Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee. 
305 
No. 1. 
no. 
13 
Go 
. 13-40 
Oil 
10 
in) 
. 10-45 
*Albuniinous coiiipounds 
22" 
06 
24-01 
Mucilage, starcli, .nul digu.stibk 
i 3G 
J 
90 
. 34-93 
VVoody fibre (cellulose) 
9 
39 
. 8-81 
fMiueral matter (asli) 
7 
50 
8-40 
100 
00 
100-00 
*CoTitaining nitrogen 
3 
53 
8-84 
2 
90 
3'45 
These samples were reported hy Mr. Briggs to represent two 
lots of cake ; the No. 1 cake was marked " VV B pure," and 
No. 2, " T B pure." The VV B pure lot, of one ton, was sold to 
him by oil-cake merchants as pure linseed-cake at lOZ. 15s. a 
ton in Hull, less ten per cent, discount for cash in a month. 
The other was sold by other merchants to him at 9/. a ton as 
T B pure linseed-cake. Neither sample represents a pure linseed- 
cake. Both contained a good deal of starchy matter, which 
ought not to be present in pure linseed-cake, and also much 
more sand than ought to occur in pure linseed-cake. 
On receipt of my Report, Mr. Thomas Briggs communicated 
it to the respective vendors. 
The vendors of cake No. 1 appear to have forwarded the 
Report to the crushers, and in reply sent the purchaser the 
crushers' answer to themselves, as follows : — 
" Dear Sirs, — We are in receipt of your yesterday's letter, with enclosures 
referring to an analysis of linseed-cake sent by us on your order. 
" The cakes sent on the date you give were, so far as we can now judge, 
of the same quality as we were generally delivering to our orders at that, 
time ; if so, they gave satisfaction everywhere else, and we may mention that; 
a large consumer in the neighbourhood, who bought 25 tons shortly before 
that time, and had a sample of what we sent him analysed by Dr. Voelcker,, 
expressed himself as well satisfied with the result, and showed us the report, 
which was by no means on all fours with that you now send us. It seems to- 
us, therefore, that though we do not pretend to set up our quality as the 
highest standard of purity and excellence (which, at the price we charge, 
would be out of the question), it may have happened that your customer has 
scarcely done justice in the manner he has selected bis sample ; or if no 
complaint can be made on that score, then it must be that the small parcels 
sent him have, through some temporary carelessness of the workmen, not 
been manufactured with our usual attention to the details of our trade. 
" Do not, however, misunderstand us. We do not venture to set up (as we 
said before) our ideas as to a standard of purity in linseed-cakes on the same 
elevated pedestal as Dr. A'^oelcker. His duty doubtless is to aim at raising 
the standard all he can ; but no one is probably better aware than he that 
absolute purity is physically and commercially impracticable ; and if, there- 
fore, we produce an article which, made of fairly clean linseed, screened over 
and over again to free it from sand and impurity, and guaranteed free from 
VOL. XVII. — S. S. X 
