The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-05-04 00:00:00

TO MESSRS. ALLSONA AND SONS, BURTON. Wi-'ERENT,

GENILEIVEEN,—My attention has lately been repeatedly di.
rected to letters in The Times, Daily Nem, and other papers,
stating that as large quantities of strychnine—the principal
alkaloid of aux vongica—are imported into England from the
continent, they must necessarily be for the purpose of adulter-
ming pale ale, &c. for imparting to it bitter and astringent pro-
perties. The intensity of the bitterness of this alkaloid is such
that a watery solution, containing about a thirty-thousandth
of its weight of strychnine, is intensely bitter.'
How depraved must be the manufacturer who would dare in-
troduce such an energetic poison into his manufactory?—one-
eighth of a rain being sufficient to kill a dog, and a quarter of
a grain producing deadly effects upon a healthy man. It acts
upon the nervous system, producing tetanus. Medical works
state that, when it is injected into the vein.s in very small quan-
tities, death ensues; and in this,way the poisoned arrows of
the Javanese produced their extraordinary effects. Moreover,
why should this virulent poisorrbe used instead of hops, which
are cheap. and exhale a most delightful aroma? I and my
family have used your ales- for years, and with perfect confi-
dence in their purity; further I recommended your ale to an
invalid a few weeks back, for I know that pale ale when pre-
pared, as it must be in ;your factory, under scientific surveil-
lance, contains a large quantity of nutritious matter, and the
hop, by its tonic properties, gives a healthy tone to the
stomach.

Owing to the receui serious charges in the public prints, I
have carefully exanfined and analysed samples of your ales,
and find that they,flo not contain a particle of any injurious
substance. The ether day I went to your stores in Cook-street.
Mr. Henry Dan%on, your agent, kindly assisted me in taking
samples—one from a cask, No. 79,348,54 East India pale ale,
and the other from a cask No. 60,492,36 mild ale. I have also
examined and analysed your ale, taken from a cask in my cel-
lar, which was brewed some months ago, and before the strycli-
-"-- lien was agitated, and the results were similar to
vied from the ale in Mr. Danson's stores. If all the
fd is like that I have tested, the public need not be
Genuine pale ale, made from barley, hops, and pure
. .
overage, especially
from its freedom

s a very w

"reshiug

Dr inva

sojourners in ho

mates. Dr. Rowe justly remarks that the intense bitterness of
strychnine is easy of detection, to say nothing of its potent
effects upon the stomach and heart : for the extreme bitter-
ness could not be preserved without the combination of its de-
leterious properties. If you think this letter of any service,

you can make wnat use you think tit of it. Should yoh publish
it, I hope it may tend to ostracise all fear from the public mind
with regard to the absurd notion that strychnine is used to
adulterate beer.—Very respectfully,
(Signed) SHERIDAN MUSPRATT, F.R.S.G.,
Member of the Royal Irish Academy,
Member de la Societeti'liCottragentent.
College of Chemistry, Liverpool,
April 20, 1934,