ADULTERATION OF WINE.

empty wine-bottles, in part, with a red crust
of super-tartrate of potash, by suffering a
saturated hot solution of this salt, coloured
red with a decoction of Rrazil-wood, to crys-
tallize within them; and after this simula-
tion of maturity is perfected, they are filled
with the compound called Port Wine.

Other artisans are regularly employed in
staining the lower extremities of bottle-corks
with a fine red colour, to appear, on being
drawn, as if they had been long in contact
with the wine.

The preparation of an astringent extract,
to produce, from spoiled home-made and
foreign wines, a "genuine old Port," by
mere admixture; or to impart to a weak
wine a rough austere taste, a fine colour,
and a peculiar flavour; forms one branch of
the business of particular wine-coopers ;

F

98

ADULTERATION OF WINE,

while the mellowing and restoring of spoiled white wines, is the sole occupation of men who are called refiners of wine.

We have stated that a crystalline crust is formed on the interior surface of bottles, for the purpose of misleading the unwary into a belief that the wine contained in them is of a certain age. A correspondent operation is performed on the wooden cask; the whole interior of which is stained artificially with a crystalline crust of super-tartrate of potash, artfully affixed in a manner precisely similar to that before stated. Thus the wine-merchant, after bottling off a pipe of wine, is enabled to impose on the understanding of his customers, by taking to pieces the cask, and exhibiting the beautiful dark coloured and fine crystalline crust, as an indubitable proof of the age of the wine;

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

a practice by no means uncommon, to flatter
the vanity of those who pride themselves
in their acute discrimination of wines.

These and many other sophistications,
which have long been practised with impu-
nity, are considered as legitimate by those
who pride themselves for their skill in the
art of *managing*, or, according to the fa-
miliar phrase, *doctoring* wines. The plea
alleged in exculpation of them, is, that,
though deceptive, they are harmless: but
even admitting this as a palliation, yet they
form only one department of an art which
includes other processes of a tendency ab-
solutely criminal.

Several well-authenticated facts have con-
vinced me that the adulteration of wine
with substances deleterious to health, is cer-
tainly practised oftener than is, perhaps,

F 2

100

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

suspected; and it would be easy to give
some instances of very serious effects hav-
ing arisen from wines contaminated with
deleterious substances, were this a subject
on which I meant to speak. The following
statement is copied from the Monthly Ma-
gazine for March 1811, p. 188.

"On the 17th of January, the passengers by the Highflyer coach, from the north, dined, as usual, at Newark. A bottle of Port wine was ordered; on tasting which, one of the passengers observed that it had an unpleasant flavour, and begged that it might be changed. The waiter took away the bottle, poured into a fresh decanter half the wine which had been objected to, and filled it up from another bottle. This he took into the room, and the greater part was drank by the passengers, who,

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

after the coach had set out towards Gran-
tham, were seized with extreme sickness;
one gentleman in particular, who had taken
more of the wine than the others, it was
thought would have died, but has since re-
covered. The half of the bottle of wine sent
out of the passengers' room, was put aside
for the purpose of mixing negus. In the
evening, Mr. Bland, of Newark, went into
the hotel, and drank a glass or two of wine
and water. He returned home at his usual
hour, and went to bed; in the middle of the
night he was taken so ill, as to induce Mrs.
Bland to send for his brother, an apothecary
in the town; but before that gentleman ar-
rived, he was dead. An inquest was held,
and the jury, after the fullest inquiry, and
the examination of the surgeons by whom

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102

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

the body was opened, returned a verdict of
—*Died by Poison.*"

DANGEROUS ADULTERATION OF WINE
WITH POISONOUS SUBSTANCES.

THE most dangerous adulteration of wine
is by some preparations of lead, which pos-
sess the property of stopping the progress
of acescence of wine, and also of rendering
white wines, when muddy, transparent. I
have good reason to state that lead is cer-
tainly employed for this purpose. The
effect is very rapid; and there appears to
be no other method known, of rapidly re-
covering ropy wines. Wine merchants per-
suade themselves that the minute quantity

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

of lead employed for that purpose is per-
fectly harmless, and that no atom of lead
remains in the wine. Chemical analysis
proves the contrary; and the practice of
clarifying spoiled white wines by means of
lead, must be pronounced as highly dele-
terious.

Lead, in whatever state it be taken into
the stomach, occasions terrible diseases;
and wine, adulterated with the minutest
quantity of it, becomes a slow poison. The
merchant or dealer who practises this dan-
gerous sophistication, adds the crime of
murder to that of fraud, and deliberately
scatters the seeds of disease and death
among those consumers who contribute to
his emolument. If to debase the current
coin of the realm be denounced as a capital
offence, what punishment should be awarded

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104

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

against a practice which converts into poison
a liquor used for sacred purposes ?

Dr. Watson * relates, that the method of adulterating wine with lead, was at one time a common practice in Paris.

Dr. Warren † states an instance of thirty-two persons having become severely ill, after drinking white wine that had been adulterated with lead. One of them died, and one became paralytic.

In Graham's *Treatise on Wine-Making*‡,
under the article of *Secrets*, belonging to
the mysteries of vintners, p. 31, lead is re-

* Chemical Essays, vol. viii. p. 369.

† Medical Trans. vol. ii. p. 80.

‡ This book, which has run through many editions,
may be supposed to have done some mischief.—In the
Vintner's Guide, 4th edit. 1770, p. 67, a lump of sugar
of lead, of the size of a walnut, and a table-spoonful of
sal enixum, are directed to be added to a tierce (forty-
two gallons) of muddy wine, to cure it of its muddiness.

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

condemned to prevent wine from becoming
acid. The following lines are copied from
Mr. Graham's work:

*To hinder Wine from turning.*

"Put a pound of melted lead, in fair
water, into your cask, pretty warm, and stop
it close."

*To soften Grey Wine.*

"Put in a little vinegar wherein litharge
has been well steeped, and boil some honey,
to draw out the wax. Strain it through a
cloth, and put a quart of it into a tierce of
wine, and this will mend it."

ACCIDENTAL IMPREGNATION OF WINE
WITH LEAD.

IT is well known that bottles in which
wine has been kept, are usually cleaned

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106

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

by means of shot, which by its rolling motion
detaches the super-tartrite of potash from
the sides of the bottles. This practice, which
is generally pursued by wine-merchants,
may give rise to serious consequences, as
will become evident from the following
case*:

"A gentleman who had never in his life experienced a day's illness, and who was constantly in the habit of drinking half a bottle of Madeira wine after his dinner, was taken ill, three hours after dinner, with a severe pain in the stomach and violent bowel colic, which gradually yielded within twelve hours to the remedies prescribed by his medical adviser. The day following he drank the remainder of the same bottle of

Philosophical Magazine, 1819, No. 257, p. 229.

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

wine which was left the preceding day, and
within two hours afterwards he was again
seized with the most violent colliquative
pains, headach, shiverings, and great pain
over the whole body. His apothecary be-
coming suspicious that the wine he had
drunk might be the cause of the disease,
ordered the bottle from which the wine had
been decanted, to be brought to him, with
a view that he might examine the dregs, if
any were left. The bottle happening to slip
out of the hand of the servant, disclosed a
row of shot wedged forcibly into the angu-
lar bent-up circumference of it. On ex-
amining the beads of shot, they crumbled
into dust, the outer crust (defended by a
coat of black lead with which the shot is
glazed) being alone left unacted on, whilst
the remainder of the metal was dissolved.

F 6

108 ADULTERATION OF WINE.

The wine, therefore, had become contaminated with *lead and arsenic*, the shot being a compound of these metals, which no doubt had produced the mischief."

TEST FOR DETECTING THE DELETE-
RIOUS ADULTERATIONS OF WINE.

A READY re-agent for detecting the presence of lead, or any other deleterious metal in wine, is known by the name of the *wine test*. It consists of water saturated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, acidulated with muriatic acid. By adding one part of it, to two of wine, or any other liquid suspected to contain lead, a dark coloured or black precipitate will fall down, which does not disappear by an addition of muriatic acid.

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

and this precipitate, dried and fused before
the blowpipe on a piece of charcoal, yields a
globule of metallic lead. This test does not
precipitate iron; the muriatic acid retains
iron in solution when combined with sul-
phuretted hydrogen; and any acid in the
wine has no effect in precipitating any of
the sulphur of the test liquor. Or a still
more efficacious method is, to pass a current
of sulphuretted hydrogen gas through the
wine, in the manner described, p. 89, having
previously acidulated the wine with muria-
tic acid.

