COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 265 



a corps of employees, known as examiners, whose duty it was 

 to test samples of sugar by means of the polariscope and report 

 their findings to the chemist in charge. This system continued 

 in practice for a few years, but always against protest of the 

 importers, and in 1882 the Supreme Court decided that the 

 customs officers were bound under the law to accept the color 

 as it appeared and levy duties accordingly, although they might 

 be entirely certain that the coloration was artificial. 92 



It is not quite clear from the records of the Academy at what 

 point in the development of the matter its advice was sought by 

 the Government, or what the exact relationships were between 

 the different committees, but apparently the main questions re- 

 lated to the natural colors of different grades of sugar, and the 

 use of the polariscope in determining saccharine strength. 



The first committees were probably appointed in 1876 but 

 their membership is not a matter of record. They were styled 

 in the Annual Report of 1879 committees on " Artificial coloring 

 of sugars designed to simulate a lower grade according to the 

 standard on which duties are levied " and in the same place the 

 remark is made : " This subject was repeatedly considered by 

 committees of the academy in 1876 and 1877, and reports were 

 made to the [Treasury] department, which for obvious reasons 

 have not been published." 93 From various statements contained 

 in the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury it seems allowable 

 to suppose that the Academy suggested the use of the polariscope, 

 or even made experiments demonstrating that certain sugars 

 were artificially colored, and that the fact could be determined 

 by means of that instrument. The President of the Academy, 

 Joseph Henry, acted as a separate committee on the use of the 

 polariscope or polarimeter, for determining the value of sugars, 

 and reported in 1877. ^ n *he same year a third committee, 

 Frederick A. Genth, reported to the Treasury Department on 

 " Demarara sugars," but the nature of his report is not a matter 

 of record. 



92 Rep. Seer. Treas. for 1882, pp. xxii, xxiii. 

 94 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1879, p. n. 



