The Portland daily press., 1874-08-26
The AduIteratiOn of Food.

The AdulteratiOn of Food.
There are only a few people who persist in
disfguring themselves and at the same time
inoculating themselves, so to speak, with
apoplexy, paralysis and cerebro-spinal menin-
gifts, by saturating their craniums with hair
dye. But the poor stomach! How are its de-
fenseless coats tanned, dyed, excoriated and
burned by hot and caustic poisons! Poisons
mineral and poisons vegetable! Arsenic, an
timony, lead, copper and Prussian blue! Poi
sons in sugar and poisons in tea and poisons,
too, in the very staff Of life! Blue poisons and
red poisons, white poisons and, especially,
yellow and green poisons! Poisons for the
babe, poisons for childhood and poisons for
manhood! The doctors say that the ordin-
airy dose of Soothing syrup" for infants is at
least four times what they would commonly
regard as safe to prescribe. And as for tie
poisons especially prepared for the stomach
of childhood, under guise of sweatmeats, just
look at this: Specimen 81 was yellow gi-
raffe with black spots, under green palm
tree, on brown and green ground. The
yellow color was due to lead and anthony,
and the green, on analysis, showed the pres
ence of arsenic and copper. Four kinds of
mineral poison in this one piece of confection-
cry" This quotation is from a report just
published by Boston's new Board of Health,
which occupies itself, in part, very proftably
in securing the chemical analysis of provisions
and groceries. One would say very decidedly
that desire to avoid the murder of innocent
and defenseless human beings might well ex-
cuse precision and strict conformity to nature
in geological portraiture. But here is de-
mon confectioner who deliberately bellies ma
ture and wickedly introduces false and mis-
leading notions of natural history into the
brain at the same time that his rascally yeJ-
lolo giraffes .amble on their green ground into
the stomach, Butt the giraffes are not the
worst of it. Children might be taught to
avoid all animals of the cameleopard type, es-
pecially yellow ones on green ground, and
in general to look with suspicion on all sac
charine representations of animate nature.
But the same chemist from whom we have
quoted declares that it is safe to say that from
one-third to one-half of the, colored confec-
tionery sold, owes its color to injurious pig
ments, sometimes introduced in large quanti-
ties.
So much for childhood. But suppose
fortunate being to have wrestled successfully
with the soporific Soothing syrup" and con-
verified his stomach into amenagerie and min
eralogcal cabinet at the same time, without
permanent harm. His perils have in fact
but just begun. If one drink tea he takes his
life in his hand. The Boston chemist exam
ined eleven samples, only three of which were
unadulterated. Iron, sand, clay, exhausted
leaves, silica, steatite aid other foreign SUBJ
stances are freely admixed with the small
quantity of genuine tea. So far as ground
coffee is concerned, the adulteration is so uni
form, SO gross and SO notorious, that the
Board of Health seriously and gravely raises
the question of morals as to whether the gro
Ger is really guilty of deception who sells his
customer chicory, beans, peas and rye for
ssfine coffee" and superior coffeer' 1t is
great relief to have it authoritatively stated
that specimens of tea adulterated with mag
netic iron ore and 'lumps and filings of iron,'
and coffee adulterated with Venetian red are
hardly to be found in this part of the coun-
try. To get surely and speedily poisoned
with drink, one must resort to whiskey or
other spirituous beverages, the frank colloqui-
al designation of which as "fusel oil'' or ''pi-
zen' marks the popular appreciation of their
nature. But the Boston chemist declares
that outside ola little harmless coloring, he
r,1c f1a odr 81 or To-, G
the rarest occurrence in this country.
Among the articles mentioned by Mr.. Mer-
rick as peculiarly liable to adulteration, is
pepper, and among those from which danger
may be anticipated, are yeast powders and
canned fruits. The citric and malic acid of
the fruit is liable to dissolve the metal of
which the can is composed, especially after
the can is opened. 1t is desirable, therefore,
to empty the can of its contents as soon as it
is opened. We adj from sense of duty,
though the fact is hardly germane here, that
of twenty-five specimens of kerosene exam
ined, only two answered the requirements of
the 1902 Flashing test" The preparations
for purifying and rendering kerosene safe, sold
by pretentious itinerants, ARE of no effect what
ever, and. since they encourage carelessness
and ignorant security in the use of oils and
burning fluids, should be sedulously avoided.
Here we are, then, surrounded on all hands
by dangers which we can commonly neither
anticipate nor avoid. Science may gradually
open our eyes, and education and religion i'm
prove the public morals SO that poison will
not be daily fed to innocence and belnless
ness. Meanwhile it is some comfort to know
that these practicers of adulteration are eat
ing and drinking each others poisons. While
the confectioner is administering yellow gi-
rafles to the grocer's little boy, he himself
goes home every day to the feast of biting
acids and corroding and gripping minerals set
forth for him by the grocer.
ACCORDING to the correspondent of the