Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-09-09
ADULTERATI0NS.
SUBSTITUTES IN vfHRGAp, MUSTARD,
PEPPER, AID SPICES.
How Articles Of Daily Use Ars Made to
Initiate the Trus Thipg--teid for Vine
Rsr-Ysllew ochrs for Mustard.

MT 0hlihIn y. IODfY, n chemist OF
national reputation and for years State
Chemist for Maryland, writes as follows
in the Baltimore Sun.
When the juice OF apples or Of grapes
is allowed TO remain ut rest at q mode
rate temperature, say coz to 80 Fahren-
heit, chemical change takes place
which lie called fermentation. and the re-
sGlting products OF this change ore the
formation of carbopic acid gas, which
escapes. and alcohol, which remains in
the liquid. This process is called vinous
fermentation. II now this vinous fer
mentation is allowed 10 continue in tho
apple or grape juice till no more alcohol
can be found, aud the liquid is
still allowed to remain at rest at
about the same temperature, another
chemical change will commence. and
the liquid, which wss sweet TO the taste
before. will now begin TO turn sour and
continue to become more and more sour
as long "a this second change continues.
/ This secood change is called the acetic
fermentation, and the alcohol that was
/ formed during the first fermentation is
converted into scetic acid, and tue wine
or cider is converted into vinegar. The
/ liquid which ren4ins IL rscked or drawn
of. and is then known AZ wine or cider
vinegar, according rs it Was formed from
grape or apple Jnsoe. There N no other
way Of making vine or cider vinegar, and
there is no other product than that
made from grave or RPpie juice
by fermentation 10 which the name
wine or CIDER vinegar should be
applied. TIE acid priuciple Ill each
OF theee kinds Of vinegar u the satne-
VIZ, ncetic acid-but the other organic
constituents OF each Juice giVe flavor
which is sufficiently Characteristic 70 en-
able the vinegar TO 10 recognized by
taste and Odor. These, however, were
the vine9ars of our grsndfsthers, and
v,th little searching some genuine lots
can even yst be found but not over one
tenth OF all tic vinegar used in the
whole United States 10 either vine or
cider vinegar. 1t matters not how tbs
barrel is vhethes be ftuit vine
gar, or vhito wine vinegar, or even fro
Guently genuine cider vinegar-you
have nine chances out Of ten, rs far rs
quantity is concerned, Of obtaining
as vinegar an article which has proba-
blv no other claim to be called cNdsr
vinegar than the fact that it was distillet
in some State in which thore were APP
pie trees. When you do come ACROSS a
lot Of cider or VINO vinegar you need
hardly bother yourself abcut its being
adulterated, at least with the Old-ftyle
aduteranis Probably you vii not get
the vinegar full natural strength. Unclo
Samuel taxes imported vinegar on the
basis Of an amount OF acid which will
ncutralize thirty five grains Of crystal
| lied bicarbonnte OF potash per troy
ounce of vinegar. and although the arti-
Gle may be stripped OF full strength to
save freight, yet as every grein Of
strength over thitty-fve has been paid
for extra You need not grumble if the
local dealer will add water to bring the
strength down to thirty-fye.
There was an article In the market 3
! few years ago that WAS called a vine
vinegar. and was labelled as having been
made from pure grape-j juice, aud there
were such superabundsnce OF nicely
colored picture grapes on the label that
nobody but a hard-hearted chemist
would think of saying that IT was not
made from real, genuine California or
! Concord grapes. Then, TOO. the drum
mcrs we're such good takers, and the
price. Just to introduce it. you know, was
/ so low. But. aiss, Notwithstanding
the label. the drummers, ana the
price. the stuff was made from
glucose, and had a liberal dose Of
sulphuric acid. As far as bannhing
this class of stuff from the market.
the Government did wise thing IN
1879 in allowing alcohol TO be made free
from tax, provided no condensing coil
was used fcr the distillate. 1t Is from
this lov-wine process that nine tenths OF
the vinegar ROW sold IN the United
States is now made When | say low
wine process, do not understand me ns
uneaning that even & single solitary grape
is even used in the process. Not ct eli.
You get your vinegar by this process
from corn. though any grain capable Of
being fsrmented will do. and some Of
this so-called white-wine vinegar that
had been made from potatoes has
been imported into this country.
The grain by this process IS fer
mented. and the alcohol distilled
over into an open veSsel, after which
the alchohol is oIydized and thus con
vertsd into scotic acid. The trade call
the product vinegar, whIte-vine vinegar,
or eeniuine white wine vinegar White
it certainly il, except when artltcnAy
colored with caIEnel or molaesss, but 1t
would certainly he . lass deceptive name
TO the general public ii it were called
low-wine vinegar, for thon the name
would have significance IN conhedls-
tinction to tie term high vines OF the
! liouor-deaIor. Still there Is nothing IN
the name in this case except simple,
plain Aostic acid, which Is one OF
| the constituents Of q vine or cider vine
gar, and when the purchaser I'M
! derstands this be cannot say that he ls
defrauded. These gram vinegsrs, while
perhaps not Is acceptable on the table,
are lust ~ effective IN she pickle jar, aud,
/ it is elsimed, give even nicer results but
/ as they are not wine yinegars, Dor cider
ylneears. nor even fruit vineears, they
! should not be sold rs such. evsn II they arc
! not injurious to health The tredo is now
solerably well informed as to the source
| from which their white-wine vneSarS, 80
called, are obtained. but the consumer
who sees q barrel branded genuine
white-vine vinegar" will be very
slow to believe that the liquid
drawn from the barrel never saw grape,
aud contains only Que OF the constituents
/ that will be found in VINE or cider vine
ear-yiz., acetic acid-and even that has
boen manufactured from corn or some
other grain, or from black strap molasses,
or even from potatoes The name
"white-wine vinegar" is mlsnoner'
and such O misnomer as does ac1uAlly
deceive the consumer and Interfere with
the sale Of real vine or cider vinegar. as
appears from the fact that wholesale
dealer in a city OF nearly half million
inhabitants, sold only sixty barrels OF
genuine cider vinegar in three years, al
though he made every effort to dispose
| of the small lot at fair price.
MUSTARD.
When the books speak OF mustard, or