1906.] Adulteration of Feeding Stuffs. 



53 



meal was boiled in water for one hour, and the result showed 

 that boiling cannot be regarded as a safeguard. 



A quantitative analysis of the Java meal revealed the fact 

 that in each pound of meal there were nine maximum doses oi 

 prussic acid for an adult. 



In a paper on the poisonous properties of these beans sub- 

 mitted to the French Academy of Science by M. Guignard,* it 

 is mentioned that in March, 1905, a consignment of " Feves de 

 Kratok " arrived at Rotterdam which was composed of one or 

 more varieties of PJiaseolus lunatus, and that four persons were 

 poisoned by these beans. In November and December last, 

 beans of the same description, sold as " Java " beans, were the 

 cause of numerous losses among horses, cattle, and pigs in 

 Hanover. More recently still some dozen cases of poisoning 

 have been reported from Belgium among animals fed on the 

 beans or on the bean meal, which in the majority of instances 

 had been cooked. Beans of this character have also been 

 offered for sale in France at Paris, Lyons, and Marseilles. 



Two prosecutions have recently been undertaken by the 

 Herefordshire County Council under the provisions of the 

 Fertilizers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1893. 



Adulteration instance a substance described on 



01 



Feeding* Stuffs, the invoice and on the label as "best pea- 

 meal " was analyzed and found to be largely 

 adulterated with fine sharps or with a similar finely ground offal 

 from wheat. There was a deficiency in albuminous compounds, 

 which are an important element in pea-meal, and it was con- 

 sideied that not more than one-half the sample was pure pea- 

 meal. A fine of ;^I5, including costs, was imposed. 



The second instance dealt with the sale of a substance invoiced 

 as " white maize meal," which on analysis proved to consist of 

 only two-thirds genuine maize, the remainder being rice husks 

 which were worthless for feeding purposes. It was deficient in 

 albuminoids, and contained a great excess of indigestible woody 

 fibre. A feature of the defence in this case was that the 

 description on the invoice was a clerical error, and that the meal 



♦ Comptes Rendu<^ 5ih March, 190^. 



