SOCIETY OF PUBLIC ANALYSTS. Analyses of English Public Water Supplies in February, 1881.

Phosphoric
Acid.

2 mins. 4 hours)
at 80° at 80°
Fahr. Fahr.

All results are expressed in GRAINS PER GALLON.

OXYGEN,
Absorbed in

HARDNESS,
Clark's Scale,
in degrees.

Before After
Boiling. Boiling.

4.5° 17.40
18.90
3.0° 4.00
4.8° 6.03

.36

trace
1.26 h. traces
1.83 trace

0114 none 0018 none 0113 .5°
1610 0007 0119 0033 1299 14.4°
·0290 none

.5° 3.10
7.0°

20-44 veg. deb. amæbæ. diatms.

B. Dyer.

0084 0010 1680 10.4°

5.8° 15.54

moving organisms,
animal and vegetable
debris, sand, clay

H. Swete.

A. Dupré.

1.0° 57.96

Abbreviations:-0., clear; f., faint; h., heavy; p., pale; v. h., very heavy; v. s., very slight.

ERRATA.-In last month's table the Oxygen of the CROYDON water absorbed in 4 hours should have been 0130 instead of '0300.

REPORT ON DETERIORATIONS, ADULTERATIONS, AND SUBSTITUTIONS OF DRUGS,

RECENTLY

PRESENTED BY MR. C. LEWIS DIEHL TO THE AMERICAN NATIONAL BOARD OF HEALTH.—

National Board of Health Bulletin: Supplement No. 6.

Mr. Diehl does not give a re-assuring account of the purity of drugs in America. His report shows, amongst other adulteration, the following :—

ROOTS, ETO., ETC.

Aconite

Arnica

Hydrastis.

Sarsaparilla

Whole Pepper....
Peppercorns.............
Pepper of light weight..
Ground Pepper

Quinine

Santonin

......

ADULTERATION.

Exhausted (tasteless) dried root.

Only 10 to 50 per cent. of the true root.

Contained 50 per cent. beet root, serpentaria, sanguin

aria, and podophyllum.

Nutgalls, ipecac., matico stems, paper, bark, straw,
bay, belladonna, and digitalis leaves.

Acorns "turned into small globes and dyed.
Made up of oil cake, clay, and cayenne.
Macerated in brine to increase weight.

Pepper leaves, sage, rape seed, potato, spices, capsi-
cum, guinea pepper, chicory, size, laurel leaves,
olive stones, bone dust, dirt.

Finely picked cotton, salicine.

Mica, boracic acid 22 per cent., picric acid 100 per cent. (all p. a., no santonin).

Mr. Diehl mentions that there was till recently in Brussels "an extensive establishment for adulteration carried out with great skill."

Ships' biscuit seems to enter into the adulteration of many powdered and other drugs. Thus :

[The Editors are not responsible for the opinions of their Correspondents.]

LARD ADULTERATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF "THE ANALYST."

SIR, I am afraid "An Interested Chemist" did not notice the point of my letter, or else I did not make it sufficiently clear. I did not find fault with the lard having too high a melting point, but too low a one. In Wynter-Blyth's book, the melting point is said to vary from 107.6° to 113° F. I am perfectly aware that the lard is pressed to extract the oil, but that would not account for the melting point falling to 92°. Some lard that I prepared myself, and which had not been pressed, melted at 112.6°.

Again, granting, for the sake of argument, that pressed lard is better suited for culinary purposes,

the shop lards that I tried were decidedly inferior in this respect, for I purposely experimented with each in making pastry. The lard having the lowest melting point made the worst crust, it scarcely rose a bit, and was tough; whereas the pure article made a puff paste an inch thick. I have been told by a grocer in this town that the lard manufacturers melt down all the pig's fat. If so, it is wrong to call the product lard. It has no more right to bear that name than dripping has to be called suet. I think it probable that this may be the true explanation of the difficulty, since I find bacon fat melts at 90°, and I did not observe any marked differences in the proportions of soluble and insoluble acids. I am, &c.,

RUGBY, 12th Feb., 1881.

A. PERCY SMITH.

AMMONIA IN WATERS.

TO THE EDITOR OF "THE ANALYST."

SIR,-In the determination of free and albuminoid ammonia in waters, I have always had a difficulty with regard to the connection of the retort with the condenser. I had a large number of glass tubes made about 27-in. long, 1-in. bore one end and tapering to g-in. bore at the other end. The neck of the retort, wrapped with tin foil, I inserted in the condensing tube. These tubes were continually breaking on the slightest strain or bumping of the retort; besides, the steam inside the tube and the cold water on the outside had also a tendency to make the glass more liable to fracture. Again, the securing of the glass tube in the condensing box was difficult to contend with-indiarubber tubing, bound up carefully, would, after a little time split. At last I resolved to try condensing tubes of the above size, made of block or fine tin. They were made by Messrs. Johnson, Matthey & Co., and I have found them to answer admirably. The tubes are connected with the condensing box by means of solder, this doing away with any possible leakage. Before using them in water analysis, I found it necessary to steam them out; that is by connecting the retort and distilling off a litre or two of water through the tubes, the condenser being empty meanwhile. Any brother analyst, having the difficulties to contend with as I used to have, will find it advantageous to try the above. I may add, the condenser I used is a copper box about 18-in. long, 5-in. deep and 34-in. wide. This filled with water stands firmly on a stand made for it, the tin condenser passing obliquely through the box.

