aware of it. They imitate the practices of other manufacturers 
so as to be able to compete with them, and only know that their 
goods are marketable. Questions of casuistry do not trouble 
them. Adulteration is supposed to embrace the element of 
fraud, yet, more frequently than is supposed, fraudulent inten- 
tions are absent. The moral standards of men also are variable. 
One man considers anything moral which is not illegal ; another 
goes a step farther, and regards any act of his as consistent 
with morality, provided he doesn’t get caught. Adulteration is 
sometimes technical, rather than actual. For instance: some 
grocers buy strong vinegar, and dilute it to the point which they 
find their customers preferred. In Massachusetts, if*vinegar 
contains less than five per cent. of acetic acid, it is regarded as 
adulterated. In England, three per cent. is the limit. Ifnowa 
grocer should dilute his vinegar so that it contains but four per 
cent. of acid, it would be adulterated in Boston, and not adul- 
terated in London. 
The general laws of the State of New York are so con- 
structed, or interpreted, that cmjurious adulterations or addi- 
tions to food are illegal, while the plea of ignorance is seldom, 
