624 FOODS AND FOOD ADULTERANTS. 



stance is such that the purchaser has no means of ascertaining by any 

 simple or easy means the character of the article he buys, to say noth- 

 ing of its relative quality. Such a regulation should meet with the ap- 

 probation of all concerned iu the manufacture of baking-powders. The 

 manufacturers of high-grade powders, such as tartrate or phosphate 

 powders, would certainly not object to it, and it would ultimately be to 

 the advantage also of the cheaper sorts, such as alum powders, pro- 

 vided they could succeed iu proving that such powders produced little 

 or no injury to the health of the consumer. 



Ample analogy and precedent for such regulation are furnished by 

 the laws for the sale of fertilizers which are in operation in most of the 

 States. Although these substances are used for widely different pur- 

 poses, the conditions that require the legal supervision of their sale are 

 quite similar in many respects. A substance sold as a fertilizer must 

 have its composition, in so far as is necessary for its valuation for such 

 a purpose, plainly stated on the bag iu which it is sold, because the pur- 

 chaser has no means of ascertaining this value by any ordinary or .sim- 

 ple test. Otherwise the manufacturer could easily impose upon him by 

 selling him a powdered substance which resembled a fertilizer in gen- 

 eral appearance, but contained no constituent of any value whatever 

 for fertilizing purposes. The purchaser of a baking-powder receives a 

 white powder which may contain various substances more or less valua- 

 ble for the desired purpose, or of no value whatever, or perhaps even 

 injurious to the health. 



The housewife surely deserves protection against swindling as much 

 as the farmer, and she has no better means for ascertaining the strength 

 and quality of the baking-powder she buys than the latter has for learn- 

 ing the strength of his fertilizer. The verity and accuracy of the analy- 

 sis stated on the label should be insured, as in the case of the fertilizer, 

 by its being performed by sworn analysts. If such a regulation were 

 enforced, people would soon inform themselves of the respective merits 

 of different varieties, and the further requirement of a certain standard 

 of strength, as suggested by Professor Cornwall, would probably be un- 

 necessary, as they would learn to interpret the analysis, and a powder 

 made up with 50 per cent, of starch, for instance, would have to be sold 

 cheaper than one made with 10 per cent., or riot sold at all. 



