280 The MrcROSCOPE. 



EDITORIAL. 



ADULTERATIONS. 



TF self -protection is among the first of the laws framed in the heart 

 -*- of humanity, a wonderful inconsistency exists in the indifference 

 which is manifested in regard to the sophistication of foodstuffs, and 

 the employment of harmful materials in the manufacture of articles 

 used in connection with daily existence. The statute books of the 

 various States are woefully deficient in laws touching the substitu- 

 tion of the false for the genuine, the harmful for the good, and, as a 

 result, unscrupulous dealers and manufacturers continue to impose 

 on an innocent and ignorant public. 



If the adulterant of a foodstuff is harmless in itself, no partic- 

 ular evil may result, and the perpetrator of this outrage against his 

 fellows may long remain unsuspected; for usually not until some 

 marked disturbance results is the attention of the public directed to 

 the guilty party. Certain efforts have already been made to control 

 the purity of a few of the commoner articles of food, such as milk, 

 butter, etc., but the laws passed have operated only in certain cities 

 and States, and have not been of universal service. What is needed 

 is a general law, applicable in every State, and this should be fol- 

 lowed by the constant and careful inspection of all materials used as 

 food. Until such a law is framed direct teaching of the people is 

 necessary. This can be accomplished by the published analyses of 

 adulterated materials. It is with no small degree of satisfaction that 

 we notice the efforts of the United States Commissioner of Agricul- 

 ture in this direction. In the thirteenth bulletin, issued by the 

 Agricultural department, the adulteration of butter, etc., is further 

 illustrated, and a series of helio- caustic plates of Dr. Thomas Tay- 

 lor's fat crystals served to illuminate the text. We are glad that the 

 investigations of the government will not stop here, but that it is 

 proposed to continue with all articles of food which are likely to be 

 sophisticated. Turning to the last report of Dr. E. S. Woods {Am. 

 Analyst), whose work in this line for the Massachusetts Board of 

 Health is well known, we find that the fraudulent and deleterious 

 adulteration of foodstuff's is extended to an almost infinite variety 

 of materials. Thus, of 1,676 samples which Dr. Woods examined, 

 498 were adulterated. Now, while it is usual to find that these 

 adulterations are merely the subtitutions of a cheaper for a more 

 costly material — the former being neariy always of a harmless 



