Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/188

Rh 172 ADULTERATION bones of horses slaughtered at that establishment, is trans parent, and nearly colourless, and is on that account much sought after by restaurateurs for making jellies. It enters largely, too, into the composition of French gelatine. 9. Sugar. During the last ten or twelve years the manufacture of sugar from starch has been an important branch of industry. The product is sent into commerce under the names of glucose, saccharum, and British sugar ; and although it is chiefly used for brewing purposes, it is also employed for adulterating brown sugar, and for making confectionary, jams, marmalades, and fruit jellies. In the year 1870, as much as 25,737 cwt. of this sugar was manufactured for home consumption, and since then the quantity has been increasing. It is produced from rice or other starch, by submitting it to the action of very dilute sulphuric acid at a boiling temperature the acid being afterwards neutralised with lime, and the solution evapo rated to the setting point. The crystals of grape sugar are - very small, and are entirely without that sparkling character water, but more so in alcohol, than cane sugar, and they have only about one-third the sweetening power. Boiled with a solution of caustic potash, they quickly produce a deep brown liquid, and they have the power of reducing the hydrated oxide of copper, when heated therewith in an alkaline solution. These characters are distinctive of it, and will serve to recognise it in the brown sugars of commerce. 10. Mustard is generally so acrid and powerful in its flavour that it is commonly diluted with flour, or other farinaceous matter, turmeric being added to improve its appearance. The mixture is recognised by means of the microscope, when the granules of starch and the colouring matters of turmeric are easily seen. Genuine mustard does not contain starch, and therefore does not become blue when it is treated with a solution of iodine. 11. Spices, as pepper, cinnamon, curry powder, ginger, cayenne, &c., are more or less the subjects of fraudulent adulteration, which can readily be detected by the micro scope, and by an examination of the mineral constituents. Formerly, pepper was ground by the retail dealer, and then there was no excuse for the presence of adulterating agents ; but in 1856, the wholesale dealer undertook the business of grinding, and from that time adulteration has been on the increase. In some cases, the article does not contain a trace of pepper, but is made up of gypsum, mustard husk, and a little starch. In the Ninth Report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, there is a statement by Mr Phillips, the chief chemist of the Excise, that he found a sample of so-called pepper containing 25 per cent, gypsum, the rest being mustard husks and a little cereal starch, without a trace of pepper. Another sample con sisted of 16 per cent, gypsum, 44 mustard husks, a little cereal starch, and the rest pepper. Four other samples, closely resembling pepper, so as to deceive an inexperienced eye, were found to contain about 22 per cent, of gypsum, with sand, starch, and mustard husk. Linseed meal and powdered capsicums are likewise used for adulterating pepper. The chief sophistications of ginger powder are sago-meal, ground rice, and turmeric ; while the colouring agents of curry powders and cayenne are ferruginous earths, brick dust, and even vermilion and red-lead. Spices, too, are sometimes exhausted of their active pro perties before they are ground and sold to the public. 12. Beer, Ale, and Porter, The assize of ale is con temporaneous with that of bread, being described as the &quot;Assisce Panis et Cervesice,&quot; in old documents. In the statute 51 Henry III. c. 16 (1266), they are spoken of as ancient and well-known institutions, the object of them being to regulate the quality and price of these articles. The officers appointed to determine the goodness of ale were called &quot; ale conners,&quot; or &quot; ale tasters &quot; (gustatores cervisiee), and were elected annually in the court-leet of each manor, and in the city of London at the ward-mote, according to the advice and assent of the alderman and other reputable men of the ward. Very specific instructions are given in Liber Albus of the business of the brewer, and of the penalities for any default thereof it being ordained that no ale should be sold without having been tasted and approved by the ale conners of the district. Even now these officers are elected in the city of London with the old formalities, but the real duty of examining the quality of ale, beer, and porter has for many years been in the hands of the Excise. As far back as the time of Anne there was a law prohibiting the use of Coccuhis indicus or any unwholesome ingredient in the brewing of beer, under severe penalties, the brewer being restricted to the use of malt and hops alone ; but gradually, as the taste for porter came into fashion (since 1730), and during the French war, when the price of malt was very high, certain colouring matters prepared from burnt sugar were allowed to be used, and this at last became so necessary to the trade, that it was legalised by the Act 51 Geo. III. c. 51. Five years after, however, it was prohibited by the statute 56 Geo. III. c. 58, which declared that after the 5th of July 1817, no brewer, or dealer, or retailer of beer, shall receive, or use, or have in his possession or custody, any liquor, extract, or other material or preparation, for the purpose of darkening the colour of worts or beer, other than brown malt. He was also prohibited from using molasses, honey, liquorice, vitriol, quassia, Cocculus indicus, grains of paradise, guinea pepper, or opium, or any extract or preparation of the same, or any substitute for malt or hops, under a penalty of 200 ; and no chemist or vendor of drugs was permitted to sell, send, or deliver any such things to a brewer or retailer of beer under a penalty of 500. Later still, in 1830, the Act for permitting the general sale of beer and cider by retail in England (1 Will. IV. c. 64), declares that if any person so licensed shall knowingly sell any beer, ale, or porter, made otherwise than from malt and hops, or shall mix, or cause to be admixed, any drugs or other pernicious ingredients with any beer sold in his house or premises, or shall fraudulently dilute or in any way adulterate any such beer, &c., shall for the first offence forfeit and pay a sum of from 10 to 20, and for the second offence shall be adjudged disqualified from selling beer, ale, or porter for two years, or forfeit a sum of from 20 to 50 ; and the same regulations applied to cider and perry. The execution of these acts rested with the Excise, and it would seem that three classes of adulterations were practised, namely, 1st, Those which gave fictitious strength to the beer, as Cocculus indicus, tobacco, opium, &c. ; 2d, Those which improved the flavour and body of the beer, as grains of paradise, capsicum pods, ground ginger, coriander seeds, carraway seels, sweet flag, liquorice, molasses, and salt ; and, 3d, Those which gave bitterness, as quassia, chiretta, horehound, gentian, tkc. In London the publicans were not in the habit of practising the first kind of adulteration, but confined themselves to the second and third. In the country, however, according to Mr Phillips, it was quite otherwise, especially with brewers who retailed their own beer ; for he found that they fre quently used tobacco and Cocculus indicus. He even thinks that the cases of brutal and purposeless violence which were so often recorded were referable to the madden ing influence of these ingredients. By the Act 24 and 25 Viet. c. 22 (1863), when the duty on hops was relieved, these bitters and substitutes were permitted, and so also was sugar, provided the full duty of 12s. 8d. per cwt. was paid upon it. Later still, by the Licensing Act 1872 (35
 * which distinguishes cane sugar. They are less soluble in