Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
July,  1890.  / 
Adulteration  of  Food. 
361 
we  wish  to  increase  strength  instead  of  heat,  and  where  any  irrita- 
ting and  indigestible  food-substances  are  forbidden.  It  requires 
longer  boiling  than  starchy  foods  in  general,  and  may  be  used  in 
the  form  of  thin  mucilage  or  demulcent,  or  in  a  more  solid  form  with 
sugar,  lemon  juice,  nutmeg  or  other  aromatics.  I  suspect  that,  as 
physicians,  we  should  make  immense  gain  in  restoring  from  pros- 
trating sicknesses  by  using  more  of  this  eligible  substance  in  place 
of  so  much  meat  slops,  and  especially  so  in  cases  complicated  with 
more  or  less  gastric  irritation.  Meat  foods  must  be  excluded  from 
the  stomach  in  gastric  ulcer.  Why  not,  then,  fall  back  upon  this 
highly  nitrogenous  food  for  supporting  the  strength  ?  Having  so 
large  a  proportion  of  gluten  over  the  starch,  it  offers  immense 
advantages  over  wheaten  and  other  bread  in  cases  of  diabetes 
where  any  starch  at  all  is  allowable. —  The  Times  and  Register,  April 
5,  p.  318. 
ADULTERATION  OF  FOOD.1 
In  his  annual  address,  delivered  Jan.  23,  1 890,  before  the  Chemi- 
cal Society  of  Washington,  the  retiring  President,  Mr.  Edgar 
Richards,  said  that,  from  want  of  reliable  information  in  regard  to 
the  materials  employed  in  most  new  food  products,  there  is  a 
general  feeling  of  uncertainty  and  insecurity  on  the  subject.  Peo- 
ple, as  a  rule,  imagine  that  any  substance  used  as  an  adulterant  of, 
or  a  substitute  for,  a  food  product  is  to  be  avoided  as  itself  being 
injurious  to  health;  and  when  they  hear  that  a  certain  food  is  adul- 
terated, or  is  a  food  substitute,  there  is  immediately  a  prejudice 
excited  against  the  article,  which  it  takes  time  and  familiarity  to 
allay.  A  moment's  reflection  ought  to  show  that  it  would  be 
directly  contrary  to  the  food  manufacturer's  interest  to  add  to,  or 
substitute  anything  for,  a  food  product  which  would  cause  injurious 
symptoms,  as  in  that  case  his  means  of  gain  would  be  cut  off  by  the 
refusal  of  consumers  to  buy  his  product.  It  is  true  that  the 
unscrupulous  manufacturer  or  dealer  does  not  hesitate  to  cheat  his 
customer  in  the  interest  of  his  own  pecuniary  profit  and  gain,  but 
he  does  not  want  to  poison  him.  Where,  through  carelessness  or 
ignorance,  injurious  substances,  such  as  the  arsenic,  copper,  aniline, 
and  other  metallic  and  organic  poisonous  salts  sometimes  used  for 
Science,  Feb.  7.  Reprinted  from  Med.  and  Surg.  Rep.,  June  14. 