The wine test sometimes employed is pre-
pared in the following manner :—Mix equal
parts of finely powdered sulphur and of
slaked quick-lime, and expose it to a red
heat for twenty minutes. To thirty-six
grains of this sulphate of lime, add twenty-

110 ADULTERATION OF WINE.

six grains of super-tartrate of potassa; put
the mixture into an ounce bottle, and fill up
the bottle with water that has been previ-
ously boiled, and suffered to cool. The li-
quor, after having been repeatedly shaken,
and allowed to become clear, by the subsi-
dence of the undissolved matter, may then
be poured into another phial, into which
about twenty drops of muriatic acid have
been previously put. It is then ready for
use. This test, when mingled with wine
containing lead or copper, turns the wine of
a dark-brown or black colour. But the
mere application of sulphuretted hydrogen
gas to wine, acidulated by muriatic acid, is
a far more preferable mode of detecting lead
in wine.

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

111

METHOD OF DETECTING EXTRANEOUS
COLOURS IN RED WINE.

M. VOGEL* has lately recommended ace-
tate of lead as a test for detecting extrane-
ous colours in red wine. He remarks, that
none of the substances that can be employed
for colouring wine, such as the berries of the
Vaccinium Martillus (bilberries,) elderber-
ries, and Campeach wood, produce with ge-
nuine red wine, a greenish grey precipitate,
which is the colour that is procured by this
test by means of genuine red wines.

Wine coloured with the juice of the bil-
berries, or elderberries, or Campeach wood,

* Journ. Pharm. iv. 56. (Feb. 1818,) and Thomson's Annals, Sept. 1818, p. 232.

112

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

produces, with acetate of lead, a deep blue precipitate; and Brazil-wood, red saunders, and the red beet, produce a colour which is precipitated red by acetate of lead. Wine coloured by beet root is also rendered colourless by lime water; but the weakest acid brings back the colour. As the colouring matter of red wines resides in the skin of the grape, M. Vogel prepared a quantity of skins, and reduced them to powder. In this state he found that they communicated to alcohol a deep red colour: a paper stained with this colour was rendered red by acids and green by alkalies.

M. Vogel made a quantity of red wine from black grapes, for the purpose of his experiments; and this produced the genuine greyish green precipitate with acetate of lead. He also found the same coloured

ANALYSIS OF WINE.

precipitate in two specimens of red wine, the genuineness of which could not be suspected; the one from Château-Margeaux, and the other from the neighbourhood of Coblentz.

## SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES OF VARIOUS KINDS OF FOREIGN WINES.

EVERY body knows that no product of the arts varies so much as wine; that different countries, and sometimes the different provinces of the same country, produce different wines. These differences, no doubt, must be attributed chiefly to the climate in which the vineyard is situated—to its culture—the quantity of sugar contained in the grape juice—the manufacture of the wine,

114

ANALYSIS OF WINE.

or the mode of suffering its fermentation
to be accomplished. If the grapes be ga-
thered unripe, the wine abounds with acid;
but if the fruit be gathered ripe, the wine
will be rich. When the proportion of sugar
in the grape is sufficient, and the fermenta-
tion complete, the wine is perfect and ge-
nerous. If the quantity of sugar be too
large, part of it remains undecomposed, as
the fermentation is languid, and the wine is
sweet and luscious; if, on the contrary, it
contains, even when full ripe, only a small
portion of sugar, the wine is thin and weak;
and if it be bottled before the fermentation
be completed, part of the sugar remains un-
decomposed, the fermentation will go on
slowly in the bottle, and on drawing the
cork, the wine sparkles in the glass; as, for
example, Champagne. Such wines are not

ANALYSIS OF WINE.

sufficiently mature. When the must is separated from the husk of the red grape before it is fermented, the wine has little or no colour: these are called *white* wines. If, on the contrary, the husks are allowed to remain in the must while the fermentation is going on, the alcohol dissolves the colouring matter of the husks, and the wine is coloured: such are called *red* wines. Hence white wines are often prepared from red grapes, the liquor being drawn off before it has acquired the red colour; for the skin of the grape only gives the colour. Besides in these principal circumstances, wines vary much in flavour.

## CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION AND COMPONENT PARTS OF WINE.

ALL wines contain one common and identical principle, from which their similar

116

ANALYSIS OF WINE,

effects are produced: namely, *brandy* or *alcohol*. It is especially by the different proportions of brandy contained in wines, that they differ most from one another. When wine is distilled, the alcohol readily separates. The spirit thus obtained is well known under the name of *brandy*.

All wines contain also a free acid; hence they turn blue tincture of cabbage, red. The acid found in the greatest abundance in grape wines, is tartaric acid. Every wine contains likewise a portion of super-tartrate of potash, and extractive matter, derived from the juice of the grape. These substances deposit slowly in the vessel in which they are kept. To this is owing the improvement of wine from age. Those wines which effervesce or froth, when poured into a glass, contain also carbonic acid, to which their briskness is owing.

ANALYSIS OF WINE.

The peculiar flavour and odour of different kinds of wine probably depend upon the presence of a volatile oil, so small in quantity that it cannot be separated.

## METHOD OF ASCERTAINING THE QUANTITY OF SPIRIT CONTAINED IN VARIOUS SORTS OF WINE.

THE strength of all wines depends upon the quantity of alcohol or brandy which they contain. Mr. Brande, and Gay Lussac, have proved, by very decisive experiments, that all wines contain brandy or alcohol ready formed. The following is the process discovered by Mr. Brande, for ascertaining the quantity of spirit, or brandy, contained in different sorts of wine.

118

ANALYSIS OF WINE.

Experiment.

Add to eight parts, by measure, of the
wine to be examined, one part of a concen-
trated solution of sub-acetate of lead: a
dense insoluble precipitate will ensue;
which is a combination of the test liquor with
the colouring, extractive, and acid matter of
the wine. Shake the mixture for a few mi-
nutes, pour the whole upon a filtre, and
collect the filtered fluid. It contains the
brandy or spirit, and water of the wine,
together with a portion of the sub-acetate of
lead. Add, in small quantities at a time, to
this fluid, warm, dry, and pure sub-carbo-
nate of potash (not salt of tartar, or sub-
carbonate of potash of commerce), which
has previously been freed from water by
heat, till the last portion added remains un-

ANALYSIS OF WINE.

dissolved. The brandy or spirit contained
in the fluid will become separated; for the
sub-carbonate of potash abstracts from it the
whole of the water with which it was com-
bined; the brandy or spirit of wine forming
a distinct stratum, which floats upon the
aqueous solution of the alkaline salt. If the
experiment be made in a glass tube, from
one half inch to two inches in diameter, and
graduated into 100 equal par s, the per cen-
tage of spirit, in a given quantity of wine,
may be read off by mere inspection. In this
manner the strength of any wine may be
examined.

122 ADULTERATION OF WINE.

<table><tr><td>Red Hermitage</td><td>12,32</td><td>Mead</td><td>7,32</td></tr><tr><td>Vin de Grave</td><td>13,94</td><td>Ale (Burton)</td><td>8,88</td></tr><tr><td>Ditto</td><td>12,80</td><td>Ditto (Edinburgh)</td><td>6,20</td></tr><tr><td>Average</td><td>13,37</td><td>Ditto (Dorchester)</td><td>5,50</td></tr><tr><td>Frontignac</td><td>12,79</td><td>Average</td><td>6,87</td></tr><tr><td>Cote Rotie</td><td>12,32</td><td>Brown Stout</td><td>6,80</td></tr><tr><td>Gooseberry Wine</td><td>11,84</td><td>London Porter average</td><td>4,20</td></tr><tr><td>Currant Wine</td><td>20,55</td><td>Do. Small Beer, do.</td><td>1,28</td></tr><tr><td>Orange Wine average</td><td>11,26</td><td>Brandy</td><td>53,39</td></tr><tr><td>Tokay</td><td>9,88</td><td>Rum</td><td>53,68</td></tr><tr><td>Elder Wine</td><td>9,87</td><td>Gin</td><td>51,60</td></tr><tr><td>Cyder highest average</td><td>9,87</td><td>Scotch Whiskey</td><td>54,32</td></tr><tr><td>Ditto lowest ditto</td><td>5,21</td><td>Irish ditto</td><td>53,90</td></tr><tr><td>Perry average</td><td>7,26</td><td></td><td></td></tr></table>

CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION OF HOME-MADE WINES.

BESIDES grapes, the most valuable of the articles of which wine is made, there are a considerable number of fruits from which a vinous liquor is obtained. Of such, we have in this country the gooseberry, the currant,

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

the elderberry, the cherry, &c. which ferment well, and afford what are called *home-made wines*.

They differ chiefly from foreign wines in
containing a much larger quantity of acid.
Dr. Macculloch* has remarked that the acid
in home-made wines is principally the malic
acid; while in grape wines it is the tartaric
acid.

