45 



believing his druggist is the soul of honor as indeed he is, for adulteration is seldom 

 practiced among the retailers makes a mental note of the fact that the patient has 

 a peculiar idiosyncrasy in that he needs a much larger dose of henbane than that 

 commonly given to obtain any benefit from it. Let us suppose that this patient has 

 a relapse and once more calls the doctor. The medical man instantly remembers 

 that he gave a very largo dose of henbario in his former treatment before the disease 

 succumbed, and he now decides to at once give what would appear to be a dangerous 

 dose. He does so and sends the prescription to the druggist, who in the meantime 

 has procured some of the solid extract of the drug that has not passed through the 

 tender hands of the sophisticator, and he compounds the physician's prescription 

 from this new supply. The patient takes it, his symptoms become alarming, and he 

 may even die, and all the doctor can do is to marvel at the peculiarities of this man^ 

 who could take an extremely large dose of henbane in June, but who was poisoned 

 by precisely the same dose in July. 



Although the purpose and scope of this commission is better understood than 

 formerly, still letters are received stating that samples have been forwarded for 

 analysis and asking that the bill for the work be sent to the consignor. 



COFFEES. 



Of late years spurious coffees have appeared upon the market and are advertised 

 openly without any attempt to .conceal either their composition or purpose. 



The prices quoted on these imitations are astonishingly low, being in one case 6 

 cents per pound in small lots and 5.J- cents in barrel lots. These artificial coffee beans 

 are made in close imitation of the genuine article, and taken in their unmixed 

 state would deceive the eye of the most skillful observer. Upon a mere cursory 

 examination the most particular housewife would pronounce them to be coffee 

 beans of an excellent color and good roast. Without doubt the most common adult- 

 erant of coffee is chicory, but these coffee " pellets/' as they are sometimes called, 

 are fast supplanting chicory on account of their smaller cost. The pellets are 

 composed of rye or wheat flour, are moulded in the shape of the genuine bean and 

 held together by means of glucose or some similar vehicle, and are colored in imita- 

 tion of a roasted coffee. Of course they have none of the properties of coffee, 

 nor do they resemble it either in taste or smell, but when mixed with the genuine 

 article, even in so large a quantity as 30 or 40 per cent, they are not easily detected 

 except by expert examination. 



It is not an uncommon practice to treat inferior or damaged coffees by some proc- 

 ess for the improvement of their appearance and in imitation of superior grades. 

 Java seems to have been especially subject to this treatment, or rather other coffees 

 are colored in imitation of Java. South American coffees are often exposed to a 

 high, moist heat, which changes their color from green to brown, thus forming imi- 

 tation Java. 



Various pigments are also used in coloring coffees. The Division of Chemistry of 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture found as high as one-twenty-fourth grain of 

 Scheele's green in one-half ounce of coffee. Scheele's green is a combination of cop- 

 per and arsenious acid, both violent poisons. Yellow ocher, silesian blue, chrome 

 yellow, burnt umber, Venetian red, drop black, charcoal, and French black have 

 been used to color coffees, and it is polished by rotation in cylinders with soapstone. 

 Raw coffees which have been damaged by sea water are washed, decolorized with 

 limewater, again washed, rapidly dried, and colored by a slight roasting by azo- 

 orauge. By this method Santos coffees are converted into imitation Javas. The 

 weight lost is regained by steaming and then coating the beans with glycerin, palm 

 oil, or vaseline to prevent evaporation. 



Coffees are sometimes faced with Prussian blue or indigo, lead chromate, etc. The 

 following list effacing mixtures is from the published investigations of K. Sykora: 

 First, mixture of indigo, lead chromate, coal, a4 clay; second (approximately), 5 



