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New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 403 
3. If the copper were on the berries in the form of sulphate of 
copper, each pound of berries would contain about one-thirtieth 
of a grain of copper sulphate. When copper sulphate is pre- 
scribed by physicians as a tonic or astringent, the dose is from 
one-fourth to two-grains. Hence, if a person were to eat and 
swallow the grapeskins as well as the pulp of the berry, it would 
be necessary to eat from seven and one-half to sixty pounds of 
grapes, in.order to get a tonic dose of copper sulphate. Or, if one 
were to eat berries and stems, it would be necessary to eat from 
one and one-quarter to ten pounds, to get a tonic dose of copper 
sulphate. | 
To get an amount of copper that would be regarded as serious, 
if taken at one dose, one would need to eat not less than 3,000 
pounds of grapes, skins included, or not less than 500 pounds, 
including berries and stems; and it is safe to say, that if an 
attempt were made to get a dangerous dose of copper into the 
body in this way in a short time, a person would be in a danger- 
ous condition, many times, from the grapes alone, before running 
any risk from the copper. To state the matter in another way, if 
one were to eat, each day, one pound of these worst sprayed 
grapes, including the skins, and if all the copper taken in this 
way were to accumulate in the body, it would require over eight 
years to accumulate an amount of copper that would, if taken at 
one dose, be considered dangerous, not necessarily fatal. 
4, As a matter of fact, copper, when found upon sprayed grapes 
in New York State, exists, not in the form of a sulphate, but in 
the form of a carbonate or hydroxide, both of which forms are 
not readily soluble and which would, therefore, be even less 
dangerous than if present in the form of sulphate of copper. 
Most of the copper found was on the stems, which people do not 
eat; and the rest of the copper was on the outside of the skin of 
the berries, which most people do not eat. 
5. The results obtained from estimating by chemical analysis 
the amount of copper on grapes, which were selected as being 
the worst sprayed that could be found, therefore, seem to justify 
the assertion that it is simply an absolute impossibility for a per- 
son to get enough copper from eating grapes to exercise upon the 
‘health any injurious effect whatever. 
