that by the amending Act of 1879 only a medical officer, constable, or other public officer could prosecute in these cases. Mr. Besley read the third section of the Act to that effect. The Act, he said, did not exist to allow the Association mentioned to find a raison d'être. The Association was admitted to be the prosecutors in this case, and they could not be. Moreover, they had tried by their witness Parish to force the defendant to join the Association and give his subscription under fear of prosecution. The defendant was examined, and his son, and other witnesses were called to prove that the milk was not adulterated at the farm, and railway servants, to prove that it was not tampered with on the journey. The defendant gave a description of the visit of witness Parish, and ended by saying that the Association had since made him an hon. member. The magistrate, Mr. Barstow, decided against Mr. Besley, on all his legal points, and finding the case proved, ordered the defendant to pay a penalty of £25, £5 of the amount to be costs. Notice of appeal was given. At the Northern Divisional Police Court, Dublin, Patrick Kean, of Newton, County Dublin, was charged with having "over-stocked a cow with milk, thereby causing it pain and suffering." Mr. Keely, a veterinary surgeon, deposed to having examined the cow, when he found that two of the teats had been plugged up artificially, so that milk could not flow through them. The greatest pain was caused to the animal in consequence of this. The Magistrate observed that this was a new method of procedure. The object was to keep the udder of the cow distended, so that it would fetch a higher price in the market, but the animal would be permanently injured. The defendant denied that he had used any instrument or adopted any means to plug the teats. He wished to have the case adjourned to afford him an opportunity of employing another veterinary surgeon to inspect the animal. The cow was in the police courtyard, and the Magistrate suggested that it should be milked in the presence of Mr. Keely to settle the question. The operation was accordingly performed in the presence of a large number of those who had been attending at the Court. Mr. Keely was examined, and deposed that milk had flowed through the teats, but only in the exercise of great pressure. He still remained of opinion that the animal had been tampered with in the way he had previously described. The defendant made repeated requests to give him an opportunity of procuring a veterinary surgeon, but the Magistrate considered that he had had sufficient time to procure a surgeon during the afternoon, and fined him 30s. Coffee and Chicory : Several grocers were summoned before the magistrates at Barnsley, recently, for selling adulterated coffee. The first case heard was that of Mr. Matthew Dickinson, grocer, of Birdwell, who was charged under the Food and Drugs Act with selling coffee which was not of the nature and substance it ought to be. Superintendent Sykes visited defendant's shop at Birdwell on the 21st inst., when he purchased four ounces of coffee, for which he paid 5d., at the same time telling defendant that it would be sent to the analyst. He left defendant a portion of it, and sent a third of that purchased to Mr. Allen, the Borough Analyst, at Sheffield, keeping the remaining portion himself. The analyst reported that the sample contained 40 per cent. of chicory, a mixture of which with coffee was objectionable. Defendant said he sold the coffee as he purchased it. The Bench said they hoped it would be a warning to other shopkeepers, who were getting immense profits by selling adulterated articles. Defendant was fined £2 and costs, in all £2 15s. 11d. Mr. William Heaton, also a grocer, of Birdwell, was charged with a similar offence. The same day Superintendent Sykes purchased four ounces of coffee for 3d. at defendant's shop, telling him for what purpose he required it. The analyst reported that the sample contained 50 per cent. of chicory. Defendant said he did not sell the coffee as being genuine, but as common, by which he meant that it was mixed. The Bench said genuine coffee could not be bought for the price, and fined defendant £2 and costs. NOTES OF THE MONTH. A quarterly meeting of the Birmingham and Midland Counties Grocers' Protection and Benevolent Association, reported in the Grocer, is characterized by a speech from the chairman protesting against the prosecution of persons for selling coffee mixed with chicory. In his remarks he brings up the case of a man who was actually fined for selling a mixture of 85 per cent. chicory and 15 per cent. coffee, and argues that because chicory is 8d., and coffee 1s. 8d. per pound, there was no fraud in selling this at 10d., especially as, in his opinion, good chicory is a better beverage than inferior coffee. We quite agree that it is no fraud to sell any mixture provided it is properly labelled as such, and the purchaser honestly informed before buying what he is getting; but then, some grocers would like to be able to mix, and yet not declare so. The next proposition-made by the same gentleman-was, that the Association should pay the fine of a member who had been mulct in £10 for selling butterine. This, he considered, a "most shameful fine," and urged that butterine was a good and