ANALYSIS OF CREAM OF TARTAR. Plaster paris, acid phosphate of lime. Alum, starch, tartaric acid. Tartaric acid, plaster paris, starch. Tartaric acid, plaster paris, acid phosphate of lime, starch. Tartaric acid, plaster paris, acid phosphate of lime, starch. SUMMARY OF CREAM OF TARTAR. Of the thirty-nine samples, but ten were found to be pure. Since baking powders have become so extensively used comparatively little cream of tartar is employed by the housewife. It enters more largely into the composition of medicines, and therefore the more important that it should be pure so that the desired effect be brought about. Even public health is not of enough importance to restrain unprincipled manufacturers from plying their nefarious prac tice for gain. By consulting the above table the reader can determine at once the firms that handle adulterated stuffs. The table needs no explanation except that tartaric acid and starch are not injurious. Every one knows how indigestible is sand, lime and plaster paris. SYRUPS. Syrups, molasses, golden syrup, etc, are terms used to denote a sweet syrup produced in the manufacture of sugar and containing a mixture of sugar, partly cane and partly fruit, together with certain salts and impurities. Before the manufacture of glucose had attained its present proportions, the term molasses was understood to mean the vicid, brown, uncrystallizable syrup which is drained from the moist sugar during its formation and from sugar moulds in the refinery. At the present time the term means a mixture of molasses and glucose or glucose alone. The manner in which glucose is made and the fact that, considered as a sugar it is different from that made from the sugar cane, has caused it to be looked on with suspicion by the public. The question is often asked whether artificial glucose contains injurious compounds arising from the chemicals used in its manufacture or produced from the starch itself. The question is best answered by a description of the methods used in the manufacture of the article. Corn is found to be the best material for the manufacture of glucose, owing to its cheapness and high percentage of starch. In Europe potatoes are used for the same reason. After the starch is extracted the process of converting it into glucose is the same, although each manufacturer introduces slight modifications according to the grade of glucose to be produced. If corn is used as the source of starch, the following method is employed: The corn is steeped in water from 50 to 60 hours, the water being drawn off and a fresh supply added every ten hours. After steeping, the corn is thoroughly washed with clean water to rid it of all fermenting substances. While it is still wet it is ground by mill stones and the pasty mass is placed on sieves and washed. The starch passes through the sieves while the coarser parts including the albuminoids remain on the sieves. The starch which passes through the sieves is run into the settlers; cylinders ten feet in diameter and eight to ten feet high, and allowed to remain for four to six hours. After the starch is completely settled the water is run off as waste. The starch is then treated with a solution of caustic soda, to remove any remaining albuminoids, after which the mixture of starch and water is run into shallow vats and allowed to settle. It is then washed repeatedly to remove the alkali, the washing requiring about 60 hours. Fresh water is then added to the starch and it is drawn off into wooden converters. The temperature of the mixture is raised to 212° Fah., and to the starch paste from one and a half to two per cent. of sulphuric acid is added and the mixture boiled for about three hours. At the end of this time the starch has been converted into glucose and dissolved in the acid water. The acid solution now treated with marble dust or chalk which combines with the acid forming sulphate of lime. The lime salt being insoluble settles to the bottom of the tank, leaving the "sweet water" nearly neutral; to remove any traces of acid lime, cream is added till the test shows no acid reaction. The solution is allowed to stand for several hours until the sediment settles to the bottom. The clear liquid is drawn off and decolorized by being filtered through bone black. It is then concentrated to the desired degree by evaporation. If glucose in mass is required the syrup is concentrated to 40° or 42° Baume, is and after cooling run into barrels to solidify. When granular glucose is desired, it is evaporated to 32° Baume, and allowed to stand for 24 hours and cool as quickly as possible. The resulting syrup is placed in vats containing a small amount of sulphurous acid in solution to prevent fermentation. In about eight days crystallization begins and after two-thirds of the syrup has crystallized, the liquid is run off through holes in the bottom of the vat. The crystals are then dried. Besides glucose, these starch syrups contain as high as 40 per cent. of dextrine, together with ten to fifteen per cent. of maltose and fifteen per cent. of ash. The ash consists mostly of calcium sulphate which is left in syrup owing to incomplete purification. The glucose has a very extended use in the arts. Brewers and vinegar makers, as well as manufacturers of fancy sugars, sweetmeats, and preserves, use them in large quantities. Physiologically considered, glucose as found in the market is a good and wholesome food, and if it were sold as glucose no objection could be made to its use. But in being sold as a substitute for the sweeter and more valuable varieties of sugar, it is an adulterant. |