72 OLEOMARGARINE AND BUTTERINE. 



In connection with this subject the evidence given before 'the Senate committee, upon 

 whose report the law of 1885 was drafted, is interesting. When Dr. H. A. Pooler, president 

 of the Board of Health in Goshen, Orange County, was examined, he was asked what nitric 

 acid was, and how it affected the human system. This question was suggested by previous 

 testimony as to the use of nitric acid in the manufacture of oleomargarine. Dr. Pooler 

 ireplied: 



" Nitric acid is produced by the action of sulphuric acid upon nitrate of potassa, aoout 

 equal parts ; it is a powerful caustic ; it destroys animal tissue rapidly and almost irreparably 

 'when it comes in contact with it ; upon animal fat it destroys the tissue, and deodorizes it by 

 'destroying its smell. It is also a preservative, in a measure. Undoubtedly substances sub- 

 mitted to the action of nitric acid would not be decomposed so rapidly as those which had not 

 been submitted to it ; but the acid would affect the digestive organs very seriously. Upon 

 the human stomach it is a deadly poison when taken in overdoses. When taken in a diluted 

 form not sufficient to cause death, and, taken for any length of time, it produces similar effects 

 to that of mercury. The teeth at first become whiter, afterwards decay, aud then become 

 loose ; it stimulates the excessive flow of secretion and poisons the system generally. Its 

 "caustic properties are so great, that it destroys the tissue and impairs the circulation. Where 

 a person loses a nail from it, it is generally because of the accumulation of the acid around the 

 root of the nail ; it cuts off the circulation which 'supplies the nail, consequently the nail will 

 slough off for want of proper nourishment. The acid has to be diluted in order to be safe in 

 any degree as a remedy. In its pure form it is deadly." 



This testimony was given subsequent to that of Charles Moses, a laborer employed in a 

 Grove street butterine factory, whose duty it was to pack the finished product in the tubs. He 

 swore that in the performance of that duty one of his finger nails was eaten off, and that the 

 stuff eat through his clothing and into his boots. 



"Would it be wholesome or unwholesome to treat any dairy product with nitric acid ?" 

 Dr. Pooler was asked. 



" No, sir." he replied. " I think it would be injurious, especially so if applied by a person 

 who was not acquainted with the acid ; in fact, I think it would be very dangerous. No matter 

 how minute the quantity is, continued for any length of time it produces an irritation of the 

 mucous membrane of the stomach, which is only alleviated by stopping the use of it, and then 

 sometimes the recovery is very slow. I do not think this man Moses will ever entirely re- 

 cover from the effects of it. It will be years, in any event, before he gets it out of his 

 .system." 



Dr. Elias H. Bailley, inspector and chemist of the Brooklyn Board of Health, being asked 

 whether manufacturers were liable to get impure fat or lard, replied : 



" Yes, especially as it seems to me one great danger of this whole manufacture lies in the 

 fact that I have known farmers having the hog cholera in a flock of hogs, and the moment a 

 hog is attacked with the cholera the farmer kills it, or if it dies, he tries out the fat and sends 

 the lard to market. I have seen that done myself. Of course, to all appearance, the lard 

 is just as good as fresh lard, and if deodorized could be used without detection. The pro- 

 cess of deodorizing would not kill the disease. 



"The principal reason why nitric acid is used by the manufacturers," this witness said, 

 " was to remove the peculiar odor of the lard, which distinguishes one fat from another, that 

 is decomposed by the nitric acid, which also bleaches the article to a certain extent. I hold 

 hat nitric acid is a powerful poison. Used in the most minute quantities, I believe it will 

 produce serious irritation." 



Inasmuch as prominent manufacturers of oleomargarine admitted before the committee that 

 they used nitric acid in the processes employed by them, and as nitric acid appears in most 

 of the formulas for manufacture filed in the Patent Office at Washington, it is fair to assume 

 (that this deadly poison enters, at least in some instances, into the composition of counterfeit 

 butter. There can be no question that the decision of the Senate committee was influenced to 



