Poisonous Confectionery.

IN the preparation of sugar plums, com-
fits, and other kinds of confectionery, espe-
cially those sweetmeats of inferior qua-
lity frequently exposed to sale in the open
streets, for the allurement of children, the
grossest abuses are committed. The white
comfits, called sugar pease, are chiefly
composed of a mixture of sugar, starch,
and Cornish clay (a species of very white
pipe-clay); and the red sugar drops are
usually coloured with the inferior kind of
vermillion. This pigment is generally adul-
terated with red lead. Other kinds of sweet-

306 POISONOUS CONFECTIONERY.

meats are sometimes rendered poisonous by
being coloured with preparations of copper.
The following account of Mr. Miles* may be
advanced in proof of this statement:

" Some time ago, while residing in the
house of a confectioner, I noticed the co-
louring of the green fancy sweetmeats being
done by dissolving sap-green in brandy.
Now sap-green itself, as prepared from the
juice of the buckthorn berries, is no doubt
a harmless substance; but the manufactu-
rers of this colour have for many years past
produced various tints, some extremely
bright, which there can be no doubt are
effected by adding preparations of copper.

" The sweetmeats which accompany
these lines you will find exhibit vestiges

* Philosoph. Mag. No. 258, vol. 54. 1819. p. 317.

POISONOUS CONFECTIONERY.

of being contaminated with copper.—The practice of colouring these articles of confectionery should, therefore, be banished: the proprietors of which are not aware of the deleterious quality of the substances employed by them.”

The foreign conserves, such as small green limes, citrons, hop-tops, plums, angelica roots, &c. imported into this country, and usually sold in round chip boxes, are frequently impregnated with copper.

The adulteration of confitures by means of clay, may be detected by simply dissolving the comfits in a large quantity of boiling water. The clay, after suffering the mixture to stand undisturbed for a few days, will fall to the bottom of the vessel; and on decanting the clear fluid, and suffering the sediment to become dry gradually, it

308 POISONOUS CONFECTIONERY.

may be obtained in a separate state. If the adulteration has been effected by means of clay, the obtained precipitate, on exposure to a red heat in the bowl of a common tobacco-pipe, acquires a brick hardness.

The presence of copper may be detected by pouring over the comfits liquid ammonia, which speedily acquires a blue colour, if this metal be present. The presence of lead is rendered obvious by water impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, acidulated with muriatic acid (see p. 87), which assumes a dark brown or black colour, if lead be present.

Poisonous Catsup.

THIS article is very often subjected to
one of the most reprehensible modes of adul-
teration ever devised. Quantities are daily
to be met with, which, on a chemical exa-
mination, are found to abound with copper.
Indeed, this condiment is often nothing else
than the residue left behind after the process
employed for obtaining distilled vinegar,
subsequently diluted with a decoction of the
outer green husk of the walnut, and sea-
soned with all-spice, Cayenne pepper, pi-
mento, garlick, and common salt*.

* The best method of making Mushroom Catsup is detailed in receipt No. 439, of the Cook's Oracle. It is too long to insert here.

310

POISONOUS CATSUP.

The quantity of copper which we have,
more than once, detected in this sauce, used
for seasoning, and which, on account of its
cheapness, is much resorted to by people in
the lower walks of life, has exceeded the
proportion of lead to be met with in other
articles employed in domestic economy.

The following account of Mr. Lewis, (Li-
terary Chronicle, No. 24, p. 379,) on this
subject, will be sufficient to cause the public
to be on their guard.

" Being in the habit of frequently pur-
chasing large quantities of pickles and other
culinary sauces, for the use of my establish-
ment, and also for foreign trade, it fell lately
to my lot to purchase from a manufacturer
of those commodities a quantity of walnut
catsup, apparently of an excellent quality;
but, to my great surprise, I had reason to

POISONOUS CATSUP.

311

believe that the article might be contami-
nated with some deleterious substance, from
circumstances which happened in my busi-
ness as a tavern keeper, but which are un-
necessary to be detailed here; and it was
this that induced me to make inquiry con-
cerning the compounding of the suspected
articles."

