AFeb™aLvPi9iom'}        Sampling  of  Ground  Spices. 
just  the  reverse,  that  is,  low  in  crude  fibre  and  high  in  acid  insoluble 
ash,  due  to  the  sand  \Vorking  through  the  product. 
From  experience,  I  have  found  that  to  get  satisfactory  results 
from  ground  spices  packed  in  cartons  or  cans,  it  is  necessary  to 
procure  at  least  four  cartons  or  cans  of  the  same  kind,  to  empty 
the  contents  and  to  mix  them  thoroughly  together,  after  which  the 
samples  are  obtained  by  the  method  described  above ;  as  it  is  gener- 
ally unfair  to  pass  an  opinion  on  a  smaller  sample,  unless,  of  course, 
the  product  is  highly  adulterated,  in  which  case  the  adulterant 
could  readily  be  detected  by  aid  of  the  microscope  in  any  one 
package. 
The  same  method  of  sampling  gives  very  good  results  in  the 
cases  of  cinnamon  and  ginger,  although  aside  from  the  sand's 
working  to  the  bottom  the  separation  here  is  hardly  noticeable. 
With  spices  like  mace,  cloves  and  nutmegs,  which  contain  con- 
siderable oil,  the  sampling  is  much  easier.  I  have  found  by  going 
over  a  pile  of  the  finished  products  with  a  spatula,  taking  about 
2  mgs.  here  and  there,  shaking  up  a  little  with  a  scoop,  and  repeat- 
ing the  sampling  and  mixing  with  the  samples  thus  taken,  the  results 
obtained  are  good  duplicates  of  the  results  obtained  with  samples 
taken  by  the  first  method,  i.e.,  when  both  samples  have  been  taken 
from  the  same  material. 
The  samples  of  whole  spices  obtained  from  brokers  are  often 
very  misleading.  They  are,  as  a  rule,  very  clean.  On  one  occasion, 
the  broker's  sample  ran  something  like  1.75  per  cent,  acid  insoluble 
ash,  but  one  bale  of  the  material  after  grinding  and  being  sampled  by 
the  first  method  mentioned  ran  between  7  and  8  per  cent,  acid  insolu- 
ble ash.  On  sending  my  report  to  the  broker  he  declared  that  there 
was  some  mistake  and  desired  a  sample.  I  sent  him  about  fifteen 
pounds  of  the  whole  material  out  of  another  bale,  and  in  due  time 
he  offered  to  take  back  the  goods,  which  offer  was  immediately 
accepted.  I  should  say  that  these  bales  weighed  about  300  lbs.  each. 
I  merely  mention  this  to  show  the  necessity  of  taking  a  large  sample 
and  subdividing  it. 
In  mustard,  the  best  results  are  obtained  by  sampling  the  whole 
seed,  for  this  is  where  the  adulterant  is  found;  especially  is  this 
the  case  with  the  brown  seed.  The  sampling  is  done  with  an  ordi- 
nary coffee  sampler.  About  a  handful  of  the  seed  is  taken  from  each 
bag  and  examined  separately  under  a  strong  magnifying  glass.  The 
adulterants  here,  which  are  readily  detected,  are  chiefly  rape,  turnip, 
