APPENDIX A. 381 



solution, whilst the bitter of nop, and also tho bitter of the camomile, which behaves 

 like the hop, goes down and leaves the solution bitterless. He had specimens of all the 

 hop substitutes in use in England at that time, and without a single exception the 

 solution remained bitter after treatment with tho subacetate of lead. 



After having separated the filtrate and evaporated it down, there was no difficulty 

 in detecting the bitter ; but he did not think there was any possibility of distinguish- 

 ing between the individual bitters, considering the minute quantity present, and one 

 could only positively say there was another bitter present besides that of the hop. 



Dr. Muter said that, with regard to the question of the detection of bitters in beer, he 

 would say at once that he did not quite share the president's views as to there being 

 no difficulty in detecting and identifying them. It was a subject that he had worked 

 at in former years in connection with his book on materia medica. He had made 

 numerous experiments himself, and he had repeated many of the published experi- 

 ments and he could prognosticate that, as the president went along, he would meet 

 w r ith several published reactions which were partially incorrect and perfectly mis- 

 leading. Although a few bitters would be found to be comparatively easy of detec- 

 tionquassia, for instance, was a bitter which spoke very much for itself many of 

 them were, to a great extent, involved in difficulty and obscurity at the present time. 

 There was no branch of chemistry that so much undesirable matter had been pub- 

 lished about as that relating to materia medica, and many of the older researches were 

 incorrect. No doubt one cause of this was that nowadays they had much better 

 analytical appliances than the men who made these experiments. He did not for a 

 moment mean to say that they were now cleverer than past observers, but, for in- 

 stance, they could not wash lead and other similar intractable precipitates in former 

 days as one could now do by the aid of the filter pump, and the color reactions for 

 more than one proximate principle, which were given in books, were really not due 

 to the principle at all, but to the traces of reagents and other matters that remained 

 with them owing to the imperfect washing, which was almost certain to occur before 

 the days of filter pumps. He was afraid that until the president and others who 

 might take the subject up had had time to work it out by the aid of modern appli- 

 ances it would be going too tar to say they could swear positively that a sample con- 

 tained no hop substitute. 



Mr. Allen said he thought they could tell whether it contained hop or a substitute 

 for hops. 



Dr. Muter then said in that case how would they get on in cross-examination, see- 

 ing that they could not name the substitute ? He did not remember how he first be- 

 came acquainted with the lead process, but he believed that he could put his hands on 

 it now. It must be quite thirteen or fourteen years ago since it was first published. 

 Immediately it was brought out he had made experiments upon it, working on large 

 quantities. Since that there had really been no other process that lie knew of. Ho 

 himself had used a process very similar to that mentioned, viz, -precipitation with 

 subacetate of lead, siphoning off the clear liquor after settlement, removing the ex- 

 cess of lead from this liquid, concentrating and tasting, and then extracting with 

 immiscible solvents. 



Now came a difficulty which shook his faith in his powers as an analyst as regards 

 hop substitutes. He had always believed in the process from practicing upon beer 

 with various added bitters until some time ago he got a beer which he was privately 

 assured by the maker to have no bitter other than hops. This sample he put through 

 the process and he got a bitter ont of that beer with chloroform after lead. He 

 worked on a fatrly large quantity, but the process here showed bitters other than 

 hop, although he was assured that the sample represented as pure a beer as could pos- 

 sibly be obtained. Another difficulty was the quantity they might hava to work on. 

 Supposing an inspector brought them one-half or one-third of a pint, where was the 

 process they could use ? He had put bitters in the beer and worked on such quanti- 

 ties and failed to find them. In a case ho knew of some time ago there was some 