" The catsup being prepared by boiling in a copper, as is usually practised, the outer green shell of walnuts, after having been suffered to turn black by exposure to air, in combination with common salt, with a portion of pimento and pepper dust, in common vinegar, strengthened with some vinegar extract, left behind as residue in the still of vinegar manufacturers; I therefore suspected that the catsup might be impregnated

312

POISONOUS CATSUP.

with some copper. To convince myself of
this opinion, I boiled down to dryness a
quart of it in a stone pipkin, which yielded
to me a dark brown mass. I put this mass
into a crucible, and kept it on a coal fire,
red hot, till it became reduced to a porous
black charcoal; on urging the heat with a
pair of bellows, and stirring the mass in the
crucible with the stem of a tobacco-pipe, it
became, after two hours' exposure to an in-
tense heat, converted into a greyish-white
ash; but no metal could be discriminated
amongst it. I now poured upon it some
aqua fortis, which dissolved nearly the whole
of it, with an effervescence; and produced,
after having been suffered to stand, to let the
insoluble portion subside, a bright grass-
green solution, of a strong metallic taste;

POISONOUS CATSUP.

after immersing into this solution the blade
of a knife, it became instantly covered with
a bright coat of copper.”

“ The walnut catsup was therefore evi-
dently strongly impregnated with copper.
On informing the manufacturer of this fact,
he assured me, that the same method of pre-
paring the liquor was generally pursued,
and that he had manufactured the article in
a like manner for upwards of twenty years.

“ Such is the statement I wish to commu-
nicate; and if you will allow it a place in
your Literary Chronicle, it may perhaps tend
to put the unwary on their guard against the
practice of preparing this sauce by boiling it
in a copper, which certainly may contami-
nate the liquor, and render it poisonous.”

P

Adulteration of Lozenges.

LOZENGES, particularly those into the
composition of which substances enter that
are not soluble in water, as ginger, cream of
tartar, magnesia, &c. are often sophisticated.
The adulterating ingredient is usually pipe-
clay, of which a liberal portion is substituted
for sugar. The following detection of this
fraud was lately made by Dr. T. Lloyd.—
(Literary Gazette, No. 146.)

" Some ginger lozenges having lately fallen into my hands, I was not a little surprised to observe, accidentally, that when thrown into a coal fire, they suffered but

ADULTERATION OF LOZENGES. 315

little change. If one of the lozenges were
laid on a shovel, previously made red-hot,
it speedily took fire; but instead of burning
with a blaze and becoming converted into a
charcoal, it took fire, and burnt with a fee-
ble flame for scarcely half a minute, and
there remained behind a stony hard sub-
stance, retaining the form of the lozenge.
This unexpected result led me to examine
these lozenges, which were bought at a re-
spectable chemist's shop in the city; and I
soon became convinced, that, in the prepa-
ration of them, a considerable quantity of
common pipe-clay had been substituted for
sugar. On making a complaint about this
fraud at the shop where the article was sold,
I was informed that there were two kinds of
ginger lozenges kept for sale, the one at
three-pence the ounce, and the other at six-

P 2

316 ADULTERATION OF LOZENGES.

pence per ounce; and that the article furnished to me by mistake was the cheaper commodity; the latter were distinguished by the epithet *verum*, they being composed of sugar and ginger only: but the former were manufactured partly of white Cornish clay, with a portion of sugar only, with ginger and Guinea pepper. I was likewise informed, that of Tolu lozenges, peppermint lozenges and ginger pearls, and several other sorts of lozenges, two kinds were kept; that the *reduced* articles, as they were called, were manufactured for those very clever persons in their own conceit, who are fond of haggling, and insist on buying better bargains than other people, shutting their eyes to the defects of an article, so that they can enjoy the delight of getting it cheap; and, secondly, for those persons, who being but

ADULTERATION OF LOZENGES. 317

bad paymasters, yet, as the manufacturer,
for his own credit's sake, cannot charge
more than the usual price of the articles, he
thinks himself therefore authorized to adul-
terate it in value, to make up for the risk he
runs, and the long credit he gives."

The comfits, called ginger pearls, are fre-
quently adulterated with clay. These frauds
may be detected in the manner stated, page
307.

P 3

Poisonous Olive Oil.

