Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee. 327 
The Committee cannot help calling attention, as they have 
done before, to the numerous cases, of which several in the 
above report are examples, of the want of ordinary firmness and 
moral courage shown by those who, after putting the Society's 
consulting chemist and others to great trouble in correspondence, 
and in the investigation of the cases they bring forward, decline 
at the last to furnish the means of making them public, and of 
thereby enabling the Society to expose, as they desire, the 
nefarious dealings of which too many instances still come before 
them. 
December, 1879. 
1. A sample of nitrate of soda was sent on June 9th, 1879, by 
Mr. R. B. Stafford, of Bedford, which he had purchased of Mr. 
J. Brightman, Lower Staughton, St. Neots, who informed Mr. 
Stafford that he obtained the nitrate from Messrs. Hale and Co., 
of Colchester House, Anerley. 
On analysis this material yielded the following results : — 
Moisture 3-65 
Chloride of sodium (common salt) .. .. 56 "50 
Other impurities 1'50 
Pure nitrate of soda 38 • 35 
ICO -00 
The nitrate was bought at 13Z. 12s. Q>d. per ton, and, according 
to the purchaser's statement, was verbally guaranteed to contain 
92 per cent, of pure nitrate. It will be seen that the sample 
sent by Mr. Stafford was adulterated with more than half its 
weight of common salt, and, according to the price to be paid on 
the face of the guarantee, it was worth only 5/. 85. Qd. per ton. 
Reports of previous cases of samples of nitrate of soda stated to 
have been supplied by Messrs. Hale and Co. have already appeared 
in the Quarterly Reports of the Committee. In these it will be 
seen that Messrs. Hale and Co. repudiate all responsibility for 
anything done or said by or to their agents, never sell by analysis, 
and treat Dr. Voelcker's remarks with derision. 
2. Another sample of nitrate of soda was sent on July 8th by 
Mr. George Church, of Bedford, who purchased it from the same 
vendor, namely, Mr. J. Brightman, of Lower Staughton, St. 
Neots, the price paid being 14Z. per ton, with a verbal guarantee 
of 95 per cent, of pure nitrate. This sample, on analysis, gave 
the following results : — 
Moisture 3-30 
Chloride of sodium (common salt) .. .. 41-50 
Other impurities 1'25 
Pure nitrate of soda 53 • 95 
100-00 
