228 



FOODS AND FOOD ADULTERANTS. 



and of large tbin- walled cells with light or dark red contents, which are 

 very characteristic and are called by Hassall the port- wine cells, which 

 should be examined in water, and after treatment with chloral hydrate, 

 the starch grains being made out in the water preparation and the re- 

 maining structure among the particles rendered transparent by the 

 chloral hydrate. Most prominent among the latter under polarized light, 

 which is here a great assistance, are the stone cells or thick walled cells 

 partly grouped and partly separate, and often, with plain light, showing 

 shreds of parenchyma adherent to them. The brown cells which con- 

 tain the oil are made out with less distinctness, but most striking are 

 the red or port-wine cells of the seed hull, which are seen scattered ev- 

 erywhere, and in color and form are very characteristic. Shreds of the 

 embryo are also now and then seen. 



FIG. 13. Allspice powder, a, starch ; &, port- wine cells ; ft, hairs; , stone cells ; p, parenchyma. X 240. 



Schimper's diagramatic illustrations of this spice are here copied in 

 Fig. 13, and serve as a slight aid to the recognition of the structures 

 mentioned, but merely as suggestions, as nothing exactly correspond, 

 ing to the drawings will be found in the ground powder. 



Polarized light is a most important aid in examining this spice. It 

 brings out strongly the stone-cells and ligneous tissue and differentiates 

 therefrom the great mass of other matter. It also makes the oil cavi- 

 ties more distinct. 



The adulteration of this spice does not often occur, owing to its cheap- 

 ness. We have only found three cases, and those from Baltimore. In 

 No. 4530 a substitution had been made for allspice, of which not a par- 

 ticle could be detected, of inferior cloves from which much of the volatile 

 oil had been extracted, and Nos. 4877 and 4377, where yellow corn and 

 mineral coloring matter were plentiful. In these instances chemical 

 analysis confirmed the microscopic examination. 



Abroad clove stems are said to be largely used as an adulterant. They 

 differ from cloves, as has been already explained, in the presence of 



