1885.! 
and other Manufactured Articles. 
531 
or for colouring confectionery, foods, and drinks. Colour- 
boxes containing any of the above are to be labelled 
“ poisonous colours.” 
Holland has just passed a law which makes it a crime to 
sell any article of merchandise of a poisonous character with- 
out giving the purchaser full information’ as to its precise 
nature. If any article be sold without this notification the 
vendor is subjected to a fine not exceeding 300 florins, or 
imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months. Should 
death follow as a consequence of the sale, the seller is 
liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year if 
he were ignorant of its nature, and to various other terms — 
even for life — if he knew the nature and the probability of 
such a result. 
In France the use of poisonous colours is prohibited in 
articles of food, but as to others not intended for consumption 
no prohibition is in force, and the Government contents itself 
by the issue of a circular cautioning manufacturers of the 
responsibility they incur in case of poisoning, and their 
liability in consequence under the penal code. 
In Italy the sale of poisons is strictly regulated by law. 
The sanitary code of the Commune of Venice includes 
among its poisonous colours the juice of the phytolacca, 
much used in Portugal for colouring port wine. It forbids 
also the use of lead or copper in the manufacture of articles 
not tinned and polished, in utensils for the preperation of 
articles of food and drink. In pewter-pots and metal tea- 
pots not more than five per cent of lead or of antimony must 
enter into their composition. 
In Greece and in Roumania poisons are not allowed to be 
sold by other persons than registered chemists. The 
use of poisonous colours is prohibited in certain articles 
scheduled. In Servia the Government medical officers and 
analysts may at any time enter and inspect all places 
where poisons are used, manufactured, or sold ; and if fatal 
consequences ensue on a breach of the law, the offender is 
made amenable to the criminal courts. 
In Switzerland the Federal laws bearing on this subject 
are very variable. In some cantons the laws simply regu- 
late the sale of poisons. Geneva, Berne, St. Gall, and 
Zurich alone have very explicit legislation on the subject. 
In the first-named all poisonous colours, inorganic or vege- 
table, are prohibited in articles of food, in wall-papers, and 
fabrics of all kinds. 
In Berne, arsenic, aniline containing arsenic, and metallic 
colours generally are forbidden to be used in food, toys, 
