Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-06-13
From the Boston Post.
Death In the Pot--.ImpOrtant Facts A. 10 our
Daily Food.

haiit fOou
Mr.. Hillard. in his able and interesting
address before the College of Pharmacy,
alluded, among other physical causes OF
death, to the alarming prevalence of aduI-
teration. Everywhere" he well said,
" there Is death in the pot; our bread,
our butter. our -four, our. milk, our pickles,
are poisoned. and il Is one Of the chief tasks
Of the pharmacist to counteract the dele
teriOus effect Of the adulteration of food and
drink.
Bat the pharmacist Is not the only agent
Of relief; it Is yet more necessary that there
should be measures of prevention than
measures Of cure; and in the stern action
Of Government must be a principal medium
for attaining this end. The spirit of muir
der working in the very means of life - Is TO
be met henceforth in England by more
stringent laws than heretofore. Adult
teration of food and drink Is surely
one of the gigantic material evils OF
our time. and if We must have pa
ternal legislation, there i nothing TO
which it, and its police auxiliary, can be
more usefully directed. Developments are
constantly being made in regard TO the sub
stances that daily make their appearance
upon our tables, which should startle every
man and woman in the community into
AAzaIOA- AN-NII AA4a4A --AAAANN aAAdLh~s al
the more dangerous a. they are insidiOus,
against health. and in not few cases, the
very lie Of our household.
The spirit Of gain has become 50 rampant,
the commercial competition Is so sharp,
and especially among retail dealers, and
alllterati0n l. getting 10 be 50 much a
matter Of course in certain materials, that
even tJlerably honest men are becoming ac-
cuslomel 10 regard it either a. something
they mast do 20 keep pace with their
neighbor~. or rs a proceeding which does
nos tara out u be 30 dangerous after all.
N sanitary legislation or supervision IS
anything ike complete unless the prompt
exposure and stern punishment of adulter-
alton form foremost object.
Nor the evil confined to solid substances,
o. sugar and coffee. -four and meal. the
eyery-lay commodities Of the kitchen. The
wine ard spirits. the malt liquors and even
our cider. are. u use the poets short and
sharp expression. forged; and as a result,
be well exclaims. the vitriol madness
rl-le~ up in the ruihan' 5 head" The evils
Of drunkenness are rendered ten-fold more
teplorable by the poisonous admixtures in
tended 20 bring an Illicit profit, while the
use %: wines tOT sickness becomes dangerous
and Is quite a. likely 70 intensity a. 10 as
-lage the mGlady. Il i a singular fact
thar very few articles, Of either food or
drink. can be successfully adulterated
without the aid of actual poisons.
We might probably take a leaf from
English legislation in dealing with a crime
- readily committed and - sure and serious
in il effects. The new law Furnishes first
offence with fine Of fifty pounds. and a
second with an imprisonment with hard
labor for six months, while tie seller.
though not adulterator, of tempered goods
i fined twenty pounds for a first offence.
and fit Is repeated, Is published in the
at his own expense. Quite as
important a. are be penalties imposed Is
the system to be adopted of detecting adul-
terati0ns. The evil has grown to such pro-
portions that it may be mooted whether
special organization of experts may not he |
formed with advantage to the cheated and
poisoned community.