THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD AND flEDIClNE. 



BY HAMILTON P. DUFFIELD. 



[Hamilton P. Duffield, surgeon of the Iowa soldier's home, has been a close student 

 of charities in both theory and practice, and has taken a specially active part in de- 

 vising means for making comfortable those who have served in the armies and navies 

 of the United States and who are now dependent upon the bounty of a grateful gov- 

 ernment for their livelihood. During recent years he has been connected with the 

 Iowa soldier's home, but has found time to write on his favorite subjects.] 



The Mosaic code, given thirteen hundred years before the 

 Christian era, has been the precedent and pattern of all sani- 

 tary laws made in the interim between that time and this; and 

 as the lime light of the twentieth century civilization falls upon 

 it, it is seen to transcend all others, in restricting acts, that are 

 not for man's physical well being. Moses' claim that these 

 laws were inspired by Jehovah, and that penalty followed their 

 violation, has been verified for hundreds of years, while man- 

 made laws, and abuses without laws have kept step in the 

 march of civilization. 



The Jew's care in the slaughter of animals and fowls is 

 proverbial, and the Gentile is fortunate who can be his cus- 

 tomer. The Justinian law, enacted through the influence of 

 pious Jews in the sixth century, had sanitary as well as moral 

 regulations. 



The mental and physical health of the people is a neces- 

 sary element in the success and stability of a nation; and as the 

 mental health is so dependent on the bodily health, we find of 

 late the needs of the physical man making a paramount issue 

 in government legislation. The first pure food law was per- 

 haps enacted in Spain in 1283, and was against adulteration of 

 food and delicacies, the sale of poisons and love potions, in- 

 fection of the air by putrefying animal matters and so forth. 

 In 1487, and also ten years later, ordinances were promulgated 

 in Germany against the improvement of wine by sugar of 

 lead; in later times beer was in a way supervised, although 

 mainly under control of the guilds. Medical ordinances in 

 cities are spoken of, one in Nuremburg in 1518 regarding the 

 sale of food and adulteration of wine; the latter seems from 

 very ancient times to have been doctored. 



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