142 Journal of the Mitchell Society. [Dec. 



The jellying* quality may be imparted by starch paste, gelatin, 

 or agar-agar, a gelatinous material obtained from sea-weed. 

 These, of course, have no taste, but by adding a coloring mat- 

 ter and some flavoring- extract we have at once currant jelly, 

 grape jelly, or any kind whatsoever. Glucose is much used 

 for sweetening purposes, although it is' less sweet than cane 

 sugar, the ratio of sweetness being about three to five. In one 

 year the Connecticut station found twenty pure jellies and 

 forty-three adulterated, the first being home products, while 

 the adulterated were factory products. Jams also are not 

 always what they seem to be. A sample of strawberry jam 

 recently analyzed in Nebraska was found to consist mostly of 

 pumpkin, tinted with coal-tar dyes, preserved in benzoin, with 

 grass seed thrown in to make the jam look like the real thing. 



Honey in the comb probably cannot be adulterated except 

 by the bee itself, which seems to have a monopoly on capping 

 the cells. That the inventive American has made many at- 

 tempts to produce a machine which would do this work there 

 can be no doubt. Strained honey is readily adulterated, glu- 

 cose being, the usual adulterant. Sometimes only sufficient 

 real honey is added to impart a slight honey^ flavor. A glass 

 jar of glucose with pieces of honeycomb floating in the liquid 

 makes a beautiful deception and a very profitable one. 



Spices afford a very attractive field for the sophisticator. 

 Allspice has been found in some cases to contain as much as 

 85 per cent, wheat and nut shells. Cayenne is adulterated 

 with corn, wheat, ginger, and a red aniline dye. Cloves may 

 contain wheat, sawdust, charcoal, and factory sweepings. 

 Ginger is adulterated with wheat, rice, and pepper. Mustard 

 is liable to contain mustard hulls, corn, wheat, and rice some- 

 times to the extent of 90 per cent. Pepper is adulterated with 

 wheat, ginger, pepper shells, olive stones, and buckwheat, 



The labeling of food products is a matter of considerable 

 importance, because it is from the label that we usually get 

 our ideas of the character of the goods. Labels are wholly 

 deceptive. Such words as "high quality," -'high grade," "ex- 