This commodity is sometimes contaminated with lead, because the fruit which yields the oil is submitted to the action of the press between leaden plates; and it is, moreover, a practice (particularly in Spain) to suffer the oil to become clear in leaden cisterns, before it is brought to market for sale. The French and Italian olive oil is usually free from this impregnation.

Olive oil is sometimes mixed with oil of poppy seeds: but, by exposing the mixture to the freezing temperature, the olive oil

POISONOUS OLIVE OIL.

freezes, while that of the poppy seeds remains fluid; and as oils which freeze with most difficulty are most apt to become rancid, olive oil is deteriorated by the mixture of poppy oil.

Good olive oil should have a pale yellow colour, somewhat inclining to green; a bland taste, without smell; and should конgeal at 38° Fahrenheit. In this country, it is frequently met with rancid.

The presence of lead is detected by shaking, in a stopped vial, one part of the suspected oil, with two or three parts of water, impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen. This agent will render the oil of a dark brown or black colour, if any metal, deleterious to health, be present. The practice of keeping this oil in pewter or leaden cisterns,

P 4

Adulteration of Lemon Acid.

It is well known to every one, that the expressed juice of lemons is extremely apt to spoil, on account of the saccharine mucilaginous matter which it contains; and hence various means have been practised, with the intention of rendering it less perishable, and less bulky. The juice has been evaporated to the consistence of rob; but this always gives an unpleasant empyretic taste, and does not separate the foreign matters, so that it is still apt to spoil when agitated on board of ship in tropical climates. It has been exposed to frost, and part of the water removed under the form of ice; but this is liable to all the former objections: and, besides, where lemons are produced in sufficient quantity, there is not a sufficient

322 ADULTERATION OF LEMON ACID.

degree of cold. The addition of a portion of
spirit to the inspissated juice, separates the
mucilage, but not the extractive matter and
the sugar. By means, however, of sepa-
rating the foreign matters associated with it
in the juice, by chemical processes unneces-
sary to be detailed here, citric acid is now
manufactured, perfectly pure, and in a crys-
tallised form, and is sold under the name of
concrete lemon acid. In this state it is ex-
tremely convenient, both for domestic and
medicinal purposes. One drachm, when dis-
solved in one ounce of water, is as acid as a
like bulk of fresh lemon juice. To commu-
nicate the flavour of the lemon, rub a lump
of sugar on the rind of a lemon to become
impregnated with a portion of the essential
oil of the fruit, and add this to the lemonade,
negus, punch, shrub, jellies, or culinary
sauces, prepared with the pure citric acid.

ADULTERATION OF LEMON ACID. 323

Fraudulent dealers often substitute the cheaper tartareous acid for citric acid. The negus and lemonade made by the pastry-cooks, and the punch sold at taverns in this metropolis, is made with tartareous acid.

To discriminate citric acid from tartareous acid, it is only necessary to add a concentrated solution of the suspected acid, to a concentrated solution of muriate of potash, taking care that the solution of the acid is in excess. If a precipitate ensue, the fraud is obvious, because citric acid does not produce a precipitate with a solution of muriate or potash. Or, by adding to a saturated solution of tartrate of potash, a saturated solution of the suspected acid, in excess, which produces with it an almost insoluble precipitate in minute granular crystals. Pure citric acid produces no such effect when added in excess to tartrate of potash.

Poisonous Soda Water.

THE beverage called soda water is frequently contaminated both with copper and lead; these metals being largely employed in the construction of the apparatus for preparing the carbonated water*, and the great excess of carbonic acid which the water contains, particularly enables it to act strongly on the metallic substances of the apparatus; a truth, of which the reader will find no difficulty in convincing himself, by suffering a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen gas to pass through the water.—(See p. 89.)

* Some manufacturers have been hence induced to construct the apparatus for manufacturing soda water wholly either of earthenware or of glass. Mr. Johnston, of Greek Street, Soho, was the first who pointed out to the public the absolute necessity of this precaution.

Poisonous Anchovy Sauce.

SEVERAL samples which we have examined of this fish sauce, have been found contaminated with lead.

