THE AMERICAN 



MONTHLY 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL 



YoL. IT. 



jS^ew York, Janijart, 1881. 



No. 1. 



The Detection of Adulteration 

 in Food. 



BY C. M. VORCE. 



I. COFFEE. 



At the present day there is scarcely 

 any article of food which undergoes 

 any sort of preparation before being 

 sold for consumption, that is not 

 habitually adulterated, either by the 

 manufacturers or the dealers, although 

 most articles can be obtained pure 

 by special effort and at an advanced 

 cost. In the detection of adultera- 

 tion, probably no means is so gener- 

 ally and readily applicable as micros- 

 copical examination. In many cases 

 chemical analysis is more certain and 

 positive as to the true nature of the 

 adulteration, but it is so much less 

 readily applied, that for common 

 purposes it may be left out of con- 

 sideration, save in special cases. 

 But there is another method of ex- 

 amination which should not be ne- 

 glected, that is, physical examination. 



One of the commonest articles of 

 daily consumption by all classes is 

 coffee. This can be obtained pure, 

 but in consequence of the great con- 

 venience of buying it ground and ready 

 for use, it is largely sold in this form ; 

 and, in most cases, when thus sold, 

 it is adulterated. It is the popular 

 belief that coffee, when adulterated, 

 contains chicory ; but aside from 

 this fact, chicory itself as imported, 

 is often, if not, indeed, usually, adul- 

 terated. A common article of adul- 

 teration is roasted peas. There is a 

 two-fold reason for this, since peas are 

 not only cheaper, but also heavier 

 than chicory. 



In the adulteration of chicory 



many kinds of roots are used, but if 

 they possess a strong flavor, it must 

 be neutralized or disguised ; if the 

 roots employed be white or light- 

 colored, they must also be dyed to 

 imitate the color of coffee, which is 

 darker than chicory. In the majority 

 of cases it will be found that both 

 chicory and peas are used in the 

 adulteration ; and in some very cheap 

 samples no coffee at all will be found. 

 To detect adulteration of any sub- 

 stance, the first requisite is to know 

 exactly what we ought to find in the 

 genuine, pure article. A pure sam- 

 ple of coffee can be obtained by buy- 

 ing it in the berry, and having it 

 ground on the spot, as is the custom 

 in many stores, or by grinding it at 

 home ; but a better way is to take a 

 few of the roasted berries and see 

 just what they are made of. First, 

 cut one across with a fine saw ; when 

 this is done, we find the berry^^^^^|;;;::i>v 

 to be rolled upon itself, thus -S^y^J 

 the cavity which extends nearly the 

 whole length of the berry is lined with 

 a fine, thin, beautifully marked mem- 

 brane, composed of fusiform, pitted 

 cells (Fig. i), which, when the berry 



Fig. I. Membrane of Coffee-berry. 



was in the seed-pod, was continuous 

 over the whole surface of the berry, 

 but which, in the process of separat- 

 ing the berry from the shells has been 

 removed from the outside and is 



