i8 



SAMUEL RAE & CO. — LEGHORN, TUSCANY. 



Brown describes pepperette as ''a hard, tasteless, 

 woody substance, absolutely worthless, composed 

 ofground olive stones, imported into this country 

 from Italy and sold at id. per pound, lor the 

 -express purpose of being used for fraudulently 

 increasing the weight of pepper." When it is 

 borne in mind that pepper is sold wholesale 

 for about is. ^d. per pound, it is apparent that 

 the admixture with it of a foreign substance 

 costing only id. per pound must represent a 

 substantial profit to those who use it. It would 

 probably not be an exaggeration to say that 

 a pepper grinder in a considerable way of busi- 

 ness introducing fifteen percent, of the poivrette 

 into his manufacture would net 6,000/. a year 

 by the adulteration. It is not alleged that the 

 foreign ingredient is deleterious to health, but 

 ground olive stone is not pepper, and the person 

 who buys and pays for pepper at the price of 

 the genuine article is defrauded by the sophistica- 

 tion. It is on this ground that the prosecutions 

 have been instituted, and they have not been 

 ■without practical effect. It is now announced 

 that the manufacture of poivrette at Leghorn has 

 been discontinued, and that its importation into 

 England has ceased. It is not a little suggestive, 

 however, that it has just made its appearance in 

 America, and that there is an evident desire to 

 open the illegitimate trade on that side of the 

 Atlantic. 



How Olive Oil is Clarified. 



The first pressing of the olives, as we 

 haveseen, alone yields thefinest oil. But 

 this oil in its natural state, as it passes from 

 the grower's to the merchant's hands, 

 contains in suspension a variable quantity 

 of minute particles of the fruit as well 

 as some little water. In this state it is 

 cloudy and turbid, neither pleasingto the 

 eye nor in fit condition for keeping. New 

 oil must therefore be filtered, which is 

 done by passing it several times through 

 layers of carded cotton wool in a suita- 

 bly arranged apparatus. The raw cotton 

 must be absolutely free from any odor 

 and the oil uncongealed. During winter, 

 the season when most olive oil is pro- 

 duced, it is necessary to warm it gently, 



which is best effected in a pan with a 

 double bottom, or jacket, through which 

 steam circulates. Contact with fire is 

 thus avoided, and there is no danger of 

 overheating or cooking the oil, which 

 would spoil it. 



When perfectly bright and limpid, it 

 is pumped into covered tanks for storage ; 

 the best kind being of solid masonry 

 lined with hard marble or glazed tiles ; 

 these are made to hold as much as fifteen 

 thousand gallons each. In such tanks 

 the oil remains at an equable tempera- 

 ture, and during the hottest weather is 

 kept cool, which is an important con- 

 sideration. 



An Erroneous Idea. 



An erroneous idea is prevalent that fine 

 olive oil is the result of some refining 

 process which renders it fit for consump- 

 tion ; just as if common olive oil in the 

 hands of a skillful refiner" would de- 

 velop into a choice quality. This is an 

 absurdity. Fine oil is the product ob- 

 tained by pressing sound olives in a ra- 

 tional manner, as described. Its quality 

 is fixed, for good or bad, when it leaves 

 the oil press ; it cannot be improved by 

 any refining" ; but, of course, if not 

 properly filtered and stored, it may de- 

 teriorate. An eminent authority, Pro- 

 fessor Cuppari, of theUniversity of Pisa, 

 in his " Lessons on Agriculture," thus 

 expresses this ftict : ''Olive oil is not 

 likethe juice ofthe grape, whichrequires 

 a chemical process to transform the su- 

 gar it contains into alcohol in order that 

 it may become wine ; the oil is there, 

 ready made within the fruit, and the ut- 

 most that can be done is to extract it, 

 just as it is, bursting the cells within 

 which it is inclosed by crushing the 

 olives and then pressing them." 