The mode of preparation of this fish-sauce, consists in rubbing down the broken anchovy in a mortar: and this triturated mass, being of a dark brown colour, receives, without much risk of detection, a certain quantity of Venetian red, added for the purpose of colouring it, which, if genuine, is an innocent colouring substance: but instances have occurred of this pigment having been adulterated with orange lead, which is nothing else than a better kind of

326 POISONOUS ANCHOVY SAUCE.

minium, or red oxid of lead. The fraud
may be detected as stated p. 312.

The conscientious oilmen, less anxious
with respect to colour, substitute for this
poison the more harmless pigment, called
Armenian bole.

The following recipe for making this fish
sauce is copied from Gray's Supplement to
the Pharmacopœias, p. 241.

"Anchovies, 2 lbs. to 4 lbs. and a half;
pulp through a fine hair sieve; boil the
bones with common salt, 7 oz. in water
6 lbs.; strain; add flour 7 oz. and the pulp
of the fish; boil; pass the whole through
the sieve; colour with Venetian red to your
fancy. It should produce 1 gallon."

As this fish sauce is so often in request,
we give the following receipt of the best
way of making it:

POISONOUS ANCHOVY SAUCE.

"Put 10 or 12 anchovies into a mortar, and pound them to a pulp; put this into a very clean iron, or well tinned copper sauce-pan; then put a table spoonful of cold spring water into the mortar; shake it round, and pour it to the anchovies; set them over, or by the side of a gentle fire, and stir them very frequently till they are melted; then add a quarter of a drachm (avoirdupois) of Cayenne; let it remain by the fire a few minutes longer; then while warm rub it through a hair sieve with the back of a wooden spoon*."

From the Cook's Oracle, 2nd edit. 1819, receipt
433.

Poisonous Custard.

THE leaves of the cherry laurel, *prunus lauro-cerasus*, a poisonous plant, have a nutty flavour, resembling that of the kernels of peach-stones, or of bitter almonds, which to most palates is grateful. These leaves have for many years been in use among cooks, to communicate an almond or kernel-like flavour to custards, puddings, creams, *blanc-mange*, and other delicacies of the table.

It has been asserted, that the laurel poison
in custards and other articles of cookery,
is, on account of its being used in very small

POISONOUS CUSTARD.

quantities, quite harmless. To refute this
assertion, numerous instances might be cited;
and, among them, a recent one, in which four
children suffered most severely from par-
taking of custard flavoured with the leaves
of this poisonous plant.

"Several children at a boarding-school,
in the vicinity of Richmond, having par-
taken of some custard flavoured with the
leaves of the cherry laurel, as is frequently
practised by cooks, one of the poor inno-
cents were taken severely ill in consequence.
Two of them, a girl six years of age, and a
boy of five years old, fell into a profound
sleep, out of which they could not be roused."

"Notwithstanding the various medical
exertions used, the boy remained in a stupor
ten hours, and the girl nine hours; the

330

POISONOUS CUSTARD.

other two, one of which was six years old,
a girl, and a girl of seven years, complained
of severe pains in the epigastric region.
They all recovered, after three days' illness.
I am anxious to communicate to you this
fact, being convinced that your publication
is read at all the scholastic establishments
in this part of the country. I hope you will
allow these lines a corner in your Literary
Chronicle, where they may contribute to
put the unwary on their guard, against the
deleterious effects of flavouring culinary
dishes with that baneful herb, the Cherry
Laurel."

" I am, with respect, your's, Sir,

"THOMAS LIDIARD*."

* Literary Chronicle, No. 22, p. 348.—1819.

POISONOUS CUSTARD.

What person of sense or prudence, then,
would trust to the discretion of an ignorant
cook, in mixing so dangerous an ingredient
in his puddings and creams? Who but a
maniac would choose to season his victuals
with poison?

The water distilled from cherry laurel
leaves is frequently mixed with brandy and
other spirituous liquors, to impart to them
the flavour of the cordial called *noyeau*
(see also page 261).

This fluid, though long in frequent use
as a flavouring substance, was not known
to be poisonous until the year 1728; when
the sudden death of two women, in Dublin,
after drinking some of the common distilled
cherry laurel water, demonstrated its de-
leterious nature.

Poisonous Mushrooms.

MUSHROOMS have been long used in sauces and other culinary preparations; yet there are numerous instances on record of the deleterious effects of some species of these fungi, almost all of which are fraught with poison*. Pliny already exclaims against the luxury of his countrymen in this article, and wonders what extraordinary pleasure there can be in eating such dangerous food†.

