amount, because it may exist in tiie foiin of 

 tlie soluble gluco-sulpliate of lime. 



One evil connected with the presence of 

 lime in syrups is the destruction of a por- 

 tion of the sweetening power of tlie syrup. 

 One part of lime will destroy more tlian six 

 times its weij?ht of sugar, so far as any 

 sweetness is concerned; and the compound 

 of lime and sugar is bitter. 



In making my selections for examination, 

 1 obtained specimens only from those who 

 are regarded lirst-class tradesmen. If 

 syrups bouglit at such places are adultera- 

 ted, we may well suppose that the inferior 

 class of dealers will have no better articles. 

 Some have said that, undoubtedly, poor 

 people who trade at small groceries are 

 swindled in these syrups, but that the 

 respectable class of citizens who patronize 

 first-class grocers need not apprehend any 

 such imposition. I determined to follow up 

 *' the respectable citizen" and see what 

 syrups he obtained of " lirst-class grocers." 

 Part of the specimens were obtained near 

 home, but the most from abroad. I have 

 examined 17 specimens in all, with the gen- 

 eral result that 3 were made of cane sugar 

 and 15 of starch sugar or glucose. 



SPECIFIC RESULTS OP EXAMINATION OF 

 TABLE SYRUPS. 



No. 1. — Pure cane sugar syrup. 



No. 2. — Starch sugar syrup. Contains 

 some sulphate of iron (copperas), and con- 

 tains in each gallon 107.05 grains of lime. 



No. 3. — The grocer called it " poor stuff." 

 I have seldom seen an article that better 

 sustained its reconnnendation. Made of 

 starch sugar; contains plenty of copperas 

 and ;J97 grains of lime in a gallon. 



No. 4. — Nearly pure cane sugar syrup. 



No. .5. — Starch sugar syrup. Contains 

 copperas, and 100 grains of lime in a gallon. 



Nos. 6, 7, 8. — All made of starch sugar. — 

 Contain sulphate of iron and plenty of lime. 



No. 9. — This is the specimen from Hud- 

 son which caused the sickness in the Doty 

 family. A starch sugar syrup; contains in 

 the gallon 71.83 grains of free sulphuric 

 acid, 28 grains of sulphate of iron, and 363 

 grains of lime. 



No. 10. — Contains starch sugar, copperas 

 and lime— anu)unt not estimated. 



No. 11.— A starch sugar syrup. Contains 

 in the gallon 141.9 grains free sulphuric 

 acid, 25 grains sulphate of iron, and 724.83 

 grains of lime. 



No. 12.— Contains starch sugar, seasoned 

 with sulphate of iron and lime. 



No. 13.'— Starch sugar. Contains in the 

 gallon .58.48 grains of sulphate of iron, 8:3. 14 

 grains of free sulphuric acid, and 440.12 

 grains of lime. 



No. 14. — Starch sugar. — Contains in a gal- 

 lon 80 grains of free sulphuric acid, 38 grains 

 of iron and 262.48 grains of lime. 



Nos. 15, 16.— Contain starch sugar, sul- 

 pliate of iron and lime. 



No. 17.— Starch sugar, sulphate of iron, 

 and 202.33 grains of lime. 



A very important element in this discus- 

 sion is the great disparity in sweetening 

 power between cane sugar and starch sugar 

 or glucose. One pound of cane sugar has 



the same sweetening power as 2}4 pounds 

 of glucose. In these starch-sugar syrups, 

 the public is not only treated with com- 

 pounds, loaded with foreign and injurious 

 materials, but they are enormously cheated 

 in the very thing they seek to buy, viz: the 

 sweetness. Sugars and syrups are bought, 

 not as articles of food solely, but entirely 

 for their sweetness, and thus the buyer is 

 largely defrauded out of the very thing for 

 which alone he makes a purchase. 



The thought of using such mixtures as a 

 relish for our food is not very appetizing. — 

 Some of these drips seem to be made up of 

 about equal parts of fraud and dirt ! A 

 facetious friend has quoted, in this connec- 

 tion, the old saying, "A man must eat his 

 peck of dirt before he dies." If anyone 

 feels uneasy lest he be defrauded of " liis 

 peck of dirt," let him eat a few gallons of 

 No. 11, and he may rest on his laui'els the 

 balance of his days. 



WHOSE FAULT ? 



The public will naturally ask, "Who is to 

 blame that such disgusting and fraudulent 

 mixtures are sold in the shops ?" I do not 

 think that the retail dealers are "sinners 

 above all that dwell in " Michigan, in this 

 respect. Most of them honestly suppose 

 that they are selling a good article of cane 

 sugar syrup, and are themselves surprised 

 that so good-looking syrups can be sold at 

 so low a price compared with that of sugar 

 — a price often less than that of the dark 

 colored and strong flavored molasses which 

 renuiins from the manufacture of cane 

 sugar. The manufacturers are chiefly to 

 blame in this nuvtter, for they cannot be 

 ignorant of the fraud in selling glucose for 

 cane sugar; but even they will probably be 

 surprised to learn how large a quantity of 

 foreign materials is left in these syrups. 



It is popularly supposed that an infusion 

 of tea-leaves will certainly detect the pres- 

 ence of starch sugar, by the dark coloration 

 which it imparts to the syrup. Strong tea 

 will give a re-action of this kind with a salt 

 of iron— the same re-action which makes 

 black ink; hence strong tea may be used to 

 detect the presence of copperas in syrup; 

 but it will give no re-action with grape 

 sugar containing no iron. 



In most of these syrups, lime is the 

 largest adulterant aside from the starch 

 sugar itself. Lime may easily be recog- 

 nized in the syrup by a solution of oxalic 

 acid. Dissolve 1 ounce of oxalic acid in a 

 pint of rain water; if the solution is not 

 clear, let it stand for a few hours till it 

 settles, then pour off the clear solution into 

 a clean bottle and label it Oxalic Acid.— 

 Poison. To test the syrup, place a table- 

 spoonful in a tumbler half full of rain 

 water, stir it up, and add a tablespoonful of 

 the oxalic acid solution. If there is much 

 lime in the syrup it will show itself by a 

 white precipitate, the amount of which will 

 give some measure of the amount of lime 

 present. 



R. C. Kedzie. 



Agricultural College, I 

 Lansing, June 30, 1874. ) 