The great deficiency in these wines, independent of the flavour, which chiefly originates, not from the juice, but from the seeds and husks of the fruits, is the excess of acid, which is but imperfectly concealed by the addition of sugar. This is owing, chiefly, as Dr. Macculloch remarks, to the tartaric acid

* Macculloch on Wine. This is by far the best Treatise published in this country on the Manufacture of Home-made Wines.

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124

ADULTERATION OF WINE.

existing in the grape juice in the state of
super-tartrate of potash, which is in part de-
composed during the fermentation, and the
rest becomes gradually precipitated; whilst
the malic acid exists in the currant and
gooseberry juice in the form of malate of
potash; which salt does not appear to suffer
a decomposition during the fermentation of
the wine; and, by its greater solubility, is
retained in the wine. Hence Dr. Maccul-
loch recommends the addition of super-tar-
trate of potash, in the manufacture of Bri-
tish wines. They also contain a much
larger proportion of mucilage than wines
made from grapes. The juice of the goose-
berry contains some portion of the tartaric
acid; hence it is better suited for the pro-
duction of what is called *English Cham-
pagne*, than any other fruit of this country.

Adulteration of Bread.

THIS is one of the sophistications of the
articles of food most commonly practised in
this metropolis, where the goodness of bread
is estimated entirely by its whiteness. It is
therefore usual to add a certain quantity of
alum to the dough; this improves the look
of the bread very much, and renders it whiter
and firmer. Good, white, and porous bread
may certainly be manufactured from good
wheaten flour alone; but to produce the
degree of whiteness rendered indispensable
by the caprice of the consumers in London,
it is necessary (unless the very best flour is
employed,) that the dough should be
bleached; and no substance has hitherto

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126

ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

been found to answer this purpose better
than alum.

Without this salt, it is impossible to make
bread, from the kind of flour usually em-
ployed by the London bakers, so white as
that which is commonly sold in the metro-
polis.

If the alum be omitted, the bread has a
slight yellowish grey hue—as may be seen
in the instance of what is called *home-made*
*bread*, of private families.

The quantity of alum requisite to produce
the required whiteness and porosity, depends
entirely upon the genuineness of the flour,
and the quality of the grain from which the
flour is obtained. The mealman makes dif-
ferent sorts of flour from the same kind of
grain. The best flour is mostly used by the
biscuit bakers and pastry cooks, and the in-

ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

ferior sorts in the making of bread. The
bakers' flour is very often made of the worst
kinds of foreign damaged wheat, and other
cereal grains mixed with them in grinding
the wheat into flour. In this capital, no
fewer than six distinct kinds of wheaten
flour are brought into market. They are
called fine flour, seconds, middlings, fine
middlings, coarse middlings, and twenty-
penny flour. Common garden beans, and
pease, are also frequently ground up among
the London bread flour.

ADULTERATION OF BREAD WITH ALUM.

I have been assured by several bakers, on
whose testimony I can rely, that the small
profit attached to the bakers' trade, and the

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128

ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

bad quality of the flour, induce the generality of the London bakers to use alum in the making of their bread.

The smallest quantity of alum that can be employed with effect to produce a white, light, and porous bread, from an inferior kind of flour, I have my own baker's authority to state, is from three to four ounces to a sack of flour, weighing 240 pounds. The alum is either mixed well in the form of powder, with a quantity of flour previously made into a liquid paste with water, and then incorporated with the dough; or the alum is dissolved in the water employed for mixing up the whole quantity of the flour for making the dough.

Let us suppose that the baker intends to convert five bushels, or a sack of flour into loaves with the least adulteration practised.

ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

He pours the flour into the kneading trough,
and sifts it through a fine wire sieve, which
makes it lie very light, and serves to sepa-
rate any impurities with which the flour may
be mixed. Two ounces of alum are then
dissolved in about a quart of boiling water,
and the solution poured into the seasoning-
tub. Four or five pounds of salt are like-
wise put into the tub, and a pailful of hot-
water. When this mixture has cooled down
to the temperature of about 84°, three or four
pints of yeast are added; the whole is mixed,
strained through the seasoning sieve, emp-
tied into a hole in the flour, and mixed up
with the requisite portion of it to the consis-
tence of a thick batter. Some dry flour is
then sprinkled over the top, and it is covered
up with cloths.

In this situation it is left about three

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130 ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

hours. It gradually swells and breaks through the dry flour scattered on its surface. An additional quantity of warm water, in which one ounce of alum is dissolved, is now added, and the dough is made up into a paste as before; the whole is then covered up. In this situation it is left for a few hours.

The whole is then intimately kneaded with more water for upwards of an hour. The dough is cut into pieces with a knife, and penned to one side of the trough; some dry flour is sprinkled over it, and it is left in this state for about four hours. It is then kneaded again for half an hour. The dough is now cut into pieces and weighed, in order to furnish the requisite quantity for each loaf. The loaves are left in the oven about two ours and a half. When taken out, they

ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

are carefully covered up, to prevent as much
as possible the loss of weight.

The following account of making a sack,
or five bushels of flour, into bread, is taken
from Dr. P. Markham's Considerations on
the Ingredients used in the Adulteration of
Bread Flour and Bread, p. 21:

Five bushels of flour, eight ounces of
alum*, four pounds of salt, half a gallon of
yeast, mixed with about three gallons of
water.

The theory of the bleaching property of
alum, as manifested in the panification of an

* Whilst correcting this sheet for the press, the prin-
ter transmits to me the following lines :

" On Saturday last, Mr. Wood, a baker, was con-
victed before T. Evance, Esq. Union Hall, of having in
his possession a quantity of alum for the adulteration
of bread, and fined in the penalty of £5. and costs,
under 55 Geo. III. c. 99."—*The Times*, Oct. 1819.

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132 ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

inferior kind of flour, is by no means well
understood; and indeed it is really surpris-
ing that the effect should be produced by so
small a quantity of that substance; two or
three ounces of alum being sufficient for a
sack of flour.

From experiments in which I have been
employed, with the assistance of skilful
bakers, I am authorised to state, that with-
out the addition of alum, it does not appear
possible to make white, light, and porous
bread, such as is used in this metropolis,
unless the flour be of the very best quality.

Another substance employed by fraudu-
lent bakers, is subcarbonate of ammonia.
With this salt, they realize the important
consideration of producing light and porous
bread, from spoiled, or what is technically
called sour flour. This salt, which becomes

ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

wholly converted into a gaseous state during the operation of baking, causes the dough to swell up into air bubbles, which carry before them the stiff dough, and thus it renders the dough porous; the salt itself is, at the same time, totally volatilised during the operation of baking. Thus not a vestige of carbonate of ammonia remains in the bread. This salt is also largely employed by the biscuit and ginger-bread bakers.

ADULTERATION OF BREAD WITH POTATOES.

POTATOES are likewise largely, and perhaps constantly, used by fraudulent bakers, as a cheap ingredient, to enhance their profit. The potatoes being boiled, are tritu-

134 ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

rated, passed through a sieve, and incorpo-
rated with the dough by kneading. This
adulteration does not materially injure the
bread. The bakers assert, that the bad
quality of the flour renders the addition of
potatoes advantageous as well to the baker
as to the purchaser, and that without this
admixture in the manufacture of bread, it
would be impossible to carry on the trade
of a baker. But the grievance is, that the
same price is taken for a potatoe loaf, as for
a loaf of genuine bread, though it must cost
the baker less.

I have witnessed, that five bushels of flour,
three ounces of alum, six pounds of salt, one
bushel of potatoes boiled into a stiff paste,
and three quarts of yeast, with the requisite
quantity of water, produce a white, light,
and highly palatable bread.

ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

Such are the artifices practised in the
preparation of bread*; and it must be al-
lowed, on contrasting them with those so-
phistications practised by manufacturers of
other articles of food, that they are compa-
ratively unimportant. However, some me-
dical men have no hesitation in attributing
many diseases incidental to children to the
use of eating adulterated bread; others
again will not admit these allegations: they
persuade themselves that the small quantity
of alum added to the bread (perhaps, upon
an average, from eight to ten grains to a
quartern loaf,) is absolutely harmless.

* There are instances of convictions on record, of bakers having used gypsum, chalk, and pipe clay, in the manufacture of bread.

136 ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

Mr. Edmund Davy, Professor of Chemistry, at the Cork Institution, has communicated the following important facts to the public concerning the manufacture of bread.

> " The carbonate of magnesia of the shops, when well mixed with flour, in the proportion of from twenty to forty grains to a pound of flour, materially improves it for the purpose of making bread.

> " Loaves made with the addition of carbonate of magnesia, rise well in the oven; and after being baked, the bread is light and spongy, has a good taste, and keeps well. In cases when the new flour is of an indifferent quality, from twenty to thirty grains of carbonate of magnesia to a pound of the flour will considerably improve the

ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

bread. When the flour is of the worst qua-
lity, forty grains to a pound of flour seem
necessary to produce the same effect.

