8 



the maunfacture of an article of food so extensively used and likely to 

 come into still more common use that there exists but slight possibility 

 of the deterioration of the nutritive value of the product by the addi- 

 tion, incidentally or otherwise, of any foreign substance. 



In the report of the dairy commissioner of New Jersey for 1890 occurs 

 an article on dried apples by Professor Cornwall, of Princeton. Pro- 

 fessor Cornwall analyzed 1 8 samples of dried apples x^urchased from 

 dealers in various parts of New Jersey. Of this number 4 contained no 

 zinc, in 2 traces of zinc w^ere found, and in the other 12 were separated 

 weighable quantities thereof. The largest percentage found was 0.18, 

 and the smallest 0.002. In only one case out of the 18 is the amount 

 of zinc sufficient to cause any suspicion. In the other cases, where zinc 

 was present at all, its quantity was insignificant and wholly incapable 

 of i^roducing any poisonous effect whatever upon the organism. 



Cornwall, in quoting from Lattimore's report (Report of the Dairy 

 Commissioner of the State of New Jersey for 1889, p. 46), states that 

 the apples in the process described by Lattimore are dried in an atmos- 

 phere of sulphurous acid derived from burning sulphur, the fruit being 

 spread on screens of galvanized iron wire. This statement, however, 

 does injustice to Lattimore's report, as will be seen further along. 



SULPHURING APPLES — OBJECT. 



While inspecting the processes used in the evaporation of apples in 

 the principal factories in northwestern New York, in the autumn of 

 1895, it was observed that sulphuring in every instance was accom- 

 plished by exposing the apple, after the removal of the skin and core, 

 to the action of the fumes of burning sulphur. The apples during this 

 process are held on wooden trays, and in no observed case were they 

 sliced before the suli^huring process. It is often stated that tlie sul- 

 phuring is accomplished after the apples have been sliced and placed 

 upon the galvanized iron trays. If this ever was the custom, it has been 

 abolished, and there seems to be no i^ossibility from the manner in 

 which the sulphuring is now accomplished of the i^rocess contributing 

 in any way to increasing the amount of zinc present. The object of the 

 sulphuring is twofold, hi the first place, it prevents the darkening of 

 the freshly-cut surface of the fruit. By reason of the oxidizing effects 

 of the air the freshly cut surfaces of apples soon turn brown. The sul- 

 phuring prevents this and preserves the natural color of the fruit for a 

 considerable period when exposed to the air. It might be supposed 

 that the sulphuring of the whole apples before slicing would not be suffi- 

 cient to i)reserve the fresh color of the surfaces after slicing. During 

 the short time to which the ai^ples are exposed to the fumes of burning 

 sulphur, not exceeding, as a rule, half an hour, it might be supposed 

 that the action of the sulphurous acid would be wholly superficial. 

 Nevertheless, experience has shown that this method of procedure is 

 quite sufficient to preserve the natural color of the slices and to pre- 