But if the palate must be indulged with these lethal luxuries, or, as Seneca calls them, “voluptuous poison‡,” it is highly ne-

* Fungi plerique veneno turgent. Linn. Amæn. Acid.
† Quæ voluptas tanta ancipitis cibi?—Plin. Nat. Hist. xxii. 23.
‡ Sen. Ep. 95.

POISONOUS MUSHROOMS.

cessary that the mild eatable mushrooms
should be gathered by persons skilful
enough to distinguish the good from the
false, or poisonous, which is not always the
case; nor are the characters which distin-
guish them strongly marked.

The following statement is published by
Mr. Glen, surgeon, of Knightsbridge:

"A poor man, residing in Knightsbridge, took a walk in Hyde Park, with the intention of gathering some mushrooms. He collected a considerable number, and, after stewing them, began to eat them. He had finished the whole, with the exception of about six or eight, when, about eight or ten minutes from the commencement of his meal, he was suddenly seized with a dimness, or mist before his eyes, a giddiness of the head, with a general trembling and sudden loss of

334

POISONOUS MUSHROOMS.

power; so much so, that he nearly fell off
the chair; to this succeeded, loss of recol-
lection; he forgot where he was, and all the
circumstances of his case. This deprivation
soon went off, and he so far rallied as to be
able, though with difficulty, to get up, with
the intention of going to Mr. Glen for assist-
ance—a distance of about five hundred
yards: he had not proceeded more than half
way, when his memory again failed him: he
lost his road, although previously well ac-
quainted with it. He was met by a friend,
who with difficulty learned his state, and
conducted him to Mr. Glen's house. His
countenance betrayed great anxiety; he
reeled about, like a drunken man, and was
greatly inclined to sleep; his pulse was low
and feeble. Mr. Glen immediately gave
him an emetic draught. The poison had so
diminished the sensibility of the stomach,

POISONOUS MUSHROOMS.

335

that vomiting did not take place for nearly twenty minutes, although another draught had been exhibited. During this interval his drowsiness increased to such a degree, that he was only kept awake by obliging him to walk round the room with assistance: he also, at this time, complained of distressing pains in the calves of his legs.—Full vomiting was at length produced. After the operation of the emetic, he expressed himself generally better, but still continued drowsy. In the evening Mr. Glen found him doing well.”

The following case is recorded in the Medical Transactions, vol. ii.

"A middle-aged man having gathered what he called champignons, they were stewed, and eaten by himself and his wife; their child also, about four years old, ate a little of them, and the sippets of bread which

336

POISONOUS MUSHROOMS.

were put into the liquor. Within five minutes after eating them, the man began to stare in an unusual manner, and was unable to shut his eyes. All objects appeared to him coloured with a variety of colours. He felt a palpitation in what he called his stomach; and was so giddy that he could hardly stand. He seemed to himself swelled all over his body. He hardly knew what he did or said; and sometimes was unable to speak at all. These symptoms continued in a greater or less degree for twenty-four hours; after which, he felt little or no disorder. Soon after he perceived himself ill, one scruple of white vitriol was given him, and repeated two or three times, with which he vomited plentifully.

" The woman, aged thirty-nine, felt all the same symptoms, but in a higher degree. She totally lost her voice and her senses,

POISONOUS MUSHROOMS.

and was either stupid, or so furious that it
was necessary she should be held. The
white vitriol was offered to her, of which she
was capable of taking but very little; how-
ever, after four or five hours, she was much
recovered: but she continued many days
far from being well, and from enjoying her
former health and strength. She frequently
fainted for the first week after; and there
was, during a month longer, an uneasy sense
of heat and weight in her breast, stomach,
and bowels, with great flatulence. Her
head was, at first waking, much confused;
and she often experienced palpitations,
tremblings, and other hysteric affections;
to all which she had ever before been a
stranger.

" The child had some convulsive agita-
tions of his arms, but was otherwise little

Q

338

POISONOUS MUSHROOMS.

affected. He was capable of taking half a
scruple of ipecacuanha, with which he vo-
mited, and was soon perfectly recovered."