" As the improvement in the bread from new flour depends upon the carbonate of magnesia, it is necessary that care should be taken to mix it intimately with the flour, previous to making the dough.

" Mr. Davy made a great number of com-
parative experiments with other substances,
mixed in different proportions with new
bread flour. The fixed alkalies, both in
their pure and carbonated state, when used
in small quantity, to a certain extent were
found to improve the bread made from new
flour; but no substance was so efficacious in
this respect as carbonate of magnesia.

" The greater number of his experiments
were performed on the worst new seconds

138 ADULTERATION OF BREAD.

flour Mr. Davy could procure. He also made some trials on *seconds* and *firsts* of different quality. In some cases the results were more striking and satisfactory than in others; but in every instance the improvement of the bread, by carbonate of magnesia, was obvious.

" Mr. Davy observes, that a pound of carbonate of magnesia would be sufficient to mix with two hundred and fifty-six pounds of new flour, or at the rate of thirty grains to the pound. And supposing a pound of carbonate of magnesia to cost half-a-crown, the additional expence would be only half a farthing in the pound of flour.

" Mr. Davy conceives that not the slightest danger can be apprehended from the use of such an innocent substance as the

METHOD OF DETECTING ALUM IN BREAD. 139

carbonate of magnesia, in such small proportions as are necessary to improve bread from new flour.”

METHOD OF DETECTING THE PRESENCE OF ALUM IN BREAD.

POUR upon two ounces of the suspected bread, half a pint of boiling distilled water; boil the mixture for a few minutes, and filter it through unsized paper. Evaporate the fluid to about one fourth of its original bulk, and let gradually fall into the clear fluid a solution of muriate of barytes. If a *co*-pious white precipitate ensue, which does not disappear by the addition of *pure* nitric acid, the presence of alum may be suspected. Bread, made without alum, produces, when assayed in this manner, merely a very slight

140 METHOD OF DETECTING ALUM IN BREAD.

precipitate, which originates from a minute portion of sulphate of magnesia contained in all common salt of commerce; and bread made with salt freed from sulphate of magnesia, produces an infusion with water, which does not become disturbed by the barytic test.

Other means of detecting all the constituent parts of alum, namely, the alumine, sulphuric acid, and potash, so as to render the presence of the alum unequivocal, will readily suggest itself to those who are familiar with analytical chemistry; namely: one of the readiest means is, to decompose the vegetable matter of the bread, by the action of chlorate of potash, in a platina crucible, at a red heat, and then to assay the residuary mass, by means of muriate of barytes for sulphuric acid; by ammonia,

METHOD OF DETECTING ALUM IN BREAD. 141

for alumine; and by muriate of platina, for
potash*. The above method of detecting
the presence of alum, must therefore be
taken with some limitation.

There is no unequivocal test for detect-
ing in a *ready manner* the presence of alum
in bread, on account of the impurity of the
common salt used in the making of bread.
If we could, in the ordinary way of bread
making, employ common salt, absolutely
free from foreign saline substances, the
mode of detecting the presence of alum
would be very easy. Some conjecture
may, nevertheless, be formed of the pre-
sence, or absence, of alum, by assaying the

* See a Practical Treatise on the Use and Application of Chemical Tests, illustrated by experiments, 3d edition, p. 270, 231, 177, and 196.

142 METHOD OF JUDGING OF THE GOODNESS

infusion of bread in the manner stated, p. 139, and comparing the assay with the results afforded by an infusion of home-made or household bread, known to be genuine, and actually assayed in a similar manner.

METHOD OF JUDGING OF THE GOODNESS OF BREAD-CORN AND BREAD-FLOUR.

MILLERS judge of the goodness of bread corn by the quantity of bran which the grain produces.

Such grains as are full and plump, that have a bright and shining appearance, without any shrivelling and shrinking in the covering of the skin, are the best; for wrinkled grains have a greater quantity of

OF BREAD-CORN AND FLOUR.

skin, or bran, than such as are sound or
plump.

Pastry-cooks and bakers judge of the
goodness of flour in the manner in which it
comports itself in kneading. The best kind
of wheaten flour assumes, at the instant
it is formed into paste by the addition
of water, a very gluey, ductile, and elastic
paste, easy to be kneaded, and which may
be elongated, flattened, and drawn in every
direction, without breaking.

For the following fact we are indebted to
Mr. Hatchet :

" Grain, which has been heated or burnt
in the stack, may in the following man-
ner be rendered fit for being made into
bread.

" The wheat must be put into a vessel
capable of holding at least three times the

144 METHOD OF CURING MUSTY WHEAT.

quantity, and the vessel filled with boiling water; the grain should then be occasionally stirred, and the hollow decayed grains, which float, may be removed. When the water has become cold, or in about half an hour, it is drawn off. Then rince the corn with cold water, and, having completely drained it, spread it thinly on the floor of a kiln, and thus thoroughly dry it, stirring and turning it frequently during this part of the process.*”

* Phil. Trans. for 1817, part 1.

Adulteration of Beer.

MALT LIQUORS, and particularly porter,
the favourite beverage of the inhabitants
of London, and of other large towns, is
amongst those articles, in the manufacture
of which the greatest frauds are frequently
committed.

The statute prohibits the brewer from
using any ingredients in his brewings, ex-
cept malt and hops; but it too often happens
that those who suppose they are drinking a
nutritious beverage, made of these ingre-
dients only, are entirely deceived. The
beverage may, in fact, be neither more nor

H

146

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

less than a compound of the most deleterious substances; and it is also clear that all ranks of society are alike exposed to the nefarious fraud. The proofs of this statement will be shown hereafter*.

The author† of a Practical Treatise on Brewing, which has run through eleven editions, after having stated the various ingredients for brewing porter, observes, “that however much they may surprise, “however pernicious or disagreeable they “may appear, he has always found them “requisite in the brewing of porter, and “he thinks they must invariably be used “by those who wish to continue the taste,

* See pages 158, 171, 181.

† Child, on Brewing Porter, p. 7.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

"flavour, and appearance of the beer".
"And though several Acts of Parliament
"have been passed to prevent porter brew-
"ers from using many of them, yet the
"author can affirm, from experience, he
"could never produce the present flavoured
"porter without them†. The intoxicating
"qualities of porter are to be ascribed to
"the various drugs intermixed with it. It
"is evident some porter is more heady than
"other, and it arises from the greater or
"less quantity of stupifying ingredients.
"Malt, to produce intoxication, must be
"used in such large quantities as would
"very much diminish, if not totally ex-
"clude, the brewer's profit."

* Child, on Brewing Porter, p. 16.

† *Ibid*, p. 16.

H 2

148

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

EARLY PRACTICE OF ADULTERATING BEER WITH SUBSTANCES NOXIOUS TO HEALTH, AND RAPID PROGRESS OF THIS FRAUD.

THE practice of adulterating beer appears to be of early date. By an Act so long ago as Queen Anne, the brewers are prohibited from mixing cocculus indicus, or any unwholesome ingredients, in their beer, under severe penalties: but few instances of convictions under this Act are to be met with in the public records for nearly a century. To shew that they have augmented in our own days, we shall exhibit an abstract from documents laid lately before Parliament*.

* "Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons, to whom the petition of several inhabitants of

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

These will not only amply prove, that
unwholesome ingredients are used by fraud-
dulent brewers, and that very deleterious
substances are also vended both to brewers
and publicans for adulterating beer, but
that the ingredients mixed up in the brew-
er's enchanting cauldron are placed above
all competition, even with the potent charms
of Macbeth's witches:

“ Root of hemlock, digg'd i' the dark,
+ + + + +
+ + + + +

“ For a charm of pow'rful trouble,
“ Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.”

London and its vicinity, complaining of the high price
and inferior quality of beer, was referred, to examine
the matter thereof, and to report the same, with their
observations thereupon, to the House. Printed by
order of the House of Commons, April 1819.”

H 3

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

151

1 pound of salt of steel, and two barrels of strong finings. Mix these well together, and put them in a vat, rousing it thoroughly at the same time. Let the vat remain open three days; then close it and sand it over.

In a fortnight it will be fit for use. Your own good sense will inform you how, to advantage.

The following are some of the Articles used by fraudulent Brewers, and recommended by Mr. Morris.

*Colouring*.—“ I should recommend to every brewer to provide himself with a sufficient quantity, as it gives a good face to the beer, and enables you to gratify the sight of your different customers.

*Cocculus Indicus*.—“ Cocculus Indicus is used as a substitute for malt and hops, and is a great preservative of malt liquor; it

H 4

152

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

prevents second fermentation in bottled beer,
and consequently the bursting of the bottles
in warm climates. Its effect is of an inebri-
ating nature.

