Quart&i-ly Repwts of the Chemical Committee, 1887. 309 
" January 15, 1887. 
" Messrs. Alfred Denniss & Co., 191 High Street, Hull. 
" Dear Sirs, — Mr. Wright, of Wollaton, informed me on December 
28, 1886, that he had sent to Messrs. Warhurst the whole of the corre- 
spondence that had passed between us, so that the latter gentlemen will be 
able to give you the fuU particulars. 
" At the same time, I will write to Mr. Wright and tell him he will be 
quite in order in giving you a copy of my analysis and remarks. — Yours 
faithfully, " "J. Augustos Voelcker." 
"Wm. Wright, Esq., Wollaton, Nottingham. "January 15, 1887. 
" Dear Sir, — I hear from Messrs. Denniss & Co. that they cannot 
obtain fi'om you a copy of my analysis and remarks on the cake. I beg to 
inform you that in cases of dispute, such as this, it would be quite in order 
for you to give Messrs. Denniss a copy of my analysis and remarks, and of 
my letter of December 1, explaining what the impurities were, and that I 
thought it onlj' fair that you should do this if they applied for it. — ^Yours 
faithfully, " J. Augustus Voelckee." 
"Alfred Denniss & Co., 191 High Street, Hull : 
" Dr. J. A.. Voelcker. January 17, 1887. 
" Dear Sir, — We are obliged by your letter, and have written Messrs. 
AN'arhurst to get us copy of your report and analysis. 
" In yours of December 1, to !Mr. Wright, you state you found cotton and 
niger-seed in the cake. Now, if the cake you have analysed is ours, you are 
in error in these respects, and we request you will have the goodness to 
inform Mr. W. of your mistake. 
" It is a by no means infrequent thing for analysts to ■wi'ongly describe the 
constituent seeds of an oil -cake. 
" You say ' the cake is by no means pure.'' Now we are not aware that 
the Royal Agricultui-al Society of England has a standard of purity for 
cakes, nor have you or your predecessor fixed a standard, therefore it is 
absurd to talk of a cake being pure or not 2nire. We believe the law vnW 
allow cakes made of linseed as imported to be called ' pure.' Are you 
aware that seed as imported contains from 5 to 50 per cent, of foreign matter 
other than line seeds ? What, therefore, becomes of your definition ? We 
object personally to pure on any cakes, as there is not an absolutely pure 
cake. The presence of 1 per cent, of impiu-ity in the seed destroys the 
principle of purity. In the finest cakes guaranteed 95 per cent, purity you 
admit by that guarantee the presence of five per cent, of impurity. The 
term ' pure ' therefore becomes a trade term of degree. The highest price 
* pure ' cakes, containing the highest percentage of purity, are the highest 
price, and as the price declines the percentage of purity declines. The cake, 
however, 30*. per ton less in price than 95 per cent, purity may be as well 
worth the money as the 95 per cent. 
" We blame the R.A.S. of E. for fixing no standard — after first consult- 
ing with the cake vendors and seed importers of the country, and also for 
not taking steps to have the food for cattle protected by a similar Act as 
that dealing with the adulteration of food for human beings. 
" The cake Mr. Wright received was a good useful cake, and no doubt 
bis stock did well on it, but it was not 95 per cent., being sold at 25s. and 
30s. below the price of 95 per cent. We enclose one of our trade circulars 
— showing that ' pure ' covers a range of value from 6/. 12s. Qd. to 8/. 5s. 
" We do what we can to induce buyers to buy the best cakes, but they 
will have what is the cheapest. Our prices are for dealers who retail out 
to consumers. 
