Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-09-09

and tax 30 great - 10 hmouhs W ~
hibition shall be placed on tho foragn
sdultsrated article. 1t would be vel TO
remember that in purchasing mustard AZ
a grocery store the unadultsrhtea article
is at present, and has besn for the last
twenty years at least, very rare article.
This assertion is made with all due defer
ence for the enterprise and skill Of the
salesman who was in this city not long
ago. end who had with him test solu-
ton by which he could prove, apparently
to his own satisfaction, that his brand oil
mustard was pure and all other
brands we're adulterhted With him
orthodoxy, ia the mustard line, was
his do1y,' While heterodo1y was any
other mans doxy. About 40 to 30 per
cent. OF adulteration seems to be tho
limit in ground mustard, and when 1t IS
confined to the use Of corn starch, colored
with turmerie aud enough Cayenne pep
per or ginger TO give bite, 1t is not so
bad from sanitary standpoint while
iinseed meal "a an sdulterant begins to
be a little suspicious With all possible
respect for the desire which the Ameri-
can public is said TO show for
being humbugged, l think the
mustard adulterAtor should draw
the line at yellew ochrs, plaster-ot-
Paris, and sand, even if he does
extract part of the fixed oil from the mus
tard, and calls the mustard cake, with
some q the oil extracted, pure mus
tsrd. Some very nice samples Of yellow
ochre eau be obtained dirt cheap, espe-
cially when it is little too gritty to be
used for a paint. and | sunI,e that the
sand which, on analysis, has been found
in mustard could be traced 10 the ochre
1t is only "a unikilful manipulation that
will use plaster Of Paris as an adhlterant
when kaolin can be had for the digging
and the cost of transportation.
PEPPER.
The pepper of COMMERCE is furnished
by the Piper nigrum, or black-pepper
plant, which grows in TIE East and West
Indies. There arr TWO varieties of pep
per, known as "blssk ;" and "vks,e -"
pepper. and both are obtained from the
ssms plant. Black ground pepper is the
entire berry OF the plant reduced to
powder, while the white consists of the
came berry decUrticated or deprived Of
its outer black husk or covering.
The consumer of pepper can be
accommodated with an article adulte-
rated 70 any extent from 10 to 80 per
cent, and il be prefers to DO bis own
nduJtetstion, a New York "menufRc-
turer OF All kinds OF spice mixtures will
supply him with the requisite material,
while another New ork house will
make goods to order for wholesale
grocsrs and druggists" and furnish
"spice mixtures. From inquiry among
the trade in this city it would. seem that
the pepper mixture can be furnished at
from to 8 cents per pound, while pure
pepper will cost about Is cents per
pound. The United States Agricultural
Department chemists found bran,
roasted shells, corn, oracker-dust, char
coal, and fibrous matter in samples of
pepper.
SPICES. ETC.
The Agricultural Department did good
work last year i'll It's examination OF sdul-
teration in the limo of spices, and it is
to be hoped that ITS Investigations will be
continued. From the report published aS
result Of the chemical and microscopical
Investigations mede they have found
ground shells, yellow corn, and mineral
color In AllSplce rice tour, yellow
corn, turmeric, and mineral red in cay
enne ground shells, crackers, turmeric,
aud minerals in cAssia csssia, mustard
hulls, turmeric, minerals, cracker
dust, and burned shells IN cinnamon,
and cereals, turneric, mustad bulls,
and cayenne III glnger. From the re-
port OF Professor LStImsre on samples
Of commercial ground spices Examined
under tho New York State law, ont OF
u SAMPLES Of allsplce examined 10 we're
adultersted OF cinnamon lS out of p
SAMPLES were adulterhted, and 10 out OF
81 Of cloves. and 9 cut of Is OF ginger
1t is probably true. as q spice dealer ro-
marked to mo this week, that mort OF
the adulterants uted for spices sTe not
injurious to health, and it Is probably
just as true that the reputation OF the
spices trade, as a whole, Is very
much below par as far as pure
articles are concerned, much as the
act may be deprecated by some
OF the trade, who would gladly have it
otherwise. Perhaps it v7s not TOO much
TO assum0 that the public have some
rights which the trade should respect,
aud it would certainly seem that honest
dealing demands thst when an article is
called for tire ARTICLE oAHed for Should
be furnished, and not partial tpbati-
tute. If only few articles were ndulte-
rated, and those aduherations we're with
materials that, while inert, were net
positively injurious, there might be lit
tie cause for compliant; hut when
authorizations are general, and not always
confined to inert Substances, public
health demands some protection.