616 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



in the State of INew York. Mr. Grosvenor, Food Commissioner of 

 Michigan, however, says that the only test recognized by his depart- 

 ment would be that made in its own laboratory by its own two 

 chemists. 



As to whether the adulteration could be by water only, all our 

 courteous informants refer us to their answer to the question as to 

 standards but Ohio, whose Food Commissioner (Blackburn) replies, 

 " Yes, if the proof age is reduced to less than one hundred degrees." 

 In Massachusetts, Mr. Sharpless says, " In a case brought a number 

 of years ago the court refused to consider water as an adulteration; 

 no recent case has been brought." 



As to the fifth and vital question, whether the clause against 

 adulteration tends to decrease drunkenness, Mr. Sharpless adds the 

 following valuable record of his experiences as State assayer in a State 

 which, in thirty years, has experimented with about every known form 

 of liquor statute : " So far as I have observed, the quality of the liquor 

 has but little to do with the question of drunkenness. In some locali- 

 ties where prohibition has been strictly enforced we find that the 

 class who will have liquor is obtaining it in other than the well-known 

 commercial forms. Frequently we find that large quantities of ex- 

 tract of ginger are being consumed. A number of cases have been 

 brought against the venders of this article, as an alcoholic beverage 

 containing more than one per cent of alcohol. These cases have 

 generally proved successful in stopping its sale. Essence of pep- 

 permint and of checkerberry, for example, are favorite tipples. Dur- 

 ing the past summer a case was found in which ' So-and-so's Drops,' 

 a nostrum, a mixture of ether and alcohol, was being used as an in- 

 toxicant. The so-called ' native wines ' have given us some trouble. 

 These are essentially a fermented solution of sugar and water, with 

 sufficient juice of some fruit for flavoring and color. When made 

 without the addition of spirits they contain about fourteen per cent 

 of alcohol. They are generally pretty poor stuff. About two years 

 ago we had an epidemic of so-called ' malt extracts.' These, with 

 very few exceptions, were found to be essentially porter. The 

 alcohol in them averaged about six per cent, and they were quite 

 palatable beverages. They contained about seven or eight per cent 

 of solid extract. 



" It has been several times proposed here that no liquors should 

 be sold unless their purity was certified to by the State assayer. This 

 I have uniformly opposed, for the reason that, while the State may 

 well prohibit the sale of adulterated liquors, it is no part of its busi- 

 ness to certify to the purity of any man's goods; and, unless the 

 State becomes the sole vender of liquors, it has no means of keeping 

 track of them. 