“ *Calamus Aromaticus* is used in the brew-
ery as a succedaneum for hops and strength,
by slicing it thin, and boiling it a short time
with the hops; one pound of which is equal
to six pounds of hops.

“ *Quassia* leaves so severe a bitter on the palate, long after the liquor is drank, that it requires much judgment in using it.

“ *Coriander* is much used by brewers, to give a flavour to ales.

“ *Capsicum*, or guinea pepper, is used in ales and amber.

“ *Caraway Seed* is put into ales, for the flavour; and is used in the tun.

“ *Grains of Paradise* are of a warm na-
ture also, and are used in ales.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

"Ginger."—This article, when used in the brewery, is always ground fine; and made use of in the tun at the time of cleansing.

"Beans tend to mellow malt liquor; and, from their properties, add much to its inebriating qualities; but they must not be used in too large a quantity.

"Oyster Shells are very good to recover sour beer: but when used, you must leave the bung out.

"Alum is generally put into the vat, as it gives the beer a smack of age."

Such are the articles recommended by Mr. Morris.

The fraud of imparting to porter and ale an intoxicating quality by narcotic substances, appears to have flourished during the period of the late French war: for, if

H 5

154

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

we examine the importation lists of drugs, it
will be noticed that the quantities of coc-
culus indicus imported in a given time prior
to that period, will bear no comparison with
the quantity imported in the same space of
time during the war, although an additional
duty was laid upon this commodity. Such
has been the amount brought into this
country in five years, that it far exceeds the
quantity imported during twelve years an-
terior to the above epoch. The price of this
drug has risen within these ten years from
two shillings to seven shillings the pound.

It was at the period to which we have
alluded, that the preparation of an extract
of cocculus indicus first appeared, as a new
saleable commodity, in the price-currents
of brewers'-druggists. It was at the same
time, also, that a Mr. Jackson, of notorious

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

memory, fell upon the idea of brewing beer
from various drugs, without any malt and
hops. This chemist did not turn brewer
himself; but he struck out the more pro-
fitable trade of teaching his mystery to the
brewers for a handsome fee. From that
time forwards, written directions, and re-
ceipt-books for using the chemical prepa-
rations to be substituted for malt and hops,
were respectively sold; and many adepts
soon afterwards appeared every where, to
instruct brewers in the nefarious practice,
first pointed out by Mr. Jackson. From
that time, also, the fraternity of brewers'
chemists took its rise. They made it their
chief business to send travellers all over the
country with lists and samples exhibiting
the price and quality of the articles manu-
factured by them for the use of brewers

H 6

156

ADULTERATION OF BEER

only. Their trade spread far and wide, but it was amongst the country brewers chiefly that they found the most customers; and it is amongst them, up to the present day, as I am assured by some of these operators, on whose veracity I can rely, that the greatest quantities of unlawful ingredients are sold.

The Act of Parliament* prohibits chemists, grocers, and druggists, from supplying illegal ingredients to brewers under a heavy penalty, as is obvious from the following abstract of the Act.

"No druggist, vender of or dealer in "drugs, or chemist, or other person, shall "sell or deliver to any licensed brewer, "dealer in or retailer of beer, knowing him

* 56 Geo. III. c. 2.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

" to be such, or shall sell or deliver to any
" person on account of or in trust for any
" such brewer, dealer or retailer, any liquor
" called by the name of or sold as colouring,
" from whatever material the same may be
" made, or any material or preparation other
" than unground brown malt for darkening
" the colour of worts, or beer, or any liquor
" or preparation made use of for darkening
" the colour of worts or beer, or any mo-
" lasses, honey, vitriol, quassia, cocculus
" Indian, grains of paradise, Guinea pepper
" or opium, or any extract or preparation of
" molasses, or any article or preparation to
" be used in worts or beer for or as a sub-
" stitute for malt or hops; and if any drug-
" gist shall offend in any of these particu-
" lars, such liquor preparation, molasses, &c.
" shall be forfeited and may be seized by

158

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

"any officer of Excise, and the person so offending shall for each offence forfeit £500."

The following is a list of druggists and grocers, prosecuted by the Court of Excise, and convicted of supplying unlawful ingredients to brewers.

Druggists and Grocers prosecuted and convicted from 1812 to 1819, for supplying illegal Ingredients to Brewers for adulterating Beer*.

Messrs. Dunn and Co. druggists, for selling adulterating ingredients to brewers, verdict 500l.

Messrs. Rugg and others, druggists, for selling adulterating ingredients to brewers, verdict 500l.

* Copied from the Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons, appointed for examining the price and quality of beer.—See page 18, 29, 30, 31, 36, 43.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

Messrs. Hodgkinson and others, for selling adulterating ingredients to brewers, 100l. and costs.

Messrs. Hiscocks and others, for selling adulterating ingredients to a brewer, 200l. and costs.

Mr. Hornby, for selling adulterating ingredients to a brewer, 200l.

Mr. Wilson, for selling adulterating ingredients to a brewer, 200l.

Mr. Andrews, grocer, for selling adulterating ingredients to a brewer, 25l. and costs.

Mr. Knowles, for selling substitute for hops, costs.

Messrs. Kernot and Alsop, for selling cocculus india, &c. 25l.

Messrs. Brandram and Co.* for selling various drugs, 100l.

Mr. Moss, for selling various drugs, 300l.

Mr. Whitcombe, Mr. Dunn, and Mr. Waller, druggists, for having liquor for darkening the colour of beer, hid and concealed.

Mr. Hebberd, for having liquor for darkening the colour of beer, hid and concealed.

Mr. Whitcombe, Mr. Dunn, and Mr. Waller, druggists, for making liquor for darkening the colour of Beer.

* Not Messrs. Brandram, of Size-lane, Cannon-st.

160

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

Mr. Lord, grocer, for selling molasses to a brewer,
20l. and costs.

Mr. Smith Carr, grocer, for selling molasses to a
brewer, 20l. and costs.

Mr. Fox, grocer, for selling molasses to a brewer,
25l. and costs.

Mr. Cooper, grocer, for selling molasses to a brewer,
40l. and costs.

Mr. Bickering, grocer, for selling molasses to a
brewer, 40l. and costs.

Mr. Howard, grocer, for selling molasses to a brewer,
25l. and costs.

Mr. Reynolds, grocer, for selling molasses to a
brewer, costs.

Mr. Hammond, grocer, for selling molasses to a
brewer, 20l. and costs.

Mr. Mackway, grocer, for selling molasses to a
brewer, 20l.

Mr. Renton, grocer, for selling molasses to a brewer,
costs, and taking out a licence.

Mr. Adamson, grocer, for selling molasses to a
brewer, costs, and taking out a licence.

Mr. Weaver, for selling Spanish liquorice to a
brewer, 200l.

Mr. Moss, for selling Spanish liquorice to a brewer.

Mr. Braden, for selling liquorice, 20l.

Mr. Draper, for selling molasses to a brewer, 20l.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

161

REMARKS ON PORTER.

THE method of brewing porter has not been the same at all times as it is at present.

At first, the only essential difference in the methods of brewing this liquor and that of other kinds of beer, was, that porter was brewed from brown malt only; and this gave to it both the colour and flavour required. Of late years it has been brewed from mixtures of pale and brown malt.

These, at some establishments, are mashed separately, and the worts from each are afterwards mixed together. The proportion of pale and brown malt, used for brewing porter, varies in different breweries; some employ nearly two parts of pale malt and one part of brown malt; but each brewer ap-

162

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

pears to have his own proportion; which the
intelligent manufacturer varies, according
to the nature and qualities of the malt.
Three pounds of hops are, upon an average,
allowed to every barrel (thirty-six gallons)
of porter.

When the price of malt, on account of the
great increase in the price of barley during
the late war, was very high, the London
brewers discovered that a larger quantity of
wort of a given strength could be obtained
from pale malt than from brown malt. They
therefore increased the quantity of the
former, and diminished that of the latter.
This produced beer of a paler colour, and
of a less bitter flavour. To remedy these
disadvantages, they invented an artificial
colouring substance, prepared by boiling
brown sugar till it acquired a very dark

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

brown colour; a solution of which was employed to darken the colour of the beer. Some brewers made use of the infusion of malt instead of sugar colouring. To impart to the beer a bitter taste, the fraudulent brewer employed quassia wood and worm-wood as a substitute for hops.

But as the colouring of beer by means of sugar became in many instances a pretext for using illegal ingredients, the Legislature, apprehensive from the mischief that might, and actually did, result from it, passed an Act prohibiting the use of burnt sugar in July 1817; and nothing but malt and hops is now allowed to enter into the composition of beer: even the use of isinglass for clarifying beer, is contrary to law.

