41 



I find the following strong presentment of tbe case from the point of 

 view of physical health : 



By adulteration man is made sick, and by it he is prevented a recovery and most 

 foully murdered. Why, thus it is that paupers are made plenty, criminals many, 

 lunatics numerous, and Americans known as a nation of invalids. Men are losing 

 their mental powers, and with them their property and honor. Adulterations more 

 than intemperance dement, delude, and madden to fraud, violence, and murder. Prog- 

 eny inherits mental taints, and possesses an anomalous desire to do violence to 

 others' property and person ; to burn houses and wreck trains. More room for the 

 insane is the general demand. Already $50,000,000 have been invested in asylums, 

 while the cure of the insane costs annually $15,000,000. From 1870 to 1880 there was 

 a gain of 26 per cent, of the total population, while the insane population increased 

 over 100 per cent. 



THE POOR WORST AFFLICTED. 



People in good circumstances do not suffer a tithe as much as the poor in the cities. 

 These poor buy a few cents' worth of provisions only at a time. Yet insanity is gen- 

 eral aud nervons disorders are growing to make it more general. Chloral, morphine,' 

 etc., are demanded by the victims of commercial fraud, and insanity or death is the 

 end. The rapidly increasing use of these deadly drugs is frightful, and will be more 

 so if snpineness of legislation allows the insidious corruption of our food to continue. 



NECESSITY FOR OFFICERS. 



No law will be able to suppress adulteration that does not provide officers to detect 

 and apprehend it. Private individuals have not the authority by law to demand of 

 dealers and producers admission to their establishments or power to take articles to 

 inspect, or the time and money to analyze them. The purpose of government being 

 protection, it is not tbe duty of private individuals to provide the expense of such 

 protection. A citizen may feel that he has been injured by adulteration, but as the 

 expense of analyzation is considerable, amounting in most cases to from $100 to $300, 

 he is unable to prove his injury, arid thus unabated murder continues. 



Under the law preventing adulteration the English are living longer and bettor 

 than we. Dr. Foster stated before the English medical society lately, that a man's 

 natural life-time is one hundred years, and that all could live that long if they met 

 with no accident and lived properly. From Dr. Farr's observation of the march 

 through life of 1,000,000 children, he found that the English were living longer than 

 formerly, as there had been a gain of 2$ years in the average life of the people. He 

 claims that the largest amount of sickness is due to insufficient and impure food, and 

 that the first essential to life is pure food. Further, that hereditary taints may be 

 abolished by proper living, and the body left at death stronger and better than when 

 it was taken up at birth, because the old blood cells, the fibers and epithelic scales 

 being cast off, may be replaced with others better, and eventually untainted. 



In concluding this address, Mr. Amerliug says: 



There are quite as many adulterations as pure articles; we have found food adul- 

 teration to average 41 per cent, and drug adulterations 38 per cent. Let us realize 

 that we can never perpetuate our government as long as the very nourishment. of the 

 babe is poisoned at its mother's breast. 



Mr. F. N. Barrett, editor of the American Grocer, thus tersely and 

 strongly expresses the commercial view of this matter, "The gist of 

 the whole thing lies in the right of every rfaii to get what he pays his 

 money for." 



A reputable firm of druggists writing from Boston, say : u That the 

 extent of adulteration in that State is 'very small ;> our State laws are 



