386 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 328 



fact that in this respect the extreme eastern Eskimo are very much 

 like the inhabitants of Alaska. Among the implements collected 

 by the expedition, are a great number of excellent carvings, — 

 boxes, harpoon-staffs, and other implements, covered all over with 

 carved figures. On all kinds of objects a single ornament is found, 

 representing a seal. Mr. Holm believes that the high development 

 of this art favors the opinion of Dr. H. Rink, who thinks that the 

 East Greenlanders visited the coast coming from the north. He 

 mentions the following facts as favoring this theory : the occurrence 

 of deserted habitations in the northern parts of East Greenland ; 

 the undoubted fact that a number of animals reached the east coast 

 coming from the north ; and the tale of Uyartek, who travelled all 

 around Greenland. The high development of the art of the East 

 Greenlanders leads him to think that they were in contact with the 

 far-distant Alaskan tribes at a comparatively recent date, while 

 they must have been separated for a long time from the West 

 Greenlanders. 



THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DAIRY COMMIS- 

 SIONER OF NEW JERSEY. 



The third annual report of the dairy commissioner of New 

 Jersey, being the report for 1888, is full of interesting material. 

 Dr. William K. Newton's long experience in work of this kind 

 renders his reports of great value to all health-officers engaged in 

 discovering the many frauds practised on consumers. Of 623 arti- 

 cles of food analyzed, 303, or 48.64 per cent, were adulterated or 

 below the legal standards. We have not space in which to con- 

 sider them all in detail, but will select a few of the most important. 

 Of butter and oleomargarine, 68 samples were examined, and 44 of 

 them were found to be adulterated or not standard. Many sam- 

 ples were submitted supposed to be oleomargarine, but they proved 

 to be bad butter. Dr. Newton says that it may be stated as an 

 invariable rule, that if the suspected material is rancid, and has a 

 disagreeable odor, it is inferior butter, and not oleomargarine. 

 The latter may become granular, and have a disagreeable, greasy 

 taste ; but it never turns rancid. Of 121 samples of milk, 43 were 

 not as required by law. Adulteration is now practically confined 

 to the large cities. The general milk is excellent. Of 55 samples 

 of American canned goods analyzed, but one was found not up to 

 the standard. During the year, of tomatoes alone, 3.319.437 cans 

 were packed in the United States, 789,363 of them being put up in 

 New Jersey. In speaking of the alleged danger from these goods. 

 Dr. Newton says that it has been his practice for the past few 

 years to investigate all reports of poisoning supposed to be due to 

 the eating of canned articles, but in no instance has he found a 

 well-authenticated case of poisoning. On this subject he says, — 



" It is claimed that lead and tin have been found in large quan- 

 tities in canned vegetables. My investigations have never revealed 

 a single case where lead was in quantities large enough to detect. 

 If that metal is present in these preserved foods, immediate steps 

 should be taken to prevent the sale of articles so contaminated ; for 

 it is well known that the constant ingestion of very minute quan- 

 tities of lead and some of its salts is almost invariably followed by 

 symptoms of poisoning. And these symptoms are well marked, 

 and known to every physician : hence, if there are cases of lead- 

 poisoning due to this cause, a short time only would elapse before 

 they would be placed on record. Lead is a cumulative poison, and 

 is very slowly cast out by the system ; but the ingestion of quanti- 

 ties as small as -j^ or j^-g of a grain, for a time is almost certain to 

 be followed by symptoms of poisoning. I mention these well- 

 known facts for the following reasons : first, if there have been 

 cases of lead- poisoning caused by the use of canned foods con- 

 tam.inated with this metal, the medical profession would have, ere 

 this, published accounts of the cases ; second, the contrast be- 

 tween this metal and tin is so marked that the mere mention of the 

 facts will be convincing. 



" There is no doubt but that tin is frequently found in the arti- 

 cles preserved in vessels made of that metal. Especially so is 

 this the case with acid vegetables like tomatoes, and the tables 

 given show how often it has been revealed by the analyses just 

 concluded. This being the case, the question is naturally asked. Is 

 this metal poisonous, or are the quantities detected of any impor- 

 tance? Tin is commonly considered, next to iron, one of the most 



innocuous of the baser metals. Nearly all of our culinary vessels 

 are made of it, and their use is never followed by any ill results. 

