The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1870-07-02
INTERESTING TO FRUIT CAN
NERS.
Vegetable Acids and Mineral Poisons
An Eastern paper saya:

An Eastern paper saga.
Our attention has been called to
this subject poison from tin cans
by anote of inquiry from lady
in Brooklyn, Miss Julia Coleman,
who has achieved considerable
popularity as a temperance lectur>
er, and has made the subjects Of
food and nutrition favorite stu
dy.
The queries she propounds are,
we think, of sufficient importance
to merit public attention, which,
once aroused to the subject, will
not, we trust, be content until
positive answer is obtained to the
query which forms the heading Of
the present article.
Tin has long been justly regar-
ded as one Of the metals from the
ordinary uses Of which mankind
have nothing to fear. But the
pres ent age is characterized by its
Fictitious limitations. That which
goes by the name of tinfoil is
mostly an alloy of tin and lead,
and it is charged that many of the
caps used for glass fruit jars are
made of zinc instead of tin. 1t is
well known also that lead is used
in soldering cans, and that this
metal is attacked by certain organ
ic acids, which are contained in
fruits. The tin of commerce is al
SO by no means pure, and house.
keepers will -vouch that the tin
cans are often attack d by these
acids, and eat through 50 as TO
leak their fluid contents. In the
case of impurities in the tin used
to coat the iron of the tin plates
of commerce, when the cans are
thus attacked, it may well be
doubted whether the cumulated eff
fects OF metallic poisoning do not
sometimes result from this cause
Oar correspondent writes as
follows:
so far as the evidence OF the
senses goes, housekeepers know
that cooking tomatoes in tin 'ru-
ms the basins as one good wo-
man said; and another admitted
that she commonly used up at
least one basin in season for
this purpose. How much injury
the partaker receives we do not
know, but so much has been said
Of the sad effects of metallic pois-
oning, even in small though long
continued doses, that we would
like to be assured of safety. Pro-
lessor Youmans thinks it small
matter, but | find that many II ed
zeal authorities disagree with him
One of the latter says: 1T ought
to be known to house keepers that
acid, fatty, saline, and even albu-
minous substances, may occasion
collie, vomiting, ETC., having re-
manned some time in tin vessels
we see that the inner surface
of the tin can is discolored after
having been used for fruit, and
we find that the flavors of the more
delicate fruits are injured when
they have been kept in tin caus, but
whether the acid acts after the ex-
pulsion of the free oxygen, or on
ly during the canning process,
we do not know.
Zinc is more readily oxidized
than tin, and yet the caps of some
Of our glass cans are made of that
substance.
Many, il not all the tin cans,
are freely soldered with load, AID
it seems inevitable that the usual
galvanic action must result when
they are filled with an ocid
Il have no desire to raise false
alarm; indeed, I should be much
gratified to learn that such use
of tin cans is perfectly safe, since
many depend on them for the can
ned fruit.
If the amount of tin that may
enter the system, as result of its
| domestic use, is not likely to prove
| injurious, the questions are mar
rowed down to the purity of the
article used and the actual results
Of using the various cans prepar-
/ ed for our market.
i had an opportunity recently
to make some inquiries Of Prof
Edwards, Of the 'Woman's Medi.
cal College of the New York In
Urinary and he said that the til
cans, as prepared, are very unsafe
that the acids dissolve the leat
solder, and sometimes eat through
the entire plate, making the cam
leak a new fact to me J, and sls'