THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD. 223 



Jsow the grocer confronts us with such euphonious names for his molasses, as 

 golden Jrip, rock-candy drip, royal rock, sugar sirup, pancake sirup, etc. These 

 sirups are frequently composed entirely of starch sugar (glucose), the higher priced 

 kinds, however, contain varying quantities of cane sugar to impart greater sweet- 

 ness. There can be no objections to these articles on the score of health, provided 

 they be free from sulphuric acid, plaster paris, etc., and consist of pure starch 

 sugar, for then it is identical with the sugar found in all fruits. The excessive use 

 of glucose, as also sucrose (cane sugar), produces acidity of the stomach and gastric 

 irritation ; so does the excessive eating of fruit, and hence this fact does not inveigh 

 against it. Before the now very general introduction of glucose, confectioners' 

 waxy candies, like caramels and butterscotch, were produced by adding to the boil- 

 ing sugar solution cream of tartar or other harmless acid material; which has the 

 effect of transferring crystallized sugar to the uncrystallizable form, and so admit- 

 ting of the waxy kind of candies. Now the same end is accomplished by simply 

 adding glucose. 



Cream of tartar is the acid tartrate of potassa, and is found as a deposit in wine 

 casks- Its use in cooking is confined to baking purposes. Being an acid salt it 

 liberates carbonic acid gas from a carbonate, which gas serves to lighten dough. Its 

 adulteration is very largely practiced, and frequently mixtures containing not a 

 trace of true cream of tartar are sold as such. 



These mixtures consist of terre alba or plaster of paris mixed with tartaric 

 acid, and sometimes containing free sulphuric acid. These mixtures are villainous 

 and can not help but prove inimical to health. 



The adulterations of lard, butter, milk, cheese, Hour, etc., I have treated at 

 length in the report of the State Health Board, and only wish here further to con- 

 sider fertilizers, which, although not a food, are very closely related thereto, and 

 must be of interest to this body. 



A poor, worthless fertilizer is an imjjosition so gross that it would be hard to 

 find words to express an lionest man's oijinion in regard to it. We have, however, 

 annually shipped into this State tons and tons of so-Ciilled fertilizers, to spread 

 which upon the land is not only a loss of money, time and labor, but probably is 

 positively injurious. Our State law, designed to protect against this fraud, is not 

 of the least value, but is a disadvantage to all concerned save the dishonest vender. 

 The State Chemist faithfully performs his duty, but there is no guarantee that the 

 article .sent out is the same as that analyzed. Our feeble and incompetent law, 

 then, is full of harm, inasmuch as it not only permits, but, also, because of weak- 

 ness, invites the dealer in fertilizers to put out fictitious merchandise. 



We have in this city two fertilizer companies, both well known for their integ- 

 rity and honesty of purpose. I refer to E. Rauh & Sons, whose special brand of 

 fertilizer is Rauh's Champion Phosphate, and the Indiana Fertilizer Co., of which 

 Mr. Wiselogel is Superintendent. To my positive knowledge both these dealers 

 have striven nobly to furnish goods in every instance up to the standard, and when 

 they otfer them for sale at a living profit, they are told so and .so of Chicago or 

 Cincinnati will furnish a fertilizer, bearing the State Chemist's tags, at one-half 

 the price. This experience led E. Eauh & Sons to have a series of analyses made 

 of this wonderfully cheap, but legally tagged stuff. Samples were carefully col- 



