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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. V23 



and, one by one, other states have fallen in 

 line as "Pure Food States." Most of the 

 food laws first enacted affected only dairy 

 products, and their passage was secured 

 chiefly through the efforts of dairymen to 

 protect their interests; later, these laws 

 were amended, or new laws were enacted, 

 so as to include all articles of food and 

 drink, and with the special view of protect- 

 ing the consumer as well as the honest pro- 

 ducer. 



The enforcement of food laws, in most 

 states, devolves on a Food Commission, but 

 in a number of states it is in the hands 

 of the Experiment Station or the Board of 

 Health. 



The passage of the National Food and 

 Drugs Act in 1906 marked an important 

 era in legislative measures for the protec- 

 tion of the public against fraudulent foods, 

 beverages and medicinal preparations. 

 This law not only renders more effective 

 the state laws by checking the interstate 

 shipment of fraudulent products, but also 

 is proving a stimulus to the enactment of 

 the laws in states previously without food 

 inspection, and an important influence in 

 bringing about uniformity in state laws. 



In certain states the inspection of com- 

 modities has been carried a step farther. 

 For example, the Maine Experiment Sta- 

 tion inspects field and garden seeds with 

 reference to their purity and vitality, and 

 the stations in several other states exercise 

 a semi-official control over the insecticides 

 and fungicides on the market. In North 

 Dakota a paint law is doing much to pre- 

 vent such gross frauds as the substitution 

 of fish oil and mineral oils for linseed oil, 

 of whiting, barites and other cheap mineral 

 powders for white lead and zinc white, etc. 

 Ever since the discovery of petroleum, 

 efforts have been made to protect the 

 public from illuminating and fuel oils with 

 low flash points and to-day more or less 



effective laws providing for the inspection 

 of these products are in force in most of 

 the states. Laws against substituting in- 

 ferior alloys for standard alloys of gold 

 and silver have also been enacted in some 

 states, although, so far as I know, no 

 official inspection of precious metals is in 

 force. 



From the foregoing brief statement of 

 the growth of inspection in this country, it 

 is apparent that the sentiment in its favor 

 is wide-spread and the classes of commodi- 

 ties concerned are on the increase. Under 

 the conditions of trade that now prevail 

 inspection is almost a necessity and there 

 appears to be good reason for making the 

 official control of the commodities already 

 named universal throughout the country 

 and extending the system so as to cover 

 still other commodities. 



If petroleum is inspected, why not coal; 

 if paints and oils, why not lime and 

 cement; if foods, why not raiment? 



The fact that all coal sold for the same 

 grade is not of equal value is well known 

 to those chemists who have studied coal 

 analyses, and also to consumers who have 

 observed the occurrence of slate in the coal 

 itself and clinkers in the ashes. The gov- 

 ernment inspects and analyzes the coal it 

 buys and it seems not unreasonable that the 

 consumer should also be protected. Such 

 an inspection of coal, if feasible, would be 

 a matter of public economy, not, as in the 

 case of illuminating oils, of public safety. 



Building frauds concern both the safety 

 and the pecuniary welfare of the com- 

 munity. It frequently happens that the 

 cupidity or ignorance of the builder leads 

 him to use poor lime and cement, or mix 

 an undue amount of sand with his mortar, 

 thus weakening his structures and imperil- 

 ing life. The rigid inspection of buildings 

 in the cities does much to protect the public 

 from these dangers, but this inspection is 