MUSHROOM CATSUP.

THE edible mushroom is the basis of the
sauce called mushroom catsup; a great pro-
portion of which is prepared by gardeners
who grow the fungi. The mushrooms em-
ployed for preparing this sauce are gene-
rally those which have not found a ready
sale in the market, and are in a putrified
state; for no vegetable substance is liable to
so rapid a spontaneous decomposition as
mushrooms. In a few days after they have
been gathered from the dung-bed on which
they grow, they become the habitation of
myriads of insects; and, if even the fresh
mushroom be attentively examined, it will
frequently be found to swarm with life.

Adulteration of Milk.

ALTHOUGH we have already made some remarks on the sophistication of milk (page 302), the following additional statement may not be deemed superfluous.

The most correct method of ascertaining the different qualities of milk, or the relative richness of different kinds of milk, is by means of a simple instrument, lately constructed at the suggestions of Sir Joseph Banks.

It consists of any number of cylindrical glass tubes of the same internal diameter, which is generally about half an inch, or ½

q 2

340

ADULTERATION OF MILK.

of an inch; and about 10 or 12 inches long. They are closed at one end, and open, and a little flanched at the other, like the test tubes used by chemists, and are mounted on a stand in the same manner. At the distance of about 10 inches from the bottom of each tube is a line or mark, with 0, or zero, placed opposite it, and from this point the tube is graduated into tenths of an inch, and numbered downwards for 2 or 3 inches, so that each division is 1/100th of the capacity of the tube.

If several of the tubes are filled with milk at the same time, and placed at the same temperature, the cake of cream will form at the top, and its quantity or percentage will be read off by mere inspection.

In this way experiments may be made on the relative quantities of cream produced

ADULTERATION OF MILK.

by different systems of feeding, or by different animals' feed, and placed under different circumstances. A *standard milk*, with which all other samples are to be compared, may readily be fixed by saying what lactometer strength it shall possess. From experiments we have made with several samples of genuine skimmed country milk, we are authorised to state, that the London milk was found by no means to be so very much inferior to the country skimmed milk, as might perhaps be expected. The tests by the lactometer never indicate more than from 8 to 10 per cent. of water.

q 3

Adulteration of Isinglass.

ISINGLASS may be considered as an alimentary substance employed in dometic economy. By boiling isinglass in water, it becomes dissolved, and furnishes a mild tremulous jelly, which, when seasoned with cream, bitter almonds, and sugar, is called blanc-mange; and when seasoned with lemon juice, sugar, and aromatics, forms the basis of many delicacies for the table. It is also employed in domestic use in the clarification of various liquors; and if small shreds are thrown into boiling coffee, it renders it clear in a few minutes.

ADULTERATION OF ISINGLASS. 343

This substance is frequently adulterated
with shreds of the skins of the dried blad-
der of horses, and with other animal mem-
branes. This fraud may be detected by the
shreds not dissolving when boiled in water.
Genuine isinglass should be totally soluble
without leaving any filaments.

The best isinglass is perfectly transpa-
rent; it occurs in commerce twisted in the
form of a lyre or a heart; and the worst is
formed into the shape of pancakes.

q 4

Adulteration of Cinnamon.

CINNAMON is often adulterated with cassia bark, or by mixing with the genuine cinnamon, a portion of cinnamon bark which has been deprived of its essential oil by distillation.

The best cinnamon is rather pliable, and ought not much to exceed stout writing paper in thickness. It is of a light yellowish colour; it possesses a sweet taste, not so hot as to occasion pain, and not succeeded by any after-taste. The inferior kind is distinguished by being thicker, of a darker and brownish colour, hot and pun-

ADULTERATION OF CINNAMON. 345

gent when chewed, and succeeded by a disagreeable bitter after-taste. The cassia bark, which greatly resembles the true cinnamon, is thicker, and of a coarser texture, and breaks short and smooth, whilst true cinnamon breaks fibrous and splintery. Cassia has a slimy mucilagenous taste, and without any of the roughness of the true cinnamon bark.

q 5

Adulteration of Mustard.

