176 The Canary Book. 



rious to health, and, consequently, very materially shortens the 

 lives of birds fed with it. Accum, writing on cayenne pepper, 

 says: 



"It is sometimes adulterated with red lead to prevent its 

 becoming bleached on exposure to light. This fraud may 

 readily be detected by shaking up part of it in a stoppered vial 

 containing water impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, 

 which will cause it speedily to assume a dark, muddy, black 

 colour, or the vegetable matter of the pepper may be destroyed 

 by throwing a mixture of one part of the suspected pepper ana 

 three of nitrate of potash (or two of chlorate of potash) into 

 a red hot crucible, in small quantities at a time. The mass 

 left behind may then be digested in weak nitric acid, and the 

 solution assayed for lead by water impregnated with sulphu- 

 retted hydrogen. If the suspected cayenne pepper is shaken 

 up in a bottle of clear water, the rapidity with which the red 

 lead sinks to the bottom will give an approximate test of the 

 presence of the poison." 



Brande, M'Culloch, Mitchell, Normandy, and others all agree 

 as to the frequent use of red lead, and the last-named chemist 

 mentions finely powdered brick dust as an ingredient used to 

 retain a bright colour, as also red ochre, Venetian red and 

 cinnabar, vermilion, or sulphuret of mercury. 



The result of the Lancet's analysis of cayenne pepper was 

 that out of twenty-nine samples submitted to examination, 

 twenty-five were adulterated, and only four were genuine. 

 Twenty- two contained mineral colouring matter ; thirteen 

 red lead, often in large quantities ; seven Venetian red, red 

 ochre, and brick dust; one sample cinnabar, vermilion, or 

 sulphuret of mercury; six ground rice, coloured with red 

 lead or ferruginous earth ; and two rice only, coloured with 

 red lead. 



As red lead and vermilion, or sulphuret of mercury, are 

 powerful poisons, fanciers who give this commodity to their 

 birds in unmeasured quantities little know the risk they are 

 miming, and to what dangers their valuable show birds are 

 exposed. 



After birds have finished moulting they ought not to have 



