AD\pXi909arm'f     Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.  207 
do  with  their  quality,  or,  as  he  tersely  expressed  it,  formerly  foods 
were  produced  to  eat,  while  now  they  are  produced  to  sell.  Then 
the  qualities  sought  for  were  taste  or  flavor,  now  the  qualities  most 
looked  for  are  those  which  render  the  articles  valuable  commercially, 
such  as  appearance,  yield  of  product,  and  stability  in  transportation. 
It  was  stated  that  the  outlay  for  foods  in  the  United  States  is 
larger  than  that  for  any  other  commodity,  and  exclusive  of  the  cost 
of  liquors  amounts  to  $2,300,000,000  annually.  Foods  being  articles 
of  daily  consumption,  there  is  no  other  class  of  commodities,  accord- 
ing to  Professor  Cochran,  on  which  the  people  in  general  seek  so 
much  to  economize.  This  leads  to  a  demand  for  cheap  products,  and 
the  manufacturers  endeavor  to  meet  the  demand  by  adulteration  and 
substitution. 
The  speaker  then  gave  the  history  of  the  several  food  laws  of 
Pennsylvania,  including  the  oleomargarine  and  lard  bills,  and  the 
State  Food  Law  of  1895,  which  latter  he  said  was  an  excellent 
law,  and  all  of  which  were  passed  and  enforced  through  the  com- 
bined efforts  of  the  farmers  of  the  state  and  the  Farmers  and  Dairy 
Protective  Association.  That  is,  as  pointed  out,  these  lawTs  were 
promulgated  by  those  having  a  business  interest  in  the  products, 
rather  than  by  the  consumers,  and  this,  as  still  further  pointed  out, 
appears  to  have  been  a  conspicuous  feature  of  the  history  of  food 
legislation  in  this  country. 
The  statement  was  made  that  prior  to  about  1900  all  classes  of 
food  products  were  adulterated,  and  that  often  the  adulteration  was 
exceedingly  gross,  after  which  a  number  of  specific  instances  of 
adulteration  was  mentioned.  Of  65  samples  of  cream  of  tartar 
collected  at  one  time  for  examination,  62  were  adulterated.  With 
regard  to  spices  Dr.  Cochran  said  that  a  great  variety  of  adulterants 
were  used  together,  sometimes  including  as  much  as  25  per  cent,  of 
gypsum. 
In  concluding  his  address  Professor  Cochran  pointed  out  the 
fallacy  of  buying  cheap  adulterated  foods  on  the  ground  of  economy, 
and  then  spoke  deploringly  of  the  baneful  influence  on  the  employees 
of  the  practices  in  large  manufacturing  places  where  adulteration 
and  substitution  are  a  part  of  the  daily  routine  work.  F.  Y. 
