LARD AND LARD ADULTERATIONS. 543 



ADULTERATION OF AMERICAN LARD. 

 IMPORTANT PROSECUTIONS'* 



At the Liverpool police court on the 20th ultimo, before Mr. Raffles, several whole- 

 sale provision merchants in Liverpool were summoned for having sold lard not of the 

 nature, substance, and quality demanded by the purchaser. Mr. Marks appeared to 

 support the summonses on behalf of the Health Committee of the Corporation. The 

 first case called was one in which Cuffey Brothers, Victoria street, were summoned, 

 and for whom Mr. Pickford appeared. The court was crowded with representatives 

 of the provision trade. 



Mr. Marks, in opening the case, said the defendants, who carried on business at 40 

 Victoria street, were summoned for gelling lard which was not of the nature, sub- 

 stance, and quality demanded by the purchaser. The warehouse of the defendants was 

 visited on the 14th May by Inspector Baker, an officer under tho sale of food and drugs 

 act. He there saw a number of buckets of lard on which was printed " N. K. Fair- 

 bank & Co., refined lard, Chicago." He inquired the price, and ultimately purchased 

 a bucket for 10s. 8d. He gave the usual notice about requiring the purchase for 

 analysis, and offered to divide it for that purpose. His offer was accepted. He then 

 left the defendants a sample, another portion he took to Dr. Campbell Brown, in the 

 usual course, and the third he retained. Dr. Brown furnished a certificate, upon 

 which, as a rule, the case rested. Owing, however, to communications that had been 

 made to him (Mr. Marks) by a gentleman instructed on behalf of tho defendants, in 

 this and other cases, it was thought desirable that Dr. Brown should be in attend- 

 ance, so that ho might give evidence in a more amplo manner than would appear 

 from his certificate, and in order that the defendants might have an opportunity of 

 cross-examining him. The certificate which Dr. Brown had furnished stated that he 

 had analyzed the lard, and that in his opinion it contained considerably more than 

 40 per cent, of a mixture of cotton seed oil, and either mutton or beef fat. The court 

 would probably gather this was a case of greater importance than cases under the 

 sale of food and drugs act usually were. Certainly if a court was to be troubled with 

 all the information which had been furnished to him officially, and also anonymously, 

 he should imagine that, so far as the United States was concerned, the people were 

 at present given up entirely to the lard question. [Laughter.] However, in the 

 provision trade the case was undoubtedly regarded as of very great importance, and 

 i\o was bound to say it was important to more classes of persons than one. It was of 

 vast importance to the makers of lard, whose profits were simply enormous, and also- 

 to the consumers of the lard. It seemed that about eighteen months ago it was dis- 

 covered that lard was being imported into this country which was adulterated. It 

 was imported from America, and the fact appeared to have become known in Amer- 

 ica, and to have created a tremendous amount of feeling there. 



Mr. Pickford objected to these observations as being irrelevant. 



Mr. Marks said he was simply leading up to the facts. What he was going to say 

 Avas, that the principal manufacturers of this lard were persons whose names ap- 

 peared upon the buckets, namely, Fairbauk & Co., of Chicago, and Armour &Co. It 

 was known to Dr. Campbell Brown, about eighteen months ago, that this importa- 

 tion of lard was going on. 



Mr. Pickford again objected to Mr. Marks entering into matters uot connected with 

 the present case. 



Mr. Marks contended that his observations had reference to the case before the 

 court. 



Mr. RafHes said he should rule that what Dr. Brown did eighteen months ago was 

 not relevant, except it had reference to the summons now being heard. 



*The Analyst, July, 1888, pp. 136 et seq. 



