New-York tribune., 1899-02-12
SODA-WATER IMPURITIES.
ADIJLTERATED SYRUPS AND UNCLEAN
FOUNTAINS A SOURCE OF DANGER

The present session OF the Legislature will per-
haps see a bill introduced relating to pure beer ana
be asked TO pass judgment on 1t. 1t may not oe
out OF place at this moment to suggest that the
rcope OF such bill be extended so as 10 comprise
all heveraees sold to be consumed by the public
There is no definite dividing line which may De
drawn between beverage and liquid 1000 such
as milk MIX IS already under sanitary control
and strict vigilance is kept so as 10 prevent adui-
teration Beer is partly food. containing the nu-
trtive principe OF barley malt combined with the
stimulating principle Of hops Alcohol. OF course
enters into the composition OF beer also. when
some authorities class food and others not.
The amount Of soda-water consumed in New
York City alone is enormous. The largest amount
Is sold in summer. Of course; the hot soda IN
winter does not seem TO be very popular II would
seem that the public had a right 10 know what il
drinks and be inquistive enough to hnd out "ha'
enters into the composition of the various syrups'
some Of which look so beautiful and are drawn
from an elegant fountain. with marble and silver.
in a splendidly fitted drug store.
Syrup havors the juices Of fruits or the odor-
Gus and palatabe principle OF the plant such az
vanilla and ginger. mixed with pure white sugar
and so served. But not always. Orange ana lem
on for instance often have not been near th"lr
namesakes They be and are so sKhluIN
mixed from the substances mentioned below as 10
deceive almost anybody.
LEMON AND ORANGE FLANORs.
Take a certain quantity Of oil Of lemon. dissolve
IN a small aroount OF alcohol add little tnctnre
OF soap-bark 60 give it foam when mixed WIN
soda -uatcr) small quantity OF cric or tart'ric
acid: mix all this with syrup Of white sugar ana
you have lemon syrup which Will deceive nine OUT
OF ten who taste H. Orange can be made IN 'he
same way If you substitute oil Of orange Tor the
oil OF lemon and add little coloring matter 10
give II a deeper shade than the lemon
The pharmaceutical chemist will Of course say
~ he is hired to defend the who mixes these
things that il is all right. that oil Of lemon ana
orange are taken from the fruits. ETC. that ci'rlc
acid is made from lemons. and that the small guam
tity Of alcohol. soap-barA tincture and coiorihg
matter is harmless This may all he true. Beer
can be made from mashed corn. but 1t Is not Wha'
Is originally known beer. Wine may he mace
by mixing certain synthetic chemicals hut II Il
not wine During the siege Of Paris in lHh the
Frenchmen made artificial milk from oils and fats
with white OF egg. perhaps almost as nutritious
but II not milk.
Neither is a syrup made in this way orange or
lemon Hot weather and moisture are trying TO
fruit syrups and New-York summers are prolihc
in both 1t is natural. therefore that man VINO
has certain knowledge Of antseptics. germcldeS
etc as a druggist should seek TO prevent the spoil
ing OF his syrups by skilful use of preservative
agents Those most commonly used are sancyHc
acid formaldehyde. boric acid 'either alone or IN
combination with borax) and alcohol
Here again II may be true that these things are
nerfectlv harmless but they hardly can appeal to
the public which. when it asks for Some GENEROUS
fruit syrup does like TO think that 1t is belhg
dosed with certain amounts OF these things which
NAV be useful as medicines but which ought not
70 find any place IN foods or beverages. Inc
Health Department II IT finds any of these Things
in milk Immediately condemns the entire lo' anu
the whole batch is thrown away. Why not lhNeS'-
gate and anayze some Of the soda-water beverages
CoLORING STRAWBERRY JUICE.
Strawberry juice rapidly loses its rich red color
Strawberry juice which must have been about
vear o,d has been known TO turn gray, with not
trace Of the original color left; also raspberry
Juice has turned a dark brown In these cases
the ingenious compounder OF syrups uses niue
magic On his shelf in bottle is little dead pug
which AT one time playfully capered around on a
osc,ue leaf in far-on Mexico until cruel native
came along took It Off dried 1t In the sun packed
Il in bag with thousands of its little playma'eS
and sent it to the great markets. II was 'hei
called cochineal by the wholesale druggist anu So'u
20 the retail druggist.
The druggist then makes a mixture OF acohol
and water and sleeps this little dead bug in 1t for
a time The bug not used to treatment. imme-
diately parts with large amount Of red col"flhs
matter which dissolves in the alcohol
A little OF this red liquid is added TO the straw
berry Juice before mentioned. and, presto it be
comes as rich red as If 1t had just been maze
from the strawberries picked in summer 'armine
and cudbear ar also used as red coloring agents.
A word about cream. Cream is the rich part or
milk that s It contains large amount OF the rat
OF milk This definition evidently not known
10 an uptown druggist in fashionable neignbor-
tain. consisted Of equal parts of condensed milk
and limewater limewater Is an eXceiont Lei1tuy dr
for sour stomach and preventive OF summer dldI
rhna but il can hardly be supposed that every
suffered from one Of the above complaints
sarsaparilla--the root is the drug used IN i meGi-
slight taste. II is used as an ate aneIauTY Ty @hG
popuary known as a I DOYId Puri'edd s drink iS not
quite clear. In al probability the syrup. which IS
Sficial in The United States Pharmacoppia. and
which contains SdrSaparlld. ICOiIct StHld 'ii ~
sassafras oil Of anise and oil Of wintergreen was
pifnsant IGipn drink drink With mild laxative and Alternative
As the drink became more popular II became & de-
sirabe to reduce the cost Of production. ms was
s9re Tbe sarsaparila. SIENNA and ncorice which give
the syrup that dark brown color arc now entireE
supplanted with caramel snga GPor ,S vaI A coa Soat
fisting OF a mixture OF the oils OF wintergreen.
dny when asking for sarsapariIla does not wish
have any drugs Ike SIENNA In It's drink II IS there
category II is neither medicine not cSSntanifng S fa
the drugs which the pharmacopria lays down 10,
g. nor is IL what the name implies. sarSapaIiId'
CONSTRUCTION OF FOUNTAINS.
In regard to the construction and interior Of
soda-water fountains many things ought to be bet
tered Many fountains keep their syrups In me-
tallic tanks This may and may not be dangerous.
At any rate. It would be safer and more sats-
,ac,orv 70 syrups were not kept in metallic tanks.
f,,t in separate bottles which be tightly corked
when not in use. and which should be kept oat OF
the soda foqnta9 e9de sng fountain makes it almost
;mpossible for anybody except professional
plumber properly TO clean It, The labyrinth OF
hines etc is bewildering 10 ayman. Fresh Ice
T. piled in on top every morning. This mels. the
water flows off and leaves behind a sediment OF
dirt which is always found in natural ice This
dirt consists OF partially decayed plant substances,
sand stones etc. This sediment gets between the
tnterstices Of the pipes and 10 disodge it Is by no
means an easy task. 1t Is natural TO suppose,
therefore that a fountain thus constructed cannot
be easily and often cleaned enough 10 prevent pos
sibe contamination Of the interior and unheaIthy
products ~, ..,.,. 60 >,..,,,,,o
one fountain which contained an aGdluonal ldhS
beneath the syrup-cOatainers. which was placei
there TO hold the ice-water dripping from above
economizng ice In that way. The Idea Is excellent:
hut the thing resembled too much a staGnant pool
which has circulation. as the warm water ran