Evening star., 1902-01-25
The Divergent Fields Explored by the
Official Chemist.
EFFORTS 10 PREVENT SUBSTITUTION
American Made Wines Take Many
Prizes in Paris.
TALK WITH DR.. WILEY

An Indication of the wide range of Agri-
! cultural Department activity could have
been obtained in the office of the official
chemist of the department several days
ago, when DR.. II. w. Wiley looked up
from his desk to talk with a representa-
tive of The Star on some features Of his
work during the past year. In one corner
of hts office were several stalks of sugar
cane. A bottle of Georgia syrup served
as paper weight Unopened cans of meat
and meat extracts were ranged in a row
on the window sill. The floor was a store
house for small bottles of wines elders
and other fermented beverages. The gem
eral view was that of ''jobbers or
wholesale Office and it bespoke a field of
interests much larger than that of any
wholesale business in the United States
Preserved foods and American wines
have occupied the men of this burehu
good many months, this past year." said
Dr. Wiley casting his eye over the meat
cans and the wine bottles. Next year we
snail extend our examinations and special
ize, but for the past ten months or we
have burrowed into the whole field of those
two commodities with the most practical
results.
We devoted ourselves chiefly to pre-
served meats, especially the canned meats
of various kinds and the delicatessen of
animal origin kept in high grade grocery
StoleS. 1lioEueT TO nave q SOll0 SclentlflC
basis for these Investigations. fresh meats
We're obtained, their composition was de-
termined and then the meats were canned
in the ordinary way. After a time the
cans were opened and the meats they con-
talned were subjected to chemical exami-
nation. By this method direct compari-
son was secured between the great number
or meat products examined and the original
fresh products from which they were
made. The amount of chemical work in
volved in this examination was of great
magnitude. and the bulletin conta ining the
Data of this work will consequently be of
a bulky nature. 1t is now ready for sub
initial.
Horse Meat in Sausage
AN elaborate investigation was also
made OF the character of horse meat, with
the object of determining whether or not
1t is sold surreptitiously in this country
for beef and also to determine whether or
not when mixed with other meats as in
the instance of making sausage, the parts
derived from the horse could in any way
be identified. The two obvious methods
OF procedure which would be naturally
suggested in this case were followed. That
is %. the microscopic examination of the
meat fbers and t2} the determination of
the chemical composition of the mixtures
10 this end mixtures of horse meat with
other meats in known proportions were
made, converted into sausage, and after
wards given to the analysts without their
Aiio"ithSe VI us contents Tor the purpose
or determining whether or not horse meat
was contained therein. The microscopic
efforts in this line were futile since it was
not possible to discover with certainty the
nbers due to horse meat in a mixture of
that meat with certain other forms pre-
Viously subjected to the vigorous action
OF the sausage grinder.
I'm the study of the chemical composition
as means of discrimination between horse
| meat and other kinds of flesh, more favor
able results Were obtained. The meat of
the horse contains quite a large quantity
I OF a sugar-producing substance known as
siNeoSeh other common. edible meats, with
4 the exception of the meat of the lobster
crab and crayfish, contain only small GUAM
| tites of this substance. 1t is evident there
fore, that a determination of glycogen in \
mixture would be a valuable indication In
regard to the origin of the meats therein
in SO far as the horse is concerned When
| the calculation of this problem was begun,
however it was discovered that none of tho
acesTted standards of examination was sat
isfactory. 1t was, therefore, first of all nee
essary to develop, by modification and
otherwise, method of determining glyco-
gen in horse meat which was reasonably
accurate. This, happily was accomplished
and we were then able to detect the pres
ence of horse meat in a mixture provided
the amount thereof was not reduced to too
low percentage Working with the great
est care, 1t is believed that as little as 10
per cent of horsefesh with beef can be de-
tected with certainty by the methods used
III Ills
Products for Sale Abroad.
"A particularly promising feature of our
work here in the chemical laboratory is the
! investigation Of foods intended for export
to foreign countries where such tests are
required of foods offered for SALE Unfortu-
nately. we were given no appropriation for
carrying this work into effect, and there
fore it has not been possible to institute the
control contemplated when Congress
authorized us to inspect such foods Full
preparation, however, has been made for
the inception and prosecution of this work
whenever the funds are forthcoming, and as
preliminary step careful study of the
foreign laws regulating the sale Of foods
has been made.
TN collaboration with the viticulturaI as
soeiations of the country, we have accom-
pilSned wide work In studying the COM
position of American wines
This work was particularly opporttIue I'm
consequence of the exhibition OF a large
number of standard American wines at the
worlds fair in Paris. Not only were our
own wine makers gratifed, but the wine
growers of Europe were somewhat aston
ished at the fine showing made by our
wines in Paris. More than 80 per cent of
all the samples exhibited received awards
When 1t is remembered that only about 40
per cent of the objects exhibited received rec-
ognition, this high number for our own wines
Is extremely fattering. Among the awards
was large percentage of gold and silver
medals. and, in one instance, an American
wine was marked the highest possible num-
Der below that which would have entitled
1t to the grand prize, viz, 18 on a scale of
20. Had 1t not been that the particular
wine in question bore as parts of its label
names indicative of foreign origin it is
probable that it would have received the
grand prize.
American Wines Are First-CIass.
mot only the American still wines, but.
what is more surprising, the American
sparkling wines received very high awards
When 1t is borne in mind that the Jury was
composed almost exclusively of foreigners,
having only two American representatives
and that there was certain trade preju-
dice against American wines, this high rat
ing becomes the more noteworthy
"In connection with this study a special
agent Of the department was commissioned
to go into the wine districts of southern
France for the purpose Of studying particu-
larly the methods of yiniflcation employed
and to ascertain whether or not any adul-
terations were practiced. valuable re-
port of the observations of this special
agent is almost ready for publication
Another special agent Of the department
was commissioned to study the methods
{p niH