The Sun.
London, England, 1840-05-22 00:00:00

ADULTERATION OF SOAP.

TO THE EDITOR OF 7'HE SUN.
Ste,--Now that the Cnancellor of the Exchequer has
made a demand upon the public of a shilling in the pound
upon all duties arising from the Customs and Excise, iris to
be hoped that he will make some effort to protect the pub-
lic from the numerous frauds practis 41 in the manuf•c-
ture of sonic exciseable articles. In no instance is
this imposition carried on to a greater Extent
than in the manufacture of soap, Spanish clay,
silica (pulverised flint), water, &c., are brought
into requisition for this purpose. But in the manufac-
ture of soap intended for home consumption, water
forms the principal item of adulteration, being least
liable to detection by those unacquainted with the
processof making soap. I shall briefly explain the modes
operandi in this case. When the soap, whilst in a liquid
state, is being removed from the boiler to the frame,
water, heated to a corresponding temperature, is gra-
dually added, in proportions varying from five to forty-
five per cent., to suit the conscience or cupidity of the
trader. Notwithstanding the untiring efforts of those
engaged in the trade (some of whom have had practi-
cal chemists employed for years) to discover the " Phi-
losopher's Stone" which was to transmute pounded flint
and pipeclay into oil and tallow, pure soap can be
made of nothing but tallow, fat, or oil, or of whatever is
of a greasy or oily nature. I shall not occupy your
valuable space with a description of the method of '
making soap, which, as it is a chemical process,
would be uninteresting and unintelligible to ordinary
readers, but beg to refer those who are cu-
rious in such matters to " A Copy of the Report
to the Honourable Commissioners of Excise, on the spe-
cific gravity of Snap, by Professor Thompson, of Glas-
gow, ordered by the House of Commons to be printed.
April 13th, 1840." By the by, there is one circum-
stance connected with this system of adulteration, of
which the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as field-marshal
olthe whole corps of Revenue offlens,shoUld be reminded,
viz., that water, when mixed ith'srp,llmust necessarily
displace a corresponding quatwitit
import duty upon the tallow that t oughtot otw ,6 whereby the
is, or may be, considered lost ; andanyoZtecisoemolfiinceedr,
occupied in charging the duty upon soap, can inform
him that water not unfrcquently composes one-fourth
of the yePow soap at present ninnufactured. Now,
it must seem strange to simpleminded people, that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, with these facts st •
him in the face, should have introduced a Soap Billannonwg
before the House of Commons, leaving it discretionary
with the soap-makers to adulterate or not, and giving in-
fset,r.autcet(,
iioniseah%o,inwirtothce public to suffer all the evils result-
harge the duty upon soap when adul-
in, from a fraucdulent and flagitious system. As there
has been so much time and attention bestowed by the
House of Commons upon matters comparatively unim-
portant,
perhaps same of the Liberal Members would
take watching the further progress of this
Bill, tahaile troofucbale of
calling
the attention
ionf
aPgilliamwhenietht,oastbaet
pressing
opmreissesniotneaonfsaiiipartoehdi,bitwooryuldclpaeurspeetaaie
an
evil
heavily upon all, but particularly the poor.
Monday, May 18, 1840.

D. W.

The Baron Fleurteloup, who has been in St.
Petersburg during the last six months, on a special mission,
has just arrived in England.