 All the evidence regarding the effects of tin on the system is nega- 

 tive. There are no recorded cases of poisoning, and, in fact, no 

 mention is made in the authoritative works on toxicology of tin as 

 a dangerous metal. The only instances where poisonous proper- 

 ties have been claimed for tin are in the records of cases of adul- 

 teration of molasses by a certain salt of that metal. Such cases 

 were tried in the Massachusetts courts, but the evidence was not 

 conclusive. We may, then, accept the facts in this relation, and 

 state, that so far as scientific records now go, and so far as evi- 

 dence is recorded, the quantity and quality of tin as found in 

 canned foods are not injurious." 



Mr. Shippen Wallace, chemist of the Board of Health, says that 

 the fact cannot be too thoroughly impressed on the community, 

 that the present system of canning vegetables is of inestimable 

 value ; but the same rules should be followed which are made use 

 of with fresh vegetables in their use ; that is to say, if, on opening 

 a can, the contents are spoiled, act as one would with fresh vege- 

 tables under similar circumstances, — throw them away. This 

 done, there is no possible danger in their use ; but if not, the same 

 risk is run as would be in the use of spoiled fresh vegetables, only 

 to a greater extent. 



In examining canned asparagus, a large amount of tin was 

 found, and the interior of the can was invariably blackened. This 

 may come from the acid in the asparagus, or from some ingredients 

 used in the process of canning. From the results of the examina- 

 tion of asparagus packed in tin, it would seem to be demonstrated 

 that this vegetable should be put up in glass only, and that the use 

 of tin should be abandoned. Dr. Newton further says, that, of all 

 cases of sickness caused by eating canned goods, the cause has 

 always been found to have been that the contents were spoiled 

 when opened, or the can had been allowed to remain open for a 

 day or more before the contents were used. 



Of six samples of ground coffee examined, 8 were pure and 16 

 adulterated. The adulterants were roasted and ground peas, 

 beans, wheat, and chiccory. The examination of tea showed that 

 while there is no adulteration, there is a large amount of inferior 

 and debased tea used in New Jersey. 



Of 415 samples of drugs examined, 231 were found of inferior 

 quality. Of 95 samples of cream-of-tartar, but 46 were up to the 

 standard. Few articles are so commonly debased as this one. In 

 speaking of this. Dr. Newton says, — 



" The adulterations detected, in the greater number of debased 

 samples, were clearly intentional, and were not due to lack of care 

 in the methods of manufacture. An excess of tartrate or traces of 

 chloride may well be considered as due to want of skill, or lack of 

 care, in the maker ; but the presence of sulphates, phosphates, 

 alum, and flour can be accounted for in one way only, that is, they 

 were added for fraudulent purposes. 



" Several unique samples were examined. One, purchased at 

 Beverly, contained no cream-of-tartar, but was a mixture of flour, 

 acid phosphate of lime, and sulphate of lime ; another sample of 

 the same kind was sold to one of my agents at Cape May. A 

 sample was sold by a dealer at Pemberton that proved to be a 

 mixture of alum, phosphate of lime, and 64 per cent of cream-of- 

 tartar. Several were obtained in different parts of the State that 

 were adulterated with impure acid phosphate of lime. 



" The samples that were equal to the standard were, in at least 

 90 per cent of the cases, obtained from druggists, but many from 

 this source were badly debased. The impure cream-of-tartar ob- 

 tained in this State came largely from the Southern and Western 

 sections, and was sold to dealers by agents and jobbers from Phila- 

 delphia. There appears to be a certain relation between the fer- 

 tilizer trade in that city and the bogus cream-of-tartar business, 

 the connection probably being due to the trade in impure phos- 

 phates. 



" Two suits were instituted against dealers in the very impure 

 article, these being settled on the payment of costs, when the 

 dealer promised to return the adulterated article to the wholesale 

 dealer, and to sell only the pure article. Warning notices were 

 sent to all other dealers detected in selling adulterated cream-of- 

 tartar." 



