APEIL15, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



511 



Sec. 1. Repeals former statutes. 



Sec. 2. The term ' food ' is defined as in- 

 cluding every article used for food or drink 

 by man other than drugs and water. The 

 term ' drug ' includes all medicines for in- 

 ternal or external use. 



Sec. 3. " K"o person shall mix, color, stain 

 or powder ***** any article of food 

 with any ingredient or material so as to 

 render the article injurious to health, with 

 intent that the same may be sold in that 

 state, and no person shall sell any such ar- 

 ticle so mixed, colored, stained or pow- 

 dered, under a penalty in each case not ex- 

 ceeding fifty pounds for the first offense ; 

 every offense, after a conviction for a first 

 offense, shall be a misdemeanor, for which 

 the person, on conviction, shall be impris- 

 oned for a period not exceeding six months 

 with hard labor." 



Sec. 4. Prohibits the mixing of drugs 

 with injurious ingredients and the selling 

 of the same. 



Sec. 5. Exempts in case of proof or ab- 

 sence of knowledge, and of ability ' with 

 reasonable dilligence to obtain that knowl- 

 edge.' 



Sec. 6. " 1^0 person shall sell to the prej- 

 udice of the purchaser any article of food 

 or any drug which is not of the nature, 

 substance and quality of the article de- 

 manded by such purchaser, *****." 



Sec. 7. Provides for the sale of compound 

 articles of food and compound drugs. 



Sec. 8. Provides that the afiQxing of a 

 legible label, stating that the goods are 

 mixed, shall be a sufficient protection 

 against conviction by this act. 



Sec. 9. Prohibits the abstraction of any 

 part of an article of food with intent to 

 sell without notice of such abstraction, and 

 the selling of such article without notice. 



I refer to only a few of the sections of 

 this law. As a whole it was far better 

 than any legislation that had preceded it 

 in England or in any other country, yet 



owing to the peculiar constructions placed 

 upon it . by the magistrates, convictions, 

 even in cases of evident violation of the 

 act, were difficult and often impossible to 

 secure. 



A clear idea of the chief legal difficulties 

 which confronted those charged with en- 

 forcing the Sale of Food and Drugs Act 

 can be given by quoting from ' An Act to 

 Amend the Sale of Food and Drugs Act ' 

 (42 and 43 Vic. C. 30, 1879) : 



Sec. 2. "In any prosecution under the 

 provision of the principal act for selling to 

 the prejudice of the purchaser any article 

 of food or any drug which is not of the 

 nature, substance and quality of the article 

 demanded by such purchaser, it shall be no 

 defense to any such prosecution to allege 

 that the purchaser, having bought only for 

 analysis, was not prejudiced by such sale. 

 Neither shall it be a good defense to prove 

 that the article of food or drug in question, 

 though defective in nature or in substance 

 or in quality, was not defective in all three 

 respects." 



Sec. 6. " In determining whether an of- 

 fense has been committed under section 6 

 of said act by selling, to the prejudice of 

 the purchaser, spirits not adulterated other- 

 wise than by the admixture of water, it 

 shall be a good defense to prove that such 

 admixture has not reduced the spirit more 

 than twenty-five degrees under proof for 

 brandy, whisky or rum, or thirty-five de- 

 grees under proof for gin." 



A few special acts have since been passed 

 from time to time, but their importance is 

 relatively insignificant. The Act of 1875 

 as amended in 1879 constitutes in greater 

 part the food law of England as existing 

 at the present time. 



The enforcement of these acts at first was 

 difficult and uncertain. As has been previ- 

 ously stated, experienced analysts were few, 

 and the remuneration ofifered was not suffi- 

 cient to induce reliable and competent men 