wholesome article. So it may be; but was it sold in reply to a request for butter? We should like to hear this gentleman's opinion of a tailor who sold him cheap cloth trousers all wool, and then gave him a shoddy article which was innocent of coming direct from the sheep, although still wool being worked up from other materials as an imitation. Would he declare that such a wretch ought to be prosecuted, or would he sit down quietly and say, my own fault. I should have known the market price of spun wool, and that I could not get real cloth at the money?" The public cannot be expected to know the real value of everything, and the only way to protect them is to see that traders, who pretend to sell a particular article at a low price to attract custom, shall honestly sell the commodity they seem to do. "It was In making these remarks, we must not be held to insinuate that grocers, as a body, really desire to fall in with the views of such gentlemen; because, at the very same meeting we find three British tradesmen, to their honour and credit, speaking out in the cause of absolutely fair dealing as follows: Mr. BATT thought that butterine should be sold for what it really was—butterine, and not butter. Mr. COLE thought it unfortunate that grocers should bolster up a 10d. article, which many were doing at the present time. Mr. JEPHCOTT did not like to see an article passed off as a luxury which contained 90 per cont. of chicory. They had better sell the article as chicory flavoured with coffee. Bravo Messrs. Batt, Cole, and Jephcott! We hail your remarks as specimens of real blunt truth, and if we lived in your county we should say these are the sort of men to deal with. We hope that the Birmingham public and newspapers will notice such open dealing, and that the reward which ought to follow will come apace. Under the new Beer Duty Act the strengths of worts are to be expressed in terms of their specific gravities, and not in " lbs. per barrel." The Brewers' Guardian points out that no change need be made in the instruments used provided the " lbs. per barrel indicated is multiplied by 2.777 and 1,000 added, which will give specific gravity. So far as analysts are concerned, the doing away of an antiquated standard, and the substituting of a definite one actually capable of absolute verification by the balance is certainly a step in the right direction, and one reflecting credit on the chemical authorities of the Inland Revenue. CORRESPONDENCE.-We have received another letter from Mr. Edge on the subject of Milk Analysis, but we have no space to print it.-EDS. ADULTERATION OF DRUGS.-At a recent meeting of the Board of Guardians of Gorey Union, a resolution was adopted that, in future, all medicines supplied to the Union should be analysed by Dr. Cameron of Dublin. A similar resolution has been passed by the Newcastle Guardians, who have determined to have the contractor prosecuted if the drugs, on analysis, are found to be adulterated. Our Smyrna correspondent informs us that the Chio islanders ask exorbitant prices for their turpentine this year, they having discovered that a special medical demand has sprung up. SOCIETY OF PUBLIC ANALYSTS. The following gentlemen have been elected Members of this Society :-Dr. S. A. GOLDSCHMIDT, F.C.S., of New York; Dr. J. BLAKE WHITE, of New York. RECENT CHEMICAL PATENTS. The following specifications have been recently published, and can be obtained from the Great Seal Office, Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane, London. 1880 Name of Patentee. Title of Patent. Obtaining Glucose and Alcohol Apparatus for Generating and Utilizing Electricity Electric Lamps Machinery for Treating Dextrine, &c. Manufacture and Preparation of Starch Removing and Destroying Sewer Gases Dyeing Cotton Aniline Black Apparatus for Straining Paper Pulp Lamps for Electric Lighting.. Liquid for Scouring, &c. Electro and Dynamo Electric Machines Cane, &c. Spirits Apparatus for Saccharification Apparatus for Purifying Gas.. Red Colouring Matter.. Colouring Matters Purification of Alkaline Solutions Apparatus for Extracting Juices from Beetroot, Sugar Bleaching Straw Apparatus for Treating Beetroot Electric Lamps Anæsthetics Utilization of Electricity Coal Gas Purifying Oils.. Refrigerating Apparatus Softening Water 2d. 4d. 2d. 8d. 4d. 4d. 4d. 4d. 4d. 8d. 4d. 8d. 6d. 6d. 6d. 2d. 4d. 2d. 6d. 4d. 4d. Alum-Its Effects when introduced into Pastry, by J. West Knights, F.C.S.; The Chemist and Druggist; The Brewers'Guardian; The British Medical Journal; The Medical Press; The Pharmaceutical Journal; The Sanitary Record; The Miller; Journal of Applied Science; The Boston Journal of Chemistry; The Provisioner; The Practitioner; New Remedies; Proceedings of the American Chemical Society; Le Practicien; The Inventors' Record; New York Public Health; The Scientific American; Society of Arts Journal; Sanitary Engineer of New York; The Cowkeeper and Dairyman's Journal; The Chemists' Journal; Alcohol Tables, by Stevenson. THE ANALYST. NOVEMBER, 1880. 