SWANSEA, Feb. 22nd, 1881.

ANALYSTS' REPORTS.

Yours faithfully,

W. MORGAN.

Mr. Alfred Stokes, Public Analyst for the parish of Paddington, in his report for the quarter ending December 25th, 1880, mentions a sample of milk which contained no less than 40 per cent. of added water, and a sample of whisky which was diluted with 76 per cent. of water.

At the Quarterly Meeting of the Bristol Town Council, recently held, Mr. F. W. Stoddart, Public Analyst, presented his report for the past quarter, in which he said he had received from the inspector and the public seventy-one samples of food, and of these he found twelve to be adulterated and one to be unfit for food. A sample of butter forwarded by one of the public was found to contain less fat than butter. Five samples of butter forwarded by the inspector were found to be genuine. Two samples of coffee and chicory, three samples of mustard farina, two samples of mustard, and two samples of coffee, all furnished by the inspector, were found to be genuine.—In a discussion which took place on a report of the Watch Committee, Mr. A. W. Warren said he wished to call attention to the article sold in shops under the name of butterine. It was sold largely retail in Bristol, and he saw in London notice was being taken of the article, and the public were protected from it. He thought the public should be protected in Bristol, and the Watch Committee ought to take steps relative to the sale, as the stuff was sold in enormous quantities. It was a combination of low fats treated in a chemical way and coloured with annatto: but there was no butter in it. The stuff was sold as butter, and he hoped that this and other articles, which were sold under other names than what they really should bear, would receive proper attention. Mr. H. G. Gardner, wholesale grocer, said he agreed with the statement that articles should not be sold under other names than what they really bore, but he would be sorry to see wholesome fat prohibited from being sold to poor people, as butter was at such a high price. Butterine was quite wholesome, and the only objection he had to it was when it was sold as butter; and he had as much objection to that as Mr. Warren could have. But, for goodness' sake, let it be sold! The fat was as wholesome as butter, and half the price.-Mr. A. Baker did not think they need discuss the merits of butter and butterine, but the attention of the Public Analyst should be called to all kinds of articles of

food, and not merely to one; let justice be meted out all round.—Mr. M. Whitwell said he had been in America and seen the whole process of making butterine, and, although it contained no butter, it was, he could say, an extremely wholesome article. It was made from the best fat that could be got, the stearine removed, and then churned with milk.-Mr. Cordeux said the attention of the analyst had been directed to other articles besides butter during the quarter. The discussion then dropped.

66

Butter or Butterine ?—

LAW REPORTS.

At the Aston Police Court, Birmingham, on Feb. 5th, before Messrs. A. Hill, J. D. Goodman, and J. T. Collins, William John Bryant, dairyman, of 160, Aston Road, Birmingham, was summoned by Benjamin Bolt, an inspector under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, for selling one pound of butter not of the nature, substance, and quality demanded by the purchaser. Mr. J. Ansell appeared for the prosecution. On the 10th ult. the inspector sent a youth into defendant's shop for a pound of tenpenny butter," with which he was supplied. The inspector then went into the shop and told the defendant that the butter would be analysed. The defendant's sister, who had served the butter, said it was not butter, but "butterine" or "oleine." In reply to Mr Buller, solicitor, who appeared for the defendant, prosecutor said he was not deceived, as he believed it was butterine or oleine. Mr. Buller for the defendant contended that as the actual purchaser did not state that the butter was bought for the purpose of analysis, the summons could not be supported. He also urged that there was no such an article as tenpenny butter," and that the lowest price for butter was 1s. 2d. per pound. The defendant was in the habit of placing a ticket on the article describing it as fine oleine, but on the morning in question the ticket was taken away to be cleaned. The magistrates considered the case proved, and fined the defendant 5s. and costs. Mr. Buller asked for a case on the point he had raised that the purchaser did not state the butter was for analysis, and the magistrate granted a case.

At West Bromwich Police Court, on Monday, Mr. Thomas Brady, grocer, Meeting Street, was charged with selling adulterated butter on the 17th inst. Mr. Topham appeared for the defendant. Alfred Toy, assistant inspector, stated that when he entered the defendant's shop he asked the daughter who was behind the counter, to sell him one pound of butter, which she did, and for which he paid 18. 2d. Mrs. Brady afterwards came in and said that she had the butter from Mr. Garratt, wholesale dealer, West Bromwich. The price of salt butter was now 1s. and upwards per pound. Mr. Horder, inspector under the Act, said that a sample of the butter had been sent to the analyst, who certified that it was a fictitious article, containing 8 per cent. of butter fat. For the defence it was stated that Toy went into the shop and asked Mrs. Brady for a pennyworth of milk, and while she went into the dairy to fetch it, Toy asked her daughter to supply him with that pound of butter" which was in the window. While the daughter was in the act of reaching the butter to Mr. Toy, Mrs. Brady came back with the milk, and said that it was not butter, but oleine, and that it was from Mr. Garratt, of West Bromwich. Toy said he supposed it was made at West Bromwich, and he therefore divided the article into three parts. The case was dismissed.

