OFFICIAL INSPECTIONS 68. 5I 



sliowing the percenitages of arsenic, for instance, in the different 

 samples of lead arsenate might be misleading to the purchaser. 

 For there is no asauirance that in purchasing in 191 5 these per- 

 centages would hold. All that the consumer has the right to 

 expect is that the gooils conform to the claims made upon the 

 package. 



The object of the laboratory examimatioii is to see if the 

 goods are as claimed. A\d'ien the goods do not conform to the 

 claims o.r unlawfull}' gold in any way the facts are reported to 

 the State Department of Agriculture. The Department fully 

 investigates each case thus reported and takes the necessary 

 steps to protect the .public. Proiseoutions are made only when 

 other methods of correction fail. 



Arsenate of lead is sold in two forms — the paste and dry pow- 

 dered. The tabular results are given on pages 31 and 32. 



Lead arsenate paste is adulterated if it contains more than 50 

 per cent of water, if it contains less than 12.5 per cent of arsenic 

 oxide, if it contains more than 0.75 per cent arsenious oxide 

 soluble in water, or any substance has been mixed or packed 

 w^ith it so as to reduce or lower or injuriously effect its quality 

 or strength, provided, however, that extra water may be added 

 to lead arsenate if the resulting mixture is labeled "lead arse- 

 nate and water" with the percentage of extra water plainly and 

 correctly stated on the label. 



Five of the registered brands were not sampled by the in- 

 spectors in 1914. All of those that were sampled were up to 

 their claimed composition and were lawful in that particular. 

 It will be noted that several of them are short weight but that 

 in two instances they carried sufficient excess of lead and ar-senic 

 to oft'set the shortage in weight. 



There are no special requirements for the sale of dry pow- 

 dered arsenate of lead. It will be noted that in all of the samples 

 examined the composition was in accordance with the claims 

 made upon the label. One sample was found to be short weight, 

 but that had a sufficiently high composition to oft'set the slight 

 shortage in weight. 



The arsenate of sine preparations were all registered by the 

 Thomsen Chemical Company. Only one of them was sampled 

 and that was found to be seriously short weight, although its 

 composition was as claimed. 



