LEGAL ENACTMENTS. 



The 233 colors said by the Sonneberg Chamber of Commerce and 

 Trade to be entitled to unrestricted use in food coloring under the 

 German law of 1887 referred to may also be classified as follows: 



Summary of classification of colors permitted under the German law of 1887 according to 



comments in the literature. 



Out of these 233 colors only 55, or about one-fourth, have been 

 reported on in the literature and the remaining three-fourths have 

 not been examined at all. To the 55 examined and reported on 

 there may be added 2, namely, Nos. 56 and 57, since they are included 

 among the colors once permitted by law in Austria, thus making a 

 total of 57 examined out of 232. Adding these two to the 14 favor- 

 ably reported on makes a total of 16. It finally appears that 41 

 out of 57 colors examined would in the light of present knowledge 

 be improper to be used in food and 12 at least should not be used for 

 such purposes at all. 



The classification into unfavorable, favorable, contradictory, and 

 not reported on is based upon the tabulation on page 63; if that is 

 substantially correct the above conclusions are also true. 



The foregoing side-by-side comparison of 13 legal enactments, 

 while it makes no claim to being absolutely and wholly accurate in 

 all the classifications or conclusions drawn, is no doubt a fair reflec- 

 tion of the condition of mind of those framing the enactments, and 

 consequently of information upon which those enactments were based; 

 and the conclusion would therefore seem to be justified that the fact 

 that a color has been permitted or has been forbidden by any one or 

 the majority of these legal enactments ought not to constitute a 

 clean bill of health, nor an indictment, as the case may be. 



This side-by-side comparison must not be pushed to extremes; 

 indeed the extent to which it can be employed is naturally very lim- 

 ited, and the purpose for which it was made was to reflect in a manner 

 easily and comprehensively grasped the confusion and inconsistencies 

 which very persistently force themselves upon the mind of a person 

 reading those enactments and having in mind the chemical individ- 

 uals at which they are aimed. 