195 SOCIETY OF PUBLIC ANALYSTS. THE NEXT MEETING of this Society will be held at Burlington House, Piccadilly, on Wednesday, the 17th inst., at Eight o'clock. ON THE ESTIMATION OF PHOSPHORIC ACID IN POTABLE WATER. By J. WEST-KNIGHTS, F.C.S. 5 5 THE gravimetric method for the estimation of P,O, in potable waters, proposed by Otto Hehner, F.C.S. (THE ANALYST, vol. iv., p. 23, and vol. v., p. 135), is undoubtedly an excellent one, and, with ordinary care and precautions, furnishes very accurate results. But still, I doubt whether water analysts, as a body, will avail themselves of the advantages to be derived from a knowledge of the proportions of PO, in a sample of water, obtained by that method, in forming an opinion as to its fitness for drinking purposes, for the simple reason that the process requires more time and attention than can be given without extra charge for the analysis, and, as many of us who hold public appointments are bound to report upon water for a fixed fee, it is obvious that if we attempt the determination at all, it must be by a more simple method. The great accuracy with which minute quantities of substances in solution can be measured by depth of tint produced by re-agents, which, in more concentrated solutions, would have produced precipitates; or, in other words, the high tinctorial power of coloured substances that are very sparingly soluble is well known, and upon this fact the present method is based. If to a very dilute solution of a phosphate, molybdate of ammonia is added, and the mixture boiled, no precipitate is produced, but a bright yellow colour which varies in intensity, in proportion to the quantity of P2O, present. 5 To apply this to the estimation of phosphoric acid present in potable water, certain precautions are necessary. As silica gives a very intense yellow colour with the molybdate, it is obvious that that substance must be separated before titration, and as the quantity of nitric acid present has a great influence upon the intensity of colour produced, care must be taken always to have the same quantity in making the comparison. The process is conducted as follows: 50,425 grm. of crystallized non-effloresced sodic phosphate are dissolved in 1 litre of water; or, what is better, 50 c.c. of the standard solution of sodic phosphate that is used for the titration of uranic solution (Sutton's Volumetric Analysis, 3rd edition, p. 220), are diluted to1 litre. Each c.c. of this solution equals ⚫0001 gramme of P2O,. A neutral solution of molybdate of ammonia is made by dissolving about 75 grammes of that salt in 1 litre of water. 5° 70 c.c. of the sample of water are evaporated to dryness with HNO, and gently ignited to separate Sio,, the residue is then taken up with 1 c.c. of dilute HNO, (1:5) and boiling water, filtered, and the filtrate made up to 70 c.c. (the original volume). This is placed in a small beaker-capable of holding about 100 c.c., and put over the gas; as soon as ebullition has commenced, 1 c.c. of the molybdate solution is added, and the beaker placed on a sheet of white paper, the yellow colour observed, and imitated by using 70 c.c. of distilled water, 1 c.c. of the nitric acid, sufficient quantity of the phosphate solution, and 1 c.c. of the molybdate. The number of c.c. of the phosphate solution used divided by ten equals grains of P2O, per gallon. The process very much resembles nesslerizing, with the exception that the comparison must be made whilst the liquids are quite hot, as the colour fades considerably on cooling. 5 It will The degree of accuracy obtained by this method, would, of course, vary with the capability of the operator for observing slight difference in the depth of tints, but I do not think any. one would fail to observe a difference of 00005 grammes. When small quantities only are present, it is, of course, open to the analyst to concentrate the water to any convenient extent, in which case the accuracy of the estimation would be increased in like proportion. be readily acceded that such degree of accuracy is amply sufficient from a practical point of view; as I am sure no-one's opinion upon a water would be modified by a difference of ⚫00005 grammes of PO, in each estimation, when the total quantity present equals ten times that amount, as it always will, even in waters containing a very slight quantity, if a suitable degree of concentration has been obtained. The filter paper used must be washed with dilute nitric acid and boiling water before use, or a considerable error will be introduced. I have worked this process repeatedly, side by side with the gravimetric method of Hehner, with very satisfactory coincidence. 5 The following is a short table of results obtained by this method, most of which have been verified by the gravimetric method : : From the above table it will be seen that I have found far greater quantities of P0 than Mr. Hehner did, but this will no doubt be accounted for in the fact that my samples consisted chiefly of highly polluted shallow-well waters from the greensand, whilst his were (probably from deep wells) from the chalk formation, with the exception of those obtained from the Thames. 5 I shall not attempt to draw any lines between the quantities of P,O, present in "good," suspicious," and "plainly polluted" waters, for until further results have been obtained it would be impossible to do so; in the meantime, the estimation will certainly be of some value to those who take every item of a water analysis into consideration. 5 I have also applied this method to the estimation of P2O, in wine, beer, and milk, with good results. |