GENUINE mustard, either in powder, or in the state of a paste ready for use, is perhaps rarely to be met with in the shops. The article sold under the name of *patent mustard*, is usually a mixture of mustard and common wheaten flour, with a portion of Cayenne pepper, and a large quantity of bay salt, made with water into a paste, ready for use. Some manufacturers adulterate their mustard with raddish-seed and pease flour.

It has often been stated, that a fine yellow colour is given to mustard by means of turmeric. We doubt the truth of this assertion. The presence of the minutest quantity of

ADULTERATION OF MUSTARD.

turmeric may instantly be detected, by adding to the mustard a few drops of a solution of potash, or any other alcali, which changes the bright yellow colour, to a brown or deep orange tint.

Two ounces and a half of Cayenne pepper, 1 1/2 lb of bay salt, 8 lb of mustard flour, and 1 1/2 lb of wheaten flour, made into a stiff paste, with the requisite quantity of water in which the bay-salt is previously dissolved, forms the *patent mustard*, sold in pots. The salt and Cayenne pepper contribute materially to the keeping of ready-made mustard.

There is therefore nothing deleterious in the usual practice of adulterating this commodity of the table. The fraud only tends to deteriorate the quality and flavour of the genuine article itself.

q 6

Adulteration of Spanish
Liquorice.

THIS article is frequently nothing else
than a mixture of the worst kind of gum
arabic, called Indian or Barbary gum, im-
ported chiefly for the use of making shoe-
blacking. A solution of the genuine Spa-
nish liquorice juice is mixed with a solution
of Barbary gum; and the mixture, after being
inspissated to a proper consistence, is again
made up into cylindrical rolls, which, whilst
still moist, are covered with bay-leaves, and
re-packed in chests, to resemble in every re-
spect the genuine Spanish liquorice juice,
imported from Catalonia. It is difficult to

ADULTERATION OF SPANISH LIQUORICE. 349

detect this fraud. Genuine Spanish liquorice should be perfectly black, brittle when cold, and break with a smooth and glassy fracture; it should not become sensibly clammy or damp, on exposure in a dry place; it should have a sweet taste, without empyreuma; and be soluble in water, without leaving any residue.

Food
Poisoned by Copper Vessels.

MANY kinds of viands are frequently im-
pregnated with copper, in consequence of
the employment of cooking utensils made
of that metal. By the use of such vessels
in dressing food, we are daily liable to be
poisoned; as almost all acid vegetables, as
well as sebaceous or pinguid substances,
employed in culinary preparations, act upon
copper, and dissolve a portion of it; and
too many examples are met with of fatal
consequences having ensued from eating
food which had been dressed in copper.

POISONOUS FOOD.

vessels not well cleaned from the oxidation of copper which they had contracted by being exposed to the action of air and moisture.

The inexcusable negligence of persons who make use of copper vessels has been productive of mortality, so much more terrible, as they have exerted their action on a great number of persons at once. The annals of medicine furnish too many examples in support of this assertion, to render it necessary to insist more upon it here.

Mr. Thiery, who wrote a thesis on the noxious quality of copper, observes, that "our food receives its quantity of poison in the kitchen by the use of copper pans and dishes. The brewer mingles poison in our beer, by boiling it in copper vessels. The sugar-baker employs copper pans; the

352

FOOD POISONED

pastry-cook bakes our tarts in copper
moulds; the confectioner uses copper ves-
sels; the oilman boils his pickles in copper
or brass vessels, and verdigrise is plenti-
fully formed by the action of the vinegar
upon the metal.

"Though, after all, a single dose be not
mortal, yet a quantity of poison, however
small, when taken at every meal, must pro-
duce more fatal effects than are generally
apprehended; and different constitutions
are differently affected by minute quantities
of substances that act powerfully on the
system."

The author of a tract, entitled, " Serious
Reflections on the Dangers attending the
Use of Copper Vessels," asserts that a nu-
merous and frightful train of diseases is
occasioned by the poisonous effects of per-

BY COPPER VESSELS.

nicious matter received into the stomach
insensibly with our victuals.

Dr. Johnston* gives an account of the
melancholy catastrophe of three men being
poisoned, after excruciating sufferings, in
consequence of eating food cooked in an
unclean copper vessel, on board the Cy-
clops frigate; and, besides these, thirty-
three men became ill from the same cause.

