, 1888-10-10
OUR TRICKS OF TRADE.
THE CHEMIST THE MAGICIAN OF
THE PRESENT DAY.

Competition the Life of Trade, but Not
Always Beneficial to the Pubuc-The
Business of Adulteration systematically
Carried on-The Results.
In this era of universal enlightenment
the training Of the successful tradesmau
is much broader than that of his prede-
cessor of fifty years ago. The latter con-
sidered himself fully educated when he
was able to distinguish the quality of the
different grades of the various articles in
which he dealt, and as very few methods
of sophistication and adulteration were
known, his task was a comparatively easy
n With the merchant of the present
day, however, everything is different. He
can depend on his W Judgment only in
very few instances. He must know not
to undersell his competitors, but he
must be continually on his guard
to make sure that the articles
which he himself buys shall be Just
as represented. He may be a dealer in
woolens and buy his stock from the
deacon who passes the plate in church,
yet he never neglects to lave his samples
examined by an expert, and analysed if
necessary. But the strangest phase of
the whole matter is that, so universal has
the custom become, he does not consider
it any reflection on his neighbor to take
this course, and if he finds that the goods
are not as represented, he thinks none the
worse of him, after he has claimed and
secured his rebate. No branch of trade is
free from this sophistication, and as long
as the resulting article is not injurious to
the health of the people, we nave come to
accept it without a murmur, as an newt
able result of competition. With such a
state of affairs, it will readily be seen that
the merchant of Eye olden time" would
now stand a slim chance of success unless
he called in outside aid.
A NEW ADULTERATIoN.
The chemist is really the magician, who
today is sought by one party to develop d
new adulteration, and tomorrow is called
upon to analyze the article which he has
just succeeded in adulterating. His Ia
boratory becomes the confessional for
merchants of all degrees, and he must be
as silent and secret as the clergyman. But
his power is greater than the ecclesiastic,
who cannot read our thoughts, and who
may know only what we care to tell him.
But to the chemist all facts within his
province are accessible. If we are frank
with him, we can render easier the work
which we nave for him to do. If, how
ever, he has a suspicion that anything has
been withheld, he has but to make an
analysis and the whole secret is open to
him. In his realm he is king. He says
to the merchant, "Do thus, and the bust
ness man, realizing that his only way to
success is by following such injunctions,
does so, and is relieved for a time. Soon,
however, he learns that he is being under
sold, and once more has recourse to the
magician, who finds hat some brother
genius has stolen his charm, and it be-
comes necessary for him to c~onjure up a
more powerful one, only to have it,, in
time, again stolen.
The following incident, related by a dis
tinguished chemist, may be interesting,
as showing how systematically this bust
ness of adulteration is carried on. The
gentleman mentioned was recently con-
suited by q firm of oil dealers, who were
naturally anxious to learn how it was that
their competitor was always able to under
sell them, in face of the fact that the
chemist of their factory could not discover
any adQlteration in their rivals product.
On analysis, no foreign substance ap-
peared, and the consulting chemist was
forced to confess himself nonpluseG. In
the COURSE of conversation he happened to
mention, quite incidentally, that the only
impurity he had been able to find was a
trace of petroleum oil, which he had con-
sidered accidental. The oil dealer inquired
the amount of this oil present, and on
finding that it was about 81 per cent, i'm
mediately said that the problem was
solved. Two and a half per cent, he ex
planned, mad IN a barrel of forty gallons
a difference of one gallon, and, by extract
ing this quantity of an oil worth fifty
cents, and substituting a gallon of an in
ferior kind worth, say, ten cents, his rivol
had been enabled to draw away almost all
his trade.
DYES