203 
NOTES ON LEMON-JUICE AND ITS DECOMPOSITION. 
BY W. W. STODDART, F.G.S. 
The long-continued separation which a sailor afloat endures from all that 
is fresh and varied in his food, especially from that of a vegetable nature, 
has always been known to be productive of disease. 
For many years the physician has known that the free use of fresh vege¬ 
tables, or a sufficient quantity of the juice contained in the hesperidia of 
lemons (Citrus Limonum), or of limes (Citrus Limetta), will speedily ensure a 
cure of the unfortunate patient. 
The two latter, from their easy preservation and portability, have been a 
sine qua non with sailors,—so much so, that the marine authorities have or¬ 
dered every ship to have in its stores a quantity proportionate to the crew. 
In this respect as in many others, poor Jack has been grossly victimized by 
the rascality of dishonest dealers; probably I should not be far from the 
mark, if I said that half the liquid sold as lemon or lime-juice has been a 
mineral rather than vegetable production. A modern author coolly informs 
us that an artificial solution of sulphuric acid is more agreeable to the nau¬ 
tical palate than the true juice ! 
As long ago as 1795, the Admiralty issued orders that ships should carry a 
supply of lime or lemon-juice, but ever since that time this well-meant regu¬ 
lation has been rendered null and void by the wretched trash that has been 
bought and sold. An immense quantity of lime and lemon-juice being re¬ 
quired in the market, and the supply to a certain extent limited, the mosi 
abominable and fraudulent adulterations have cruelly been the rule instead 
of the exception, and many times a genuine sample could not be bought at 
any price. The Board of Trade, being aware of this, wisely resolved to pass, 
in the present year, “ The Shipping Act.” 
This compels the mate of every foreign-going ship to provide so much lime 
or lemon-juice, that each man may have at least one ounce per diem, so soon 
as the vessel has been ten days at sea. That for forty men, 1 gallon should 
be kept; for sixty, 2 gallons, and so on. It goes on to summarily forbid 
every captain to take on board any lime or lemon-juice that has not been 
passed by an officer appointed by the Board for that purpose. It is to be 
tested for gum, sugar, citric acid, and general freedom from adulteration. It 
is to have a specific gravity of not less than L030, and not less than 30 grs. 
of citric acid per ounce, and to have a proper taste, colour, odour, and con¬ 
sistence. The consternation among the merchants holding large quantities 
of lemon-juice may easily be imagined, for although the Board of Trade had 
given considerable latitude in their requirements, yet hardly any in the 
market would stand the tests, and pass the examining officer. Not an ounce 
of genuine juice was to be bought in Liverpool, Birmingham, or Bristol. 
This then being the case, naturally led to a great many analyses of samples 
from various quarters. The author was thus attracted to the present subject 
by the wide discrepancy between the result of his experiments, and the in¬ 
formation published in our best books. 
For instance, Pereira gives an analysis of lemon-juice by Proust, showing 
that it contained 1*77 per cent, of citric acid, or about 10 grains per ounce. 
The specific gravity is not mentioned. It is surprising that the statement 
should have been introduced into the last edition of that work. In our ex¬ 
cellent ‘British Pharmacopoeia ,' freshly pressed lemon-juice is said to have an 
average specific gravity of P039, and an average quantity of 325 grains of 
citric acid per ounce. These two do not agree; the specific gravity is too 
p 2 