164 ADULTERATION OF BEER.

No sooner had the beer-colouring Act
been repealed, than other persons obtained
a patent for effecting the purpose of impart-
ing an artificial colour to porter, by means
of brown malt, specifically prepared for that
purpose only. The beer, coloured by the
new method, is more liable to become spoiled,
than when coloured by the process formerly
practised. The colouring malt does not
contain any saccharine matter. The grain
is by mere torrefaction converted into a
gum-like substance, wholly soluble in water,
which renders the beer more liable to pass
into the acetous fermentation than the com-
mon brown malt is capable of doing; be-
cause the latter, if prepared from good bar-
ley, contains a portion of saccharine matter,
of which the patent malt is destitute.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

But as brown malt is generally prepared
from the worst kind of barley, and as the
patent malt can only be made from good
grain, it may become, on that account, an
useful article to the brewer (at least, it gives
colour and body to the beer); but it cannot
materially economise the quantity of malt
necessary to produce good porter. Some
brewers of eminence in this town have as-
sured me, that the use of this mode of co-
louring beer is wholly unnecessary; and
that porter of the requisite colour may be
brewed better without it; hence this kind of
malt is not used in their establishments.
The quantity of gum-like matter which it
contains, gives too much ferment to the
beer, and render it liable to spoil. Repeated
experiments, made on a large scale, have
settled this fact.

166

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

STRENGTH AND SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES
OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF PORTER.

THE strength of all kinds of beer, like that of wine, depends on the quantity of spirit contained in a given bulk of the li-quor.

The reader need scarcely be told, that of no article there are more varities than of porter. This, no doubt, arises from the dif-ferent mode of manufacturing the beer, al-though the ingredients are the same. This difference is more striking in the porter manufactured among country brewers, than it is in the beer brewed by the eminent London porter brewers. The totality of the London porter exhibits but very slight dif-ferences, both with respect to strength or the quantity of spirit, and solid extractive mat-

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

ter, contained in a given bulk of it. The
spirit may be stated, upon an average, to be
4,50 per cent. in porter retailed at the pub-
licans: the solid matter is from twenty-one
to twenty-three pounds per barrel of thirty-
six gallons. The country-brewed porter is
seldom well fermented, and seldom con-
tains so large a quantity of spirit; it usually
abounds in mucilage; hence it becomes
turbid when mixed with alcohol. Such
beer cannot keep, without becoming sour.

It has been matter of frequent complaint,
that ALL the porter now brewed, is not
what porter was formerly. This idea may
be true, with some exceptions. My profes-
sional occupations have, during these
twenty-eight years, repeatedly obliged
me to examine the strength of London por-
ter, brewed by different brewers; and, from
the minutes made on that subject, I am au-

168 ADULTERATION OF BEER.

thorized to state, that the porter now brewed
by the eminent London brewers, is unques-
tionably stronger than that which was
brewed at different periods during the late
French war. Samples of brown stout with
which I have been obligingly favoured,
whilst writing this Treatise, by Messrs.
Barclay, Perkins, and Co.—Messrs. Truman,
Hanbury, and Co.—Messrs. Henry Meux
and Co. and other eminent brewers of this
capital—afforded, upon an average, 725 per
cent. of alcohol, of 0,833 specific gravity;
and porter, from the same houses, yielded
upon an average 5,25 per cent. of alcohol,
of the same specific gravity*; this beer re-

* The average specific gravity of different samples of brown stout, obtained direct from the breweries of Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, and Co. Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, and Co. Messrs. Henry Meux and Co. and from several other eminent London brewers, amounted to 1,022; and the average specific gravity of porter, from the same breweries, 1,018.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

Received from the brewers was taken from the same store from which the publicans are supplied.

It is nevertheless singular to observe, that from fifteen samples of beer of the same denominations, procured from different retailers, the proportions of spirit fell considerably short of the above quantities. Samples of brown stout, procured from the retailers, afforded, upon an average, 6,50 per cent. of alcohol; and the average strength of the porter was 4,50 per cent. Whence can this difference between the beer furnished by the brewer, and that retailed by the publican, arise? We shall not be at a loss to answer this question, when we find that so many retailers of porter have been prosecuted and convicted for mixing table beer with their strong beer; this is

170

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

prohibited by law, as becomes obvious by
the following words of the Act*.

" If any common or other brewer, inn-keeper, victualler, or retailer of beer or ale, shall mix or suffer to be mixed any strong beer, ale, or worts, with table beer, worts, or water, in any tub or measure, he shall forfeit £50." The difference between strong and table beer, is thus settled by Parliament.

"All beer or ale† above the price of eighteen shillings per barrel, exclusive of ale duties now payable (viz. ten shillings per barrel,) or that may be hereafter payable in respect thereof, shall be deemed strong beer or ale; and all beer of the price

* 2 Geo. III. c. 14, sec. 2.—† 59 Geo. III. c. 53, sec. 25.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

of eighteen shillings the barrel or under,
exclusive of the duty payable (viz. two
shillings per barrel) in respect thereof, shall
be deemed table beer within the meaning
of this and all other Acts now in force, or that
may hereafter be passed in relation to beer
or ale or any duties thereon."

Publicans prosecuted and convicted from
1815 to 1818, for adulterating Beer with
illegal Ingredients, and for mixing Table
Beer with their Strong Beer*.

Mr. Atterbury, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses,
&c. and for mixing table beer with strong beer, 40l.

Mr. Dean, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c.
and for mixing table beer with strong beer, 50l.

* Copied from the Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons, appointed for examining the price and quality of beer, p. 19, 29, 36, 37, 43.

12

172

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

Mr. Jay, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for mixing table beer with strong beer, 50l.

Mr. Atkinson, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for mixing table beer with strong beer, 20l.

Mr. Langworth, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for mixing table beer with strong beer, 50l.

Mrs. Spencer, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for mixing table beer with strong beer, 150l.

Mr. Hogg, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for mixing table beer with strong beer, 5l.

Mr. Craddock, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for mixing table beer with strong beer, 100l.

Mr. Harris, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for receiving stale beer, and mixing it with strong beer, 42l. and costs.

Mr. Scoons, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for mixing stale beer with strong beer, verdict 200l.

Mr. Geer and another, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for mixing strong and table beer, verdict 400l.

Mr. Coleman, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for mixing strong and table beer, 35l. and costs.

Mr. Orr, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for mixing strong and table beer, 50l.

Mr. Gardiner, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses, &c. and for mixing strong and table beer, 100l.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

Mr. Morris, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses,
&c. and for mixing strong and table beer, 20l.

Mr. Harbur, for using salt of steel, salt, molasses,
&c. and for mixing strong and table beer, 50l.

Mr. Corrie, for mixing strong beer with table beer.

Mr. Cape, for mixing strong beer with table beer.

Mr. Gudge, for mixing strong beer with small beer.

FRAUDULENT FRACTICE OF ADULTERATION
RATING BEER WITH SUBSTANCES
NOT DELETERIOUS TO HEALTH.

WE have stated already (p. 145) that no
thing is allowed by law to enter into the
composition of beer, but malt and hops.

The substances used by fraudulent brewers for adulterating beer, are chiefly the following:

Quassia, which gives to beer a bitter taste,
is substituted for hops; but hops possess a

I 3

174 ADULTERATION OF BEER.

more agreeable aromatic flavour, and there
is also reason to believe that they render
beer less liable to spoil by keeping; a pro-
perty which does not belong to quassia. It
requires but little discrimination to distin-
guish very clearly the peculiar bitterness of
quassia in adulterated porter. Vast quan-
tities of the shavings of this wood are sold
in a half-torrefied and ground state to dis-
guise its obvious character, and to prevent
its being recognized among the waste mate-
rials of the brewers. Wormwood* has like-
wise been used by fraudulent brewers.

The adulterating of hops is prohibited by
the Legislature†.

* See Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons for Reporting on the Price and Quality of Beer, 1819. p. 29.

† 7 Geo. II. c. 19, sec. 2.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

" If any person shall put any drug or in-
gredient whatever into hops to alter the
colour or scent thereof, every person so of-
fending, convicted by the oath of one wit-
ness before one justice of the peace for the
county or place where the offence was com-
mitted, shall forfeit £5 for every hundred
weight."

Beer rendered bitter by quassia never
keeps well, unless it be kept in a place pos-
sessing a temperature considerably lower
than the temperature of the surrounding at-
mosphere: and this is not well practicable
in large establishments.

