363 
THE DETECTION OF ALUM IN BREAD. 
It appears from proceedings in the Cheltenham Police Court, that eighty-five samples 
of bread had been obtained for the purpose of being examined by the county analyst, 
Mr. Horsley, resulting in summonses being issued in five cases, two of which were with¬ 
drawn. 
The proceedings were taken under the 6th & 7th of William IV. 
Mr. Horsley attended, having all the appliances necessary for conducting the experi¬ 
ments before the Court. In the first case Mr. Horsley stated that he had applied the 
usual tests for the detection of alum, and found it present, though in a very small de¬ 
gree. He explained the two tests usually applied in such cases, and by means of 
diagrams and a practical experiment, exhibited the method and result to the magistrates. 
Mr. Marshall, who appeared for the defendant, was instructed to deny the addition of 
any alum whatever, or the use of “ baking powdertwo men in the employ of the 
defendant gave evidence to this effect. In reply to some observations addressed to the 
Court as to the manner in which these informations had been laid, Mr. Horsley said he 
had found alum in only three instances ; he at first thought it was in five, but the in¬ 
formations which had to he laid within forty-eight hours, were taken on the supposition 
that it was present. 
In the second case Mr. Horsley deposed to the presence of alum in a more appreciable 
quantity than in the previous case. 
The third case showed the presence of alum in much larger quantity than in either 
of the others; in fact, the use was admitted of a composition known as “ hards,” and 
this was shown by Mr. Horsley to consist of equal parts of alum and salt. The propor¬ 
tion of alum to the sack in the samples tested was about 6 oz. 
Mr. Marshall addressed the Bench, pointing out that it was not surprising that a 
countryman should unwittingly offend against an old Act of Parliament, some of the 
provisions of which were infringed every day. He also contended that Mr. Horsley’s 
tests were not reliable. However, the magistrates inflicted the mitigated fine of £o in 
each case. 
The solicitor in one of the above cases has written a letter to the ‘ Cheltenham Exa¬ 
miner,’ complaining of the manner in which the prosecutions were undertaken ; and with 
reference to the tests, states that he was prepared to contest their reliability for the detec¬ 
tion of alum in bread. He observes, “ the logwood test,” the one applied on this occasion, 
is unreliable. To quote from a letter of an eminent analytical chemist, “ I have no 
confidence in this test, as I believe that when applied to bread, it sometimes points to 
the presence of alum when no alum whatever has been added to the bread. The only 
trustworthy process is that of burning the bread down to ash, and examining the ash 
for the constituents of alum.” And this view is clearly endorsed by Mr. Horsley, who 
states, ‘Chemical News’ of December, 1861, and in June, 1863, “ That nothing short 
of incineration and subsequent treatment with an acid and tannin, will enable us to ex¬ 
tract pure alumina.” 
[The subject was fully discussed in this Journal, some years ago. See Vol. XVJ. 
p. 557, and Vol. XVII. p. 327 .—Ed. Pharm. Journ.J 
THE CARRIAGE OF PETROLEUM. 
The following letter from Francis Sutton, F.C.S., appeared in the ‘Times’ of Novem¬ 
ber 1st:— 
“ Sir,—Two letters have appeared in the ‘ Times ’ lately on the carriage or storage of 
petroleum. I do not happen to have the letters before me, but the second letter I know 
was from Dr. Benjamin Paul, So far as I can remember the tenour of the first letter, 
it suggested that many of the dangerous accidents which have occurred of late years 
have resulted from naphtha, and not from petroleum. To this suggestion Dr. Paul ap¬ 
parently agrees, and states his opinion that a considerable quantity of light petroleum 
spirit is conveyed under the guise of safe petroleum cil, and may thus have led to more 
accidents than the properly rectified petroleum would have done. As none of your 
scientific correspondents have undertaken to explain the matter more fully I venture, 
with your leave, to give a description of the various kinds of inflammable oils or spirits 
found in commerce, and which are often indiscriminately termed naphtha or petroleum. 
2 B 2 
