, 1885-08-26
PARTISAN FRAUDS.
OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION OF ADUL-
ITERATION OF FOOD AND DRINK.


w. tNHfA ny RAANOt NAlH = flNiA AiifIO
was in france u mo dc des fraudeurs. by
which ! think be meant to express The
idea that there Is over hero a lot OF poo.
PIE who avowedly live hy fraud and arc
none the less recognized b their fellow
citizens o. hat account. ust rs there are
circles which society rec gIi O. and
honurs under the names OF monde diplo
mat.quc. monde artist ne. etc But
there is also n monde dc fmudenrs which
lives and grows fat by the adulteration Of
things that we eat and drink. aud who
thus not only rob but poison their fellow
citizens Authorizations Of his sort were
practiced In france from the earliest
times, and In one Of his books fliny
vehemently condemns the wine merchants
Of Mnrseilles for their practice OF using
aloes to strengthen the weak stun they
shipped to the Roman market.
Since Ilinys day things ept on grow
Ing worse and worse until finally they
reached such a pass that II became noges
sary TO provide means for the protection
of the public who were being poisoned. 50
TO speak. on n wholesale scale by all that
they ate and drank. After several unsuc-
cessful attempts a municipal chemical
lnhratory was established, and operations
were begun In 1851. Since then it has
lone n world Of good. for every one has
the right to lake to ii q sample Of any
alimentary substance that he may pur.
chase and nave il Analysed.
There are Two kinds Of analyses-one a
-qual tative. I" absolutely g~ratuitous. the
other. n "quantiiative. - for which there
is a fixed fee Of s.. In the first case the
laboratory restricts It's report to tho
qua ity of the substance, that Il. to stat.
ing whether 1t is good or bad. and whether
IL is or is not in urious to the health. In
the second case this report is accomT anied
with Il statement of the various elements
out of which the substance analyzcd is
composed and the proportionate quaint
ties of each.
The modus opcrandi for procuring one
or tho other of these O cial certificates Is
thes same. All one has 10 do IS to take the
sample TO be Analysed to the nearest com
m~issionaire of police. who. safter taking
down the name and address of The person
from whom the article was urchased and
price Paid for 1t, gives n numbered receipt,
and the applicant Is told to call In a fort
night for the report. II the analysis is to
be merely qualitive, the receipt is printed
on White paper if you have paid your 10
francs for a quantitive analysis. you get
a pink receipt. The next morning the
prison van carries all the samples re-
ceived at each police station. along with
the rogues arrested over night, to the cen
hAaA ~ NAAA a. - AAll a u L
over to NJ. G.rard and his assistant chem
lists. WHO occupy Il large room at the back
end OF one of the courts of the prefecture.
/ ew people in / arts haye any idea of the
imme Sc amount Of work accomplished
In this laboratory. which is MOUNTED
in a complete manner Thirty chemists
are kept hard at work all day: twenty
charcoal Tres are glowing from morning
to night under innumerable retorts and
strange shaped vessels of all sizes Every
sample received Is examined that same
day, aud besides these the laboratory has
TO analyze q great many other things sent
in by the prefecture Of police. the ociroi.
the prisons. the hospitals. the military au-
thorities and the suburban municipalities.
A sample comes into the hands of the
expert c1mpanied by any other indi-
cation than a white or pink label, on
which is the same number borne by the
receipt held by the depositor. The
chemist not only does not know where il
came from. but is ignorant as to its
nature. His analysis completed. lie
C sters the result in a book. The heud
of the labcra DRY then makes out the re.
port OF the analysis. which is sent 10 the
commits ire Of police for delivery to the
deposition. and at the foot OF his report Is
printed the following note: ANY person
using the above for the purpose OF in ur-
ing the reputatii u of any one will be
gully Of The misdemeanor OF defama.
tiou. "
This is the end Of the matter If the
sample examined is all right, but If any
adulteration or fraud Of any kind has
been discovered in ii the head Of the
laboratory sends two inspectors to the
man from whom the article was pur-
chased by the deposition. There are forty
five Of these inspectors, and they are all
graduates Of a medical or pharmaceutical
college. or are siudents In their third
year, who have passed prior 20 their APP
pointmeut a special examination in chem
istry. They are all commissioner us com
missaires de police, and have authority 10
call in the assistance of the police in max
ing such searches as they may deem nee,
essary.
They rarely have occasion to resort to
extreme measures, for shopkeepers know
better than 10 make their case worse by a
useless resistance. and allow them TO
take pc session of the samples they are in
search of. that Is. the samples of all the
articles which seem TO them suspicious
looking tach sample is divided into two
equal parts. these are sealed u and signed
by both the commissioner in the presence
of the shopkeeper. who then adds his
signature. This dom they proceed 10 Il
summary test OF lnt suspected ARTICLES.
the result of which is recorded. and every.
thing that the propri jr Of the shop sees
fit to say in explanation is also taken
down in writing One of the two samples
thus obtained Is now carefully analysed
at the laboratory and the other is sent
with the report of this analysis to the cor
rectional police court.
Here the duties Of the laboratory come
TO m end; its head has no power 10 insti
tute criminal proceedings against the dis
honest shopkeeper; his role consists of in.
dicating TO the court that a misdemeanor
has, in his opinion. been committed and
in furnishing the evidence on which the
opinion is based. Unless the s~hopkecper
has made an avowal. the court now or
ders another analysis by its own experts
Of the samples seized and the case fol
lows the ordinary routine If finally con
yicted, the accused is punished by an i'm
prisonment OF from three months to two
years and a line which cannot exceed 600
francs. and a copy of the sentence Is
posted up on the door Of his shop