The use of boiling the wort of beer with
hops, is partly to communicate a peculiar
aromatic flavour which the hop contains,
partly to cover the sweetness of undecom-
posed saccharine matter, and also to separate,

I 4

176 ADULTERATION OF BEER.

by virtue of the gallic acid and tannin it
contains, a portion of peculiar vegetable mu-
cilage somewhat resembling gluten, which
is still diffused through the beer. The com-
pound thus produced, separates in small flakes
like those of curdled soap; and by these
means the beer is rendered less liable to spoil.
For nothing contributes more to the conver-
sion of beer, or any other vinous fluid, into
vinegar, than mucilage. Hence, also, all
full-bodied and clammy ales, abounding in
mucilage, and which are generally ill fer-
mented, do not keep as perfect ale ought to
do. Quassia is, therefore, unfit as a substi-
tute for hops; and even English hops are
preferable to those imported from the Conti-
nent; for nitrate of silver and acetate of lead
produce a more abundant precipitate from
an infusion of English hops, that can be ob-

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

tained from a like infusion by the same
agents from foreign hops.

One of the qualities of good porter, is,
that it should bear a *fine frothy head*, as it
is technically termed: because professed
judges of this beverage would not pro-
nounce the liquor excellent, although it
possessed all other good qualities of porter,
without this requisite.

To impart to porter this property of froth-
ing when poured from one vessel into ano-
ther, or to produce what is also termed a
*cauliflower head*, the mixture called *beer-
heading*, composed of common green vitriol
(sulphate of iron), alum, and salt, is added.
This addition to the beer is generally made
by the publicans*. It is unnecessary to ge-

* See List of Publicans prosecuted and convicted for mixing table beer with strong beer, &c. p. 171.

"Alum gives likewise a smack of age to beer, and is
penetrating to the palate."—S. Child, on *Brewing*, p. 18.

178

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

nuine beer, which of itself possesses the pro-
perty of bearing a strong white froth, with-
out these additions; and it is only in conse-
quence of table beer being mixed with strong
beer that the frothing property of the porter
is lost. From experiments I have tried on
this subject, I have reason to believe that the
sulphate of iron, added for that purpose,
does not possess the power ascribed to it.
But the publicans frequently, when they
fine a butt of beer, by means of isinglass,
adulterate the porter at the same time with
table beer, together with a quantity of mo-
lasses and a small portion of extract of gen-
tian root, to keep up the peculiar flavour of
the porter; and it is to the molasses chiefly,
which gives a spissitude to the beer, that the
frothing property must be ascribed; for,
without it, the sulphate of iron does not pro-
duce the property of frothing in diluted beer.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

The following lines on the application of
*Beer Heading*, are copied from Morris's
Treatise on brewing Malt Liquors, p. 108.

*Heading*.—“On this part of our subject it
may be necessary to observe, that here are
various modes of making it. Some make
use of ground copperas and ground alum,
in about equal proportions; some resort to
salt of steel, of which as much as will lie
on a shilling is sufficient for a barrel of beer.
But, as the duties of a brewhouse sufficiently
employ every person engaged in it, I recom-
mend it to be purchased of those who make
it their business to have it ready prepared.

" Observe, that porter should not be sent
out without it, as it causes the head so
much admired in that liquor, and is agree-
able to its flavour."

Capsicum and grains of paradise, two

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180 ADULTERATION OF BEER.

highly acrid substances, are employed to
give a pungent taste to weak insipid beer.
Of late, a concentrated tincture of these ar-
ticles, to be used for a similar purpose, and
possessing a powerful effect, has appeared
in the price-currents of brewers' druggists.
Ginger root, coriander seed, and orange
peels, are employed as flavouring substances
chiefly by the ale brewers.

From these statements, and the seizures
that have been made of illegal ingredients
at various breweries, it is obvious that the
adulterations of beer are not imaginary. It
will be noticed, however, that some of the
sophistications are comparatively harmless,
whilst others are effected by substances de-
leterious to health. The following list exhi-
bits some of the unlawful substances seized
at different breweries and at chemical labo-
ratories.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

ADULTERATION OF STRONG BEER
WITH SMALL BEER.

ANOTHER fraud frequently committed,
both by brewers and publicans, (as is evi-
dent from the Excise Report,) is the prac-
tice of adulterating strong beer with small
beer.—This fraud is prohibited by law;
since both the revenue and the public suffer
by it*. "The duty upon strong beer is ten
shillings a barrel; and upon table beer it
is two shillings. The revenue suffers, be-
cause a larger quantity of beer is sold as

* See Mr. Marr's evidence in the Minutes of the House of Commons, p. 32.

186

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

strong beer; that is, at a price exceeding
the price of table beer, without the strong
beer duty being paid. In the next place,
the brewer suffers, because the retailer gets
table or mild beer, and retails it as strong
beer." The following are the words of the
Act, prohibiting the brewers mixing table
beer with strong beer:

"If any common brewer shall mix or suffer to be mixed any strong beer, or strong worts with table beer or table worts, or with water in any guile or fermenting tun after the declaration of the quantity of such guile shall have been made; or if he shall at any time mix or suffer to be mixed strong beer or strong worts with table beer worts or with water, in any vat, cask, tub, measures or utensil, not being an entered

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

guile or fermented tun, he shall forfeit
200l*.”

With respect to the persons who commit
this offence, Mr. Carr*, the Solicitor of the
Excise, observes, that “ they are generally
brewers who carry on the double trade of
brewing both strong and table beer. It is
almost impossible to prevent them from
mixing one with the other; and frauds of
very great extent have been detected, and
the parties punished for that offence. One
brewer at Plymouth evaded duties to the
amount of 32,000l; and other brewers, who
brew party guiles of beer carrying on the two
trades of ale and table beer brewers, where

* 42 George III, c. 38, section 12.

† See Minutes of the House of Commons, p. 32.

188 ADULTERATION OF BEER.

the trade is a victualling brewer, which is
different from the common brewer, he being
a person who sells only wholesale; the vic-
tualling brewer being a brewer and also a
seller by retail.

"In the neighbourhood of London," Mr. Carr continues, "more particularly, I speak from having had great experience, from the informations and evidence which I have received, that the retailers carry on a most extensive fraud upon the public, in purchasing stale table beer, or the bottoms of casks. There are a class of men who go about and sell such beer at table-beer price to public victuallers, who mix it in their cellars. If they receive beer from their brewers which is mild, they purchase stale beer; and if they receive stale beer, they purchase common table beer for that

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

purpose; and many of the prosecutions are
against retailers for that offence." The fol-
lowing may serve in proof of this state-
ment.

Brewers prosecuted and convicted from
1813 to 1819, for adulterating Strong
Beer with Table Beer*.

Mr. Manton and another, brewers, for mixing strong
and table beer, verdict 300l.

Mr. Morrell and another, brewers, for mixing strong
and table beer, 20l. and costs.

Mr. Jones and another, brewers, for mixing strong
and table beer, verdict 125l.

Mr. Stroad, brewer, for mixing strong and table
beer, 200l. and costs.

Mr. Cobbett, brewer, for mixing strong and table
beer, 100l. and costs.

Mr. Withers, brewer, for mixing strong and table
beer, 75l. and costs.

* Copied from the Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons, appointed for examining the price and quality of Beer, 1819, p. 29, 36, 43.

190

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

Mr. Cowel, brewer, for mixing table beer with strong, 50l. and costs.

Mr. Mitchell, brewer, for mixing table beer with strong, absconded.

Messrs. Lloyd and another, brewers, for mixing table beer with strong, 25l. and costs.

Messrs. Edmunds and another, brewers, for mixing table beer with strong, for a long period, verdict 600l.

Mr. Hoffman, brewer, for mixing strong and table beer, and using molasses, 130l. and costs.

Mr. Langworth, brewer, for mixing strong with stale table beer, 10l. and costs.

Mrs. Spencer, brewer, for mixing strong with stale table beer, verdict 150l.

Messrs. Smith and others, brewers, for mixing strong and table beer.

Mr. George, brewer, for mixing strong and table beer, verdict 200l.

Mr. Row, brewer, for mixing strong and table beer, verdict 400l.

Messrs. Drew, jun. and another, for mixing strong beer with table, 50l. and costs.

Mr. Cape, brewer, for mixing strong and table beer, 250l. and costs.

Messrs. Williams and another, brewers, for mixing strong and table beer, verdict 200l.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

REMARKS WITH REGARD TO THE ORIGIN OF THE BEER CALLED PORTER.

