3o8 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIV. No. 353 



While this warming-up is in progress, the burner is covered with 

 a sheet-iron hood, to confine the heat. 



We have referred occasionally to the Manchester Ship Canal that 

 is to make Manchester, England, a seaport. We now learn that 

 these Wells lights are used for the night-work, and understand 

 that their portability and large flames, rendering shadows less 

 sharply marked, have caused them to be looked on with favor. 



G= 



SHADOW FROM ARC-LIGHT. 



SHADOW FROM OIL-FLAME. 



The effect of the large flame of this oil-light in doing away with 

 the black shadows which are found so objectionable when an 

 electric arc-light is used is illustrated in the accompanying dia- 

 grams. 



CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF CONTINENTAL LEGISLA- 

 TION CONCERNING FOOD ADULTERATION. i 



During the past year I have had occasion to look up the sub- 

 ject of the laws and regulations now in force in European countries 

 in reference to the sale of unwholesome or falsified foods, and be- 

 lieve that a brief resiiini of certain provisions of such legislation 

 may not be uninteresting to the members of this association. 



To attempt to summarize what has been done in each country 

 involves more or less of a review of its police administration, which 

 would make this paper too long. Copies of these foreign laws, 

 decrees, and regulations, and a list of our State laws on the adulter- 

 ation of food and drugs, dairy products, and butter substitutes, 

 will be found in the reports of the commissioner of internal revenue 

 for 1 888 and 1889, to which I would refer those specially interested 

 in this subject. 



In examining this mass of legislation, I was impressed with the 

 large scope of the powers of the police authorities in continental 

 Europe, and that there are many of these functions which our 

 States might adopt with profit. For instance : in addition to what 

 we consider the ordinary police duties relating to the enforcement 

 of the laws and regulations respecting public order, the suppression 

 of crime and violence, the supervision of the excise, of public places 

 of amusements, etc., we find the following as being specified as 

 part of the duties of the police administration in matters relating to 

 public health : viz., — 



{a) The I egistering and licensing, after previous examination by 

 a board of experts duly appointed for that purpose, of all physi- 

 cians, surgeons, accoucheurs, midwives, orthopedists, dentists, pedi- 

 cures, trained nurses, and veterinarians. 



(b) The registering and licensing, after suitable examination, of 

 all pharmacists and of their assistants ; also the inspection of all drug- 

 stores, and the enforcement of rigid regulations concerning the 

 sale of poisons. 



{c) The supervision and inspection of all hospitals, whether 

 public or private, public baths, prisons, schools, slaughter-houses, 

 markets, stores, and other public and private establishments, in 

 regard to their sanitary maintenance. 



(d) The enforcement of all laws, and the making of all needful 

 regulations to carry out their provisions, in regard to public health. 



1 Presented at the annual meetin 

 Oct. 2a-25, and published by permiss 



Public Health As 



especially those concerning epidemic or contagious diseases of men 

 or animals. 



(e) The supervision and inspection of all articles which serve as 

 foods, properly speaking, or as beverages, as well as those which 

 are employed in the preparation, production, manufacture, or pres- 

 ervation of such foods, including the places where such articles are 

 sold, stored, or manufactured (see the laws on sanitary police, of 

 France, Belgium, most of the cantons of Switzerland, Germany, 

 Italy, etc.). 



It is to certain features of the laws and regulations on this last 

 subject that I wish to call your attention. These may conveniently 

 be divided into four heads ; viz., general, special, penal, and execu- 

 tive provisions. 



General Provisions. 



The word " food " may be said to include all commodities, ma- 

 terials, or ingredients, of whatsoever character, intended for human 

 consumption. 



A food is considered as adulterated or falsified {a) when any 

 substance has been added which does not exist in the normal prod- 

 uct, or is only found there in an appreciably lower proportion ; {b) 

 when any substance has been subtracted that is normally present 

 in the product, and which is not found in the abnormal product or 

 only in an appreciably lower proportion ; {c) when it is an imita- 

 tion of, or sold under the name of, another article ; and {d) when 

 any substance has been substituted, wholly or in part, for the 

 article. 



The selling, offering for sale, or otherwise putting on the market, 

 as well as the use, of any food commodity which is unwholesome, 

 altered, or decomposed, is prohibited under severe penalties. 



The selling and offering for sale, for the purpose of slaughtering, 

 of animals infected with contagious and other diseases, as well as 

 the selling and offering for sale of the meat from such diseased 

 animals, is prohibited. Power to regulate the proper inspection 

 before and after slaughtering is left to the competent authorities. 



The employment of poisonous coloring-matters in the manufac- 

 ture of clothing, wall-papers, toys, eating, drinking, and cooking 

 utensils, and other articles of common use, as well as their use in 

 wrappers and vessels intended for the packing or for the preserva- 

 tion of food, are also prohibited. 



Every dealer in food commodities must be responsible for the 

 quality of his merchandise, whether of foreign or domestic origin. 



Every food material must be sold under its true name. 



Every dealer having an artificial product imitating a natural prod- 

 uct in his possession, whether the same is intended for sale or is 

 claimed to be solely for his own use, must announce such fact by 

 conspicuous placards in hts shop. All such artificial products 

 must be duly labelled in a conspicuous and legible manner, bearing 

 the name of the merchandise accompanied by the prefix " arti- 

 ficial." 



The manufacture of, trade in, and offering for sale of, substances 

 intended for the adulteration of articles for food is forbidden or 

 restricted to certain prescribed methods and substances by strin- 

 gent regulations of the competent authorities. 



The power to regulate and to supervise the methods and the 

 means for carrying out the provisions of these laws is placed with the 

 competent authorities. 



Special Provisions. 



These include clear and concise definitions of the different food- 

 products, as well as very often an accurate statement of what shall 

 be the minimum chemical composition of such foods or their in- 

 gredients. The latter feature, however, is, owing to the constant 

 advance made in the methods of chemical analysis, and also, it 

 must be said, to the shifting character of adulterants used, much 

 better left to frequently revised regulations by competent authorities 

 than to the precise wording of a law. 



I. Butter and Cheese. — These must be made from milk or 

 cream, or both, and with or without common salt. Any admixture 

 of a foreign fat not derived solely from milk makes the product 

 artificial, and it must consequently be so labelled and sold. Most 

 of these countries have special laws on the manufacture and trade 

 in artificial butters (see reports of the commissioner of internal 

 revenue for 1888 and 1889). 



