164 



FOODS AND FOOD ADULTERANTS. 



bleaching. When the shells are roasted or charred they refuse to bleach, 

 and it is then only possible to class the particles on which the reagents 

 do not act as roasted shells or charcoal. They are frequently used in 

 peppers to give color to material rendered too light by white adult- 

 erants. 



The composition of these substances is shown in the following deter- 

 mination which reveal the effect of their addition upon the normal 

 composition of the spices : 



More in regard to olive stones will be learned when the discussion of 

 the adulteration of pepper is considered. 



Buckwheat hulls after bleaching with Schulze's reagent show a pre- 

 ponderance of tissue made up of long, slender, and pointed scleren- 

 chyma cells and a smaller amount of reticulated tissue resembling the 

 cereals somewhat and cayenne pepper. Portions of the endosperm or 

 interior of the seed are also visible, and consist of an agglomeration of 

 small hexagonal cells which originally contained starch. The starch is 

 readily recognized by its peculiar characteristics. The sclerenchyma 

 is, of course, optically active and forms a beautiful and distinctive ob- 

 ject with polarized light. 



Sawdust of various woods may be recognized by the fragments of 

 various spiral and dotted vessels and fibrous material which are not 

 found in the spices or other adulterants. 



Baric, in some parts of the world a common addition to pepper, is de- 

 tected by its stone cells, which are larger than those of pepper, and of 

 different form and more numerous, and by its fibrous vessels which are 

 made out readily after bleaching. The source of a particular bark can- 

 not, however, be made out. 



Rice bran. This, as several other similar products, is made up promi- 

 nently of two series of cells at right angles to each other, which make 

 up the outer coats of the grain. The structure is best made out after 

 soaking in chloral-hydrate. The cells of one series are long, small, and 

 thin-walled, and are arranged in parallel bundles. The others have 

 very much thickened walls, and are only two or three times as long as 

 broad. They are at times distinguished, for convenience, as the longi- 

 tudinal and transverse cells. The remaining layers of the bran are not 

 prominent. 



Clove stems , used frequently as a diluent, can be distinguished by their 

 peculiar yellow-dotted vessels and their large and quite numerous stone- 



