i6 



SAMUEL RAE & CO. — LEGHORN, TUSCANY» 



vato, or washed oil, is the name given 

 to this product. 



Or the sansa may be treated by the 

 sulphide of carbon process, which is car- 

 ried on at special factories. This chemi- 

 cal, in a fluid state, has a great affmity 

 for oil, and on mixing up a certain pro- 

 portion of it with the olive residue, any 

 oil present unites itself to the sulphide 

 of carbon . The compound is then trans- 

 ferred to a covered tank and heated up 

 to about 1 1 50 Fahr., when the sulphide 

 evaporates and is collected in a refriger- 

 ating vessel for further use, while the 

 oil remains behind. This oil is nearly 

 black and has the characteristic smell of 

 the chemical employed ; it is of less value 

 for industrial uses than the oil obtained 

 by the fruUino process. But this sys- 

 tem has the advantage over the latter of 

 extracting every particle of oil, the yield 

 of oil from the sansa by the sulphide 

 process averaging ten per cent., by 

 weight, of the material treated ; while 

 in the other way it is only about half as 

 much. 



Olive Stones. 



As for the debris of the olive stones, 

 it makes a good fuel ; and this was 

 supposed to be all it was fit for. But 

 recently a novel use for it has been dis- 

 covered by some smart and not too 

 scrupulous traders, namely, as an adul- 

 terant for ground pepper. Many tons of 

 this material pulverized have been ex- 

 ported from Italy, to England chiefly, 

 and undoubtedly for this very purpose. 

 The following extract from the London 

 Times, for Febuary 18, 1887, refers to 

 this illegitimate trade: 



Pepperette. — Numerous prosecutions, our 

 Liverpool correspondent writes, have recently 

 taken place in various towns in Lancashire for 

 the sale of adulterated pepper, and the magis- 



trates have inflicted fines varying in amount 

 from 20s. to 5/. and costs. The cases themselves 

 were of an ordinary character, and in most 

 instances it v/as proved that the retailer had 

 received the pepper as genuine from the whole- 

 sale grocer or the manufacturer, and that he had 

 sold it just as it came into his possession. That it 

 was adulterated to the extent of twelve or twenty 

 per cent., however, was proved beyond dispute, 

 and hence the convictions by the magistrates. 

 The investigation of these cases — in all there 

 have been about 370 of them — has brought to 

 light a curious revelation in connection with 

 the pepper trade. Some months ago the spice 

 grinders throughout England received a letter 

 from a firm in Leghorn offering to supply them, 

 at a low price, with an article which was de- 

 scribed as poivrette, or pepperette, for admixture 

 with pepper. It was obviously an adulterant, 

 and, possessing none of the qualities of genuine 

 pepper, could only be used for increasing the 

 bulk and weight of the condiment, and so aug- 

 menting the profits of those who resorted to its 

 use. A large quantity of this potvrette appears to 

 have been imported into London. The extent to 

 which the adulteration was carried is illustrated 

 by the fact that almost all samples of pepper 

 submitted to recent examination disclosed the 

 presence of this foreign ingredient. But for a 

 long time the true character of j?)0«'yr^//^ remained 

 a mystery. Under the microscope it had a close 

 resemblance to pepper in color, appearance, and 

 cells. It was hard and tasteless and was certain- 

 ly not pepper, but beyond the fact that it was a 

 dense ligneous substance, it baffled the skill of 

 the analysts. The mystery was at last cleared up 

 by Dr. Campbell Brown, public analyst for Lan- 

 cashire, by a curious inspiration, as he has him- 

 self explained. Numerous samples of pepper 

 adulterated by this ligneous substance were un- 

 der examination, and reflecting that olives were a 

 home product of Leghorn, he thought the stones 

 might be the adulterant. He had some olive 

 stones ground, and the whole problem was 

 solved. Poivrette wa.s simply and solely ground 

 olive stones, and the hint once being given, all 

 other analysts have confirmed the fact. It is need- 

 less to say that olive stones in Italy are use- 

 less refuse, and that they might readily be ground 

 and sent to England at a low price. This was 

 the trade that had sprung up at Leghorn, and 

 which English spice grinders were utilizing for 

 their own advantage. In his certificate produced 

 during the recent prosecutions Dr. Campbell 



