560 
Adulteration  of  Food. 
j  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    Dec.  1. 1871. 
to  resemble  fresh.  One  of  the  commonest  apologies  for  these  prac- 
tices is  that  the  public  prefer  the  adulterated  article  to  the  pure  ;  that 
for  instance,  pure  mustard  "will  not  sell."  This  allegation  is,  how- 
ever, hardly  a  fair  one,  as  the  pure  article  is  never  offered ;  and, 
doubtless,  if  the  pure  article  were  used  as  freely  as  the  ordinary  mix- 
ture, it  would  be  found  unexpectedly  pungent.  But  the  fallacy  of 
such  apologies  has  been  exposed  by  the  example  of  pickels,  which 
under  this  plea  used  to  be  invariably  colored  with  an  artificial  and 
frequently  poisonous  pigment.  The  public  eye  was  thus  educated  to 
expect  them  of  a  bright  green  ;  yet,  since  some  manufacturers  have 
exposed  the  fraud  and  sent  out  pure  pickles,  the  public  have  com- 
pletely turned  round,  and  avoid  any  which  show  an  unnatural  color. 
The  adulteration  of  bread  and  flour  with  alum,  to  make  them  look 
whiter  and  of  a  superior  quality,  has  to  some  extent  diminished  ;  but 
that  substance  is  often  replaced  by  the  still  worse  sulphate  of  copper, 
or  blue  vitriol,  which  was  recently  detected  in  sixteen  out  of  twenty 
loaves  tested.  In  this  case  the  public  has  been  led  to  suppose  that 
the  quality  of  bread  is  shown  by  its  whiteness,  whereas  by  taking  out 
the  bran  a  most  valuable  part  of  the  grain,  viz.,  its  azotised  or  flesh- 
forming  portion,  is  lost.  Less  dangerous  admixtures  are  those  of 
cheaper  flours,  such  as  barley,  rice  and  "  cones  "  (the  latter  made 
from  a  species  of  wheat  called  revet),  and  even  beans. 
The  adulteration  of  coffee  with  chicory,  though  so  well  understood, 
exists,  especially  in  poorer  neighborhoods,  to  an  extent  hardly  credi- 
ble. Out  of  forty-seven  samples,  eighteen  were  found  pure,  the  lowest 
price  of  which  was  Is.  4d.  per  lb. ;  of  the  rest,  most  were  half,  and 
some  were  wholly,  composed  of  chicory,  which,  being  worth  about  6d. 
per  lb.,  was  thus  sold  at  Is.  and  Is.  4d.  The  difference  can  be 
readily  detected  by  the  microscope,  the  cells  of  chicory  being  much 
larger,  and  the  cell  walls  much  thinner  than  those  of  coffee. 
Even  chicory  itself  is  much  adulterated  ;  out  of  fifty-seven  samples 
only  about  one-half  were  pure,  the  adulterants  being  roasted  wheat, 
acorns,  beans,  carrots  and  sawdust. 
Tea  is  less  subject  to  adulteration  than  many  articles  of  food  ;  such 
abominations  as  the  celebrated  Maloo  mixture,  consisting  of  old  used 
leaves  re-dried,  willow  leaves  and  twigs,  and  even  iron  filings,  have 
been  quickly  detected  and  refused  by  the  trade.  The  "facing," 
however,  of  green  tea  with  poisonous  coloring  matter  is  both  absurd 
and  harmful :  and  it  will  probably  be  continued  so  long  as  the  public 