Constituents of Chemical Food for Infants :

Sheriff Balfour, of Glasgow, had before him, on the 10th inst., a case in which a grocer carrying on business in that city was charged with contravening Section 7 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875, he having on the 13th ult. sold a bottle of compound syrup of phosphates, or chemical food for infants, which was represented to contain, in every teaspoonful, two grains and a half phosphate of lime and one grain of iron, but which when analysed was found to contain only about a third of a grain of phosphate of lime and a quarter of a grain of iron. He was liable to a penalty of £20. The accused tendered a plea of guilty, and Mr. Bell, who appeared on his behalf, briefly addressed the Court. He pointed out that his client bought the bottles from a manufacturing chemist wholesale, and did not know the ingredients. He also mentioned that the difference in price between the "food" as sold and as it should be sold was only d. per lb. The Sheriff observed that the offence was not a serious one. His Lordship imposed a fine of £3.

Selling Diluted and Impoverished Milk:—

James Dearnley, milk dealer, of Almondbury Bank, Huddersfield, was charged with selling diluted and impoverished milk. Mr. Kirk, the sanitary inspector, said that on the 24th December he saw the defendant hawking milk in Moldgreen, and he instructed a person named William Beaumont to obtain from him a pint of milk. He obtained the milk, for which he paid twopence. He (Mr. Kirk) was in a position to hear what was said. As soon as Beaumont had paid for the milk he informed the defendant

that he had bought it for the sanitary inspector, whereupon the defendant said he was having him "on;" and asked him where Mr. Kirk was. He (Mr. Kirk) then went up to him, took hold of the milk, told him he was the sanitary inspector, that he had bought the milk for analysis, and asked him if he wished to retain a part of it. He had no sooner said that than the defendant seized him by the right arm, tried to upset the vessel containing the milk, and he so far succeeded that three parts of it were spilled; but there was a sufficient quantity retained for analytical purposes. Witness reminded him of the serious position in which he was placing himself, when the defendant said he was determined he should not have any of his milk. The milk was analysed, and the analyst's report showed that it contained 42 per cent. of added water, and it had also been deprived of 85 per cent. of its butter fat! Witness said it was one of the worst cases he had ever had; and Mr. Jarmain, the Borough Analyst, said he never before analysed so bad a sample. This, he said, took place when there was an outbreak of scarlet fever in the town, and when the patients were requiring a milk diet. The defendant said Mr. Kirk was exaggerating the case, and he was sorry it had arisen. The defendant said the milk was just as he got it from other farmers, but, on being pressed by the Bench for their names, he was unable to give one of them! The Chief Constable informed the Bench that in June, 1879, the defendant was fined £5 and costs for a similar offence, and Mr. Kirk added that in that case the whole of the cream had been removed. The defendant asked the Bench to be as merciful as possible. He was told that the case was a serious one, and he ought to sell good milk. He would be fined £10 and costs, and the Mayor said he richly deserved a heavier penalty.

NOTE OF THE MONTH.

The National Board of Health of the United States of America, which, at the present time, really seems to be doing a large amount of extremely useful work, has just issued the following notice, which clearly shows that the authorities on the other side of the Atlantic are becoming aware, like ourselves, of the great necessity there is for a uniform and systematic analysis of Public Water Supplies :

A careful study of the chief methods in use for the chemical examination of potable water, so far as organic matter is concerned, has been undertaken by order of the National Board of Health. It is particularly requested of the correspondents of the board, of medical men throughout the country, and of others interested in sanitary matters, that any well-marked case of disease which may seem on medical grounds fairly attributable to organic impurities in drinking water be promptly reported to Dr. J. W. Mallet, University of Virginia Post-office, Albemarle County, Virginia, with a few lines stating clearly the medical nature of the case, and the character of the evidence on which the water in question is suspected of having actually caused disease in persons who have used it.

It is further desired that a sample of each such water be forwarded for examination, but not until notice has been received from Dr. Mallet that the analysts are ready to proceed with it, since it is important that no useless delay should occur between the shipping of the sample and its investigation in the laboratory. In notifying any one who may be able to furnish specimens of suspected waters that may be forwarded, clear instructions will be sent as to the quantity of water required, and the mode of collecting, packing, and shipping it.

It is particularly desired that no case be presented on doubtful or vague evidence, since one important object of the inquiry demands that all such be rejected, and only those cases examined which involve the strongest grounds for believing that mischief has really been caused by organically foul drinking water.

The cost of packages and transportation for samples will be borne by the Board of Health.