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cheaper flours, such as barley, rice, and “ cones” (the latter 
made from a species of wheat called revet), and even beans. 
The adulteration of coffee with chicory, though so well 
understood, exists, especially in poorer neighbourhoods, to an 
extent hardly credible. Out of 47 samples, 18 were found 
pure, the lowest price of which was Is. 4d. per lb. ; of the 
the rest, most were half, and some were wholly, composed 
of chicory, which being worth about Gd. per lb., was thus sold 
at Is. and Is. 4d. The difference can be readily detected by 
the microscope, the cells of chicory being much larger, and 
the cell walls much thinner, than those of coffee. 
Even chicory itself is much adulterated; out of 57 
samples only about one-half were pure, the adulterants 
being roasted wheat, acorns, beans, carrots, and sawdust. 
Tea is less subject to adulteration than many articles of 
food; such abominations as the celebrated Maloo mixture, 
consisting of old used leaves redried, willow leaves and 
twigs, and even iron filings, have been quickly detected and 
refused by the trade. The “ facing,” however, of green tea, 
with poisonous coloring matter, is both absurd and harm- 
ful : and it will probably be continued so long as the public 
are content to accept such a palpable imposture as “ genuine 
green.” 
It is a matter of opinion whether cocoa as ordinarily sold 
is to be considered an adulterated, or a manufactured, article. 
It is seldom sold pure and alone ; being usually mixed with 
starch and sugar — the term “ pure cocoa” is therefore in 
most cases intended to mislead. Some kinds have lard or 
suet admixed, and to others red ochre is added to bring up 
the colour, rendered pale by an excessive quantity of starch. 
The relative quantities of these component parts in any 
sample of cocoa may be readily ascertained by the microscope; 
that of starch may be roughly seen by shaking up some of 
the cocoa with water in a test tube or tall bottle, breaking 
up the lumps and then allowing all to settle ; when the 
