COPPER. 
835-] 
655 
Lehmann discusses the amount of copper which may be taken at a 
meal under the circumstances that everything eaten or drunk has been 
artificially coppered, but none “ coppered ” to the extent by which the 
presence of the metal could be betrayed by the taste ; and the following 
is, he thinks, possible :— 
300 c.c. of soup boiled in a copper vessel . . .20 mgrms. Cu. 
1 litre of wine which has been standing in a copper vessel 50 ,, 
50 c.c. vinegar which has been kept in a copper vessel . 10 „ 
50 grms. of fat which has been used for frying in a copper 
vessel ......... 5 „ 
200 grms. of strongly coppered peas .... 50 „ 
500 grms. of strongly coppered bread . . . .60 ,, 
The total amounts to 195 mgrms. of copper, which only slightly exceeds 
a high medicinal dose. The metal is tasted more easily in liquids, such 
as wine, than in bread ; bread may be coppered so that at a meal a 
person might eat 200 mrgms. of a copper compound without tasting it. 
It is pretty well accepted that cooking in clean bright copper vessels 
will not contaminate any ordinary food sufficiently to be injurious to 
health. 
§ 835. Copper in the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms and in 
Foods. —Copper is widely distributed in the vegetable kingdom, and is a 
constant constituent of the chief foods we consume : the following quan¬ 
tities, for example, have been separated from the chief cereals :— 
Wheat 
Rye . 
Oats . 
Barley 
Rice . 
Bread 
5-2 to 10-8 mgrms. per kilo. 
5 mgrms. „ 
8-5 „ 
H-8 „ 
1-6 
1*5 to 4-4 mrgms. „ 
It has also been found in vermicelli (2-10 mgrms. per kilo.), groats 
(1-6-3 mgrms. per kilo.), potatoes (1-8 mgrm. per kilo.), beans (2-11 
mgrms. per kilo.). In similar small quantities it has also been found in 
carrots, chicory, spinach, hazel-nuts, blackberries, peaches, pears, figs, 
plums, tamarinds, black pepper, and many other fruits and spices. The 
most common food which has a high copper content is cocoa, which con¬ 
tains from 12 mgrms. to 29 mgrms. per kilo., the highest amount of 
copper being in the outer husk ; copper has also been found in many 
supplies of drinking-water, in aerated waters, in brandies, wines, and 
many drugs. 
It has been calculated that the ordinary daily food of an average man 
contains the following :— 
Copper. 
. 0-45 mgrm. 
900 grms. bread . 
2C0 grms. meat . 
200 grms. fruit and vegetables 
0-95 mgrm. 