The following case† is related by Sir
George Baker, M.D.

"Some cyder, which had been made in
a gentleman's family, being thought too
sour, was boiled with honey in a brewing
vessel, the rim of which was capped with
lead. All who drank this liquor were

* Johnston's Essay on Poison, p. 102.

† Medical Transactions, vol. i. p. 213. See also
*Serious Reflections on the Dangers attending the Use
of Copper Vessels*, p. 15.

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FOOD POISONED

seized with a bowel colic, more or less violently. One of the servants died very soon in convulsions; several others were cruelly tortured a long time. The master of the family, in particular, notwithstanding all the assistance which art could give him, never recovered his health, but died miserably, after having almost three years languished under a most tedious and incurable malady."

Too much care and attention cannot be taken in preserving all culinary utensils of copper, in a state unexceptionably fit for their destined purpose. They should be frequently tinned, and kept thoroughly clean; nor should any food ever be suffered to remain in them for a longer time than is absolutely necessary to their preparation for the table. But the sure preventive of

BY COPPER VESSELS.

355

its pernicious effect, is, to banish copper
utensils from the kitchen altogether.

The following wholesome advice on this
subject is given to cooks by the author of
the excellent cookery book* we have be-
fore quoted.

"Stew-pans and soup-kettles should be examined every time they are used; these, and their covers, must be kept perfectly clean and well tinned, not only on the inside, but about a couple of inches on the outside; so much mischief arises from their getting out of repair; and, if not kept nicely tinned, all your work will be in vain; the broths and soups will look green and dirty, and taste bitter and poisonous, and will be spoiled both for the eye and palate, and

* The Cook's Oracle, p. 91.

Food
Poisoned by Leaden Vessels.

VARIOUS kinds of food used in domestic economy, are liable to become impregnated with lead.

The glazing of the common cream-coloured earthen ware, which is composed of an oxid of lead, readily yields to the action of vinegar and saline compounds; and therefore the jars and pots of this kind of stone ware, are wholly unfit to contain jellies of fruits, marmalade, and similar conserves. Pickles should in no case be deposited in cream-coloured glazed earthenware.

The custom which still prevails in some

358 FOOD POISONED

parts of this country of keeping milk in lea-
den vessels for the use of the dairy, is very
improper.

" In Lancashire* the dairies are furnished
with milk-pans made of lead : and when Mr.
Parks expostulated with some individuals on
the danger of this practice, he was told that
leaden milk-pans throw up the cream much
better than vessels of any other kind.

" In some parts of the north of England it
is customary for the inn-keepers to prepare
mint-salad by bruising and grinding the ve-
getable in a large wooden bowl with a ball
of lead of twelve or fourteen pounds weight.
In this operation the mint is cut, and portions
of the lead are ground off at every revo-
lution of the ponderous instrument. In the

* Parks's Chemical Essays, vol. v. p. 193.

BY LEADEN VESSELS.

same county, it is a common practice to have brewing-coppers constructed with the bottom of copper and the whole sides of lead."

The baking of fruit tarts in cream-coloured earthenware, and the salting and preserving of meat in leaden pans, are no less objectionable. All kinds of food which contain free vegetable acids, or saline preparations, attack utensils covered with a glaze, in the composition of which lead enters as a component part. The leaden beds of presses for squeezing the fruit in cyder countries, have produced incalculable mischief. These consequences never follow, when the lead is combined with tin; because this metal, being more eager for oxidation, prevents the solution of the lead.

When we consider the various unsuspected means by which the poisons of lead

360

POISONOUS FOOD.

and copper gain admittance into the human body, a very common but dangerous instance presents itself: namely, the practice of painting toys, made for the amusement of children, with poisonous substances, viz. red lead, verdigrise, &c. Children are apt to put every thing, especially what gives them pleasure, into their mouths; the painting of toys with colouring substances that are poisonous, ought therefore to be abolished; a practice which lies the more open to censure, as it is of no real utility.

FINIS.

Joseph Mallett, Printer, 59, Wardour-street, Soho, London.

Feb. 10, 1934.

University Library:

This is a rather rare book, being the first volume in English on food adulteration. The cover is unique and the volume ought to be very carefully preserved in the Library.

Lafayette B. Mendel.