REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. 



297 



terials for adulteration has called into existence a branch of manufacturing industry 

 of no insignilicant magnitude, having for its sole object the production of articles 

 known as " spice mixtures " or " pepper dust." The use of " pepper dust," or, as the 

 article is commonly designated in the technical language of the trade by its abbre- 

 viation " P. D.," is a venerable fraud. 



The manufacture of " P. D." is now a regular branch of business, and the original 

 and specific term " pepper dust " has expanded with the progress of inventive art to 

 generic proportions, until now we have as well kno\\Ti articles sold by the barrel, 

 " P. D. pepper," " P. D. ginger," " P. D. cloves," andsoon through the whole aromatic 

 list. When it is considered that these imitations, lacking only such flavoring A\nth 

 the genuine article as the dealer thinks necessary to make his goods sell, are sold at 

 at from o to 4 cents a pound, and the retail price paid by the consumer is corn- 

 pared with it, the strength of the temptation to engage in such practices is 

 clearly seen, Wlien manufacturers openly advertise themselves as assorters and 

 renovators of merchandise, and openly propose to cleanse musty and damaged 

 beans by a new and patented process, it is full time that its significance should be 

 considered by the public. 



From these investigations which have been quoted it appears that 

 the adulterants which are met with in this country are very numerous. 

 Under the head of spice mixtures, or "P. D." much refuse of all de- 

 scriptions is used up, and there are such changes in the character of 

 the material from time to time as the sources of damaged material or 

 refuse at hand may suggest. The diluents used in Baltimore are 

 quite different from those in New York, and in the District of Co- 

 lumbia, in consequence, some of the adulterants which are mentioned 

 most commonly in the reports from the North are never found. 

 While it is possible, therefore, to give a list of substances which have 

 been used as adulterants, it is quite out of the question to say in what 

 directions the ingenuity of spice mixers will extend in the future. 

 The following contaminations in the various spices have been already 

 noted in this country: 



The materials in italics have been identified in spices examined in 

 the laboratory of this division, but some of the commonest adulter- 

 ants have not been found. 



Of the means of detection of adulteration, details will be given in 

 a special report of this division (Bulletin No. 13, Part 2), but they 

 are of too technical a nature for reproduction in this place. 



It will STiffice to repeat what has already been said, that fortunately 

 it is not difficult to detect the i)resence of adulteration with the means 

 at our command, so that with a proper board of analysts the practice 

 may be prevented under the enforcement of a carefully drawn law. 



Microscopical examination alone will in most cases reveal the qual- 

 ity of a ground spice, and when a careful study has been made of the 

 normal character of the various spices and of "^the usual adulterants, 



