78 ELEMENTS OF /IPPUED MICROSCOPY. 



8. Adulterants of Pepper. — Pepper is one of the most 

 commonly adulterated of spices, and may be found 

 mixed with a wide variety of substances. As in the case 

 of mustard, the ground hulls of the seed itself furnish a 

 frequent sophistication. The most general adulterant in 

 the United States is perhaps buckwheat-starch, which is 

 not easy to detect since it closely resembles that of the 

 pepper in shape and occurrence. The individual grains 

 are, however, about twice the size of the pepper-starch, 

 and the masses, as a rule, are also larger. In Germany 

 dried and ground bread is often used, as well as the bark 

 of trees, bran, sawdust, pulverized nut-shells, and hulls 

 of mustard, rape, peanut, linseed, or almonds. In France 

 and in this country ground olive-stones are a common 

 adulterant. They are made up principally of large fusi- 

 form stone-cells which resemble those of the pepper 

 except in their size and the fact that they are practically 

 colorless. The occurrence of any substance other than the 

 normal tissues of the pepper, and in particular of foreign, 

 starches and the elongated cells and tracheids characteris- 

 tic of plant-stems, will suggest the presence of some adul- 

 terant. 



In all these instances only careful comparison with a 

 series of known pure substances will enable the analyst 

 to determine certainly which of these foreign materials is 

 present. 