It is necessary to state, that every publican has two sorts of beer sent to him from the brewer; the one is called *mild*, which is beer sent out fresh as it is brewed; the other is called *old*; that is, such as is brewed on purpose for keeping, and which has been kept in store a twelve-month or eighteen months. The origin of the beer called *entire*, is thus related by the editor of the Picture of London: "Before the year 1730, the malt liquors in general use in London were ale beer and two-penny; and it was customary to call for a pint, or tankard, of half-and-half, i. e. half of ale and half of beer, half of ale and half of

192

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

two-penny. In course of time it also became the practice to call for a pint or tankard of *three-threads*, meaning a third of ale, beer, and two-penny; and thus the publican had the trouble to go to three casks, and turn three cocks, for a pint of liquor. To avoid this inconvenience and waste, a brewer the name of Harwood conceived the idea of making a liquor, which should partake of the same united flavours of ale, beer, and two-penny; he did so, and succeeded, calling it *entire*, or entire butt, meaning that it was drawn entirely from one cask or butt; and as it was a very hearty and nourishing liquor, and supposed to be very suitable for porters and other working people, it obtained the name of *porter*." The system is now altered, and porter is very generally compounded of two kinds, or rather the same

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

liquor in two different states, the due ad-mixture of which is palatable, though neither is good alone. One is *mild porter*, and the other *stale porter*; the former is that which has a slightly bitter flavour; the latter has been kept longer. This mixture the publican adapts to the palates of his several customers, and effects the mixture very readily, by means of a machine, containing small pumps worked by handles. In these are four pumps, but only three spouts, because two of the pumps throw out at the same spout: one of these two pumps draws the mild, and the other the stale porter, from the casks down in the cellar; and the publican, by dexterously changing his hold works either pump, and draws both kinds of beer at the same spout. An indifferent observer supposes, that since it all comes from

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194

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

one spout, it is entire butt beer, as the pub-
lican professes over his door, and which has
been decided by vulgar prejudice to be
only good porter, though the difference
is not easily distinguished. I have been
informed by several eminent brewers, that,
of late, a far greater quantity is consumed
of mild than of stale beer.

COMPOSITION OF OLD OR ENTIRE
BEER.

THE entire beer of the modern brewer, according to the statement of C. Barclay*, Esq. consists of some beer brewed expressly for the purpose of keeping: it likewise contains a portion of returns from pub-

* See the Parliamentary Minutes, p. 94.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

licans; a portion of beer from the bottoms
of vats; the beer that is drawn of from the
pipes, which convey the beer from one vat
to another, and from one part of the pre-
mises to another. This beer is collected
and put into vats. Mr. Barclay also states
that it contains a certain portion of brown
stout, which is twenty shillings a barrel
dearer than common beer; and some bot-
tling beer which is ten shillings a barrel
dearer*; and that all these beers, united,
are put into vats, and that it depends upon
various circumstances, how long they may
remain in those vats before they become per-
fectly bright. When bright, this beer is

* Mr. Barclay has not specified the relative propor-
tions of brown stout and of bottling beer, which are
introduced at such an augmentation of expence.

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196

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

sent out to the publicans, for their entire
beer, and there is sometimes a small quan-
tity of mild beer mixed with it.”

The present entire beer, therefore, is a
very heterogeneous mixture, composed of
all the waste and spoiled beer of the pub-
licans—the bottoms of butts—the leavings
of the pots—the drippings of the machines
for drawing the beer—the remnants of beer
that lay in the leaden pipes of the brewery,
with a portion of brown stout, bottling beer,
and mild beer.

FRAUDULENT PRACTICE OF CONVERT-
ING NEW BEER INTO OLD OR EN-
TIRE BEER.

THE old or *entire* beer we have examined,
as obtained from Messrs. Barclay's, and

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

other eminent London brewers, is unquestionably a good compound; but it does no longer appear to be necessary, among fraudulent brewers, to brew beer on purpose for keeping, or to keep it twelve or eighteen months. A more easy, expeditious, and economical method has been discovered to convert any sort of beer into entire beer, merely by the admixture of a portion of sulphuric acid. An imitation of the age of eighteen months is thus produced in an instant. This process is technically called to bring beer *forward*, or to make it *hard*.

The practice is a bad one. The genuine, old, or entire beer, of the honest brewer, is quite a different compound; it has a rich, generous, full-bodied taste, without being acid, and a vinous odour: but it may, perhaps, not be generally known that this kind

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198

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

of beer always affords a less proportion of
alcohol than is produced from mild beer.
The practice of bringing beer forward, it
is to be understood, is resorted to only by
fraudulent brewers*.

If, on the contrary, the brewer has too
large a stock of old beer on his hands,
recourse is had to an opposite practice
of converting stale, half-spoiled, or sour
beer, into mild beer, by the simple ad-
mixture of an alkali, or an alkaline earth.
Oyster-shell powder and subcarbonate of
potash, or soda, are usually employed for
that purpose. These substances neutralise
the excess of acid, and render sour beer
somewhat palatable. By this process the
beer becomes very liable to spoil.

* Mr. Child, in his Treatise on Brewing, p. 23,
directs, to make new beer older, use oil of vitriol.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

It is the worst expedient that the brewer
can practise: the beer thus rendered mild,
soon loses its vinous taste; it becomes va-
pid; and speedily assumes a muddy grey
colour, and an exceedingly disagreeable
taste.

These sophistications may be considered,
at first, as minor crimes practised by fraudu-
lent brewers, when compared with the me-
thods employed by them for rendering beer
noxious to health by substances absolutely
injurious.

FRAUDULENT PRACTICE OF INCREAS-
ING THE INTOXICATING QUALITY
OF BEER.

To increase the intoxicating quality of
beer, the deleterious vegetable substance,

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200

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

called cocculus indicus, and the extract of
this poisonous berry, technically called
black extract, or, by some, hard multum,
are employed. Opium, tobacco, nux vomica,
and extract of poppies, have also been
used.

This fraud constitutes by far the most
censurable offence committed by unprinci-
pled brewers; and it is a lamentable re-
flection to behold so great a number of
brewers prosecuted and convicted of this
crime; nor is it less deplorable to find the
names of druggists, eminent in trade, im-
plicated in the fraud, by selling the unlaw-
ful ingredients to brewers for fraudulent
purposes.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

Brewers prosecuted and convicted from
1813 to 1819, for receiving and using
illegal Ingredients in their Brewings*.

Mr. Gardner, brewer, for using adulterating ingre-
dients, 100l., judgment by default.

Messrs. Webb and another, brewers, for using
adulterating ingredients, and mixing strong and table
beer, verdict 500l.

Mr. Wyatt, brewer, for using adulterating ingre-
dients, verdict 400l.

Mr. Harbart, retailer, for receiving adulterating ingredients, verdict 150l.

Messrs. Blake and others, brewers, for using adul-
terating ingredients, and mixing strong and table beer,
verdict 250l.

Mr. Sneed, for receiving adulterating ingredients,
25l. and costs.

Messrs. Rewell and another, brewers, ditto, verdict
100l.

* Copied from the Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons appointed for examining the price and quality of beer, p. 29, 36.

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202

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

Messrs. Swain and another, brewers, for using adulterating ingredients, verdict 200l.

Mr. Ing, brewer, ditto, stayed on defendant's death.

Mr. Hall, ditto, for receiving adulterating ingredients, 5l. and costs.

Mr. Webb, retailer, for using adulterating ingredients.

Messrs. Fogg and another, brewers, for receiving and using adulterating ingredients.

Mr. Gray, brewer, for using adulterating ingredients, 300l. and costs.

Mr. Bowman, for using liquid in bladder, supposed to be extract of cocculus, 100l.

Mr. Bowman, brewer, for ditto, 100l. and costs.

Mr. Stephens, brewer, for ditto, verdict 50l.

Messrs. Rogers and another, brewers, for ditto, 220l. and costs.

Mr. Moore, brewer, for using colouring, 300l. and costs.

Mr. Morris, for using adulterating ingredients.

Messrs. Webb and Ball, for using ginger, Guinea pepper, and brown powder (name unknown), 1st. 100l. 2nd. 500l.

Mr. Clarke, for using molasses, 150l.

Messrs. Kewell and Burrows, for using cocculus india, multum, &c. 100l.

Messrs. Allatson and Abraham, for using cocculus india, multum, and porter flavour, 630l.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

Messrs. Swain and Sewell, for using cocculus india,
Guinea opium, &c. 200l.

Mr. Ing, for using cocculus india, hard colouring,
and honey, dead.

Mr. Dean, for using molasses, 50l.

Mr. Cowell, for using Spanish liquorice, and mixing
table beer with strong beer, 50l.

Mr. Mitchell, for using cocculus india, vitriol, and
Guinea pepper, left the country.

Messrs. Lloyd and Man, for using extract of cocculus, 25l.

Mr. Gray, for using ginger, hartshorn shavings,
and molasses, 300l.

Mr. Hoffman, for using molasses, Spanish juice,
and mixing table with strong beer, 130l.

Messrs. Rogers and Boon, for using extract of cocculus, multum, porter flavour, &c. 220l.

Mr. Betteley, for using wormwood, coriander seed,
and Spanish juice, 200l.

Mr. Lane, brewer, for using wormwood instead of
hops, 5l. and costs.

That a minute portion of an unwholesome
ingredient, daily taken in beer, cannot fail
to be productive of mischief, admits of no
doubt; and there is reason to believe that

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