108 ADULTERATION are very severe, leaving it tc the magistrate either to inflict a heavy fine or to send the offender to prison. In the year 1869 an Act was passed to prevent the adulteration of seeds, in fraud of Her Majesty s subjects, and to the great detriment of agriculture (32 and 33 Viet. c. 112), wherein it is declared that the killing of seeds, the dying of them, and the selling of such killed or dyed seeds, with intent to defraud, is punishable with a penalty not exceeding five pounds for the first offence, nor exceeding fifty pounds for a second or subsequent offence, together with the publication of the offender s name, place of abode, and offence in any manner that the justice thinks fit. Adulteration in other countries is strictly prohibited under penal obligations. The Prussian penal code provides that any person selling adulterated or spoiled goods shall be liable to a penalty up to fifty dollars, or imprisonment for six weeks, with confiscation of goods ; and it is not necessary to prove that the seller was aware of the adultera tion. In Holland, the Dutch law is very similar to the code Napoleon, and inflicts a punishment of imprisonment for from six days to two years, with a fine of from 16 to 600 francs. The adulteration of bread with copperas or sulphate of zinc is dealt with by imprisonment of from two to five years, and a fine of from 200 to 500 florins. In Paris, malpractices connected with the adulteration of food are investigated by the Conseil de Salubrite and punished. Much valuable information concerning the adulteration of food, drink, and drugs in foreign countries has lately been obtained from the various British legations and consulates abroad, through a circular addressed to them from the Foreign Office. These investigations were commenced by the late Earl of Clarendon, and have been continued by Earl Granville. The results have been published in the Food Journal for 1870 and 1871 ; and they are epitomised at page 193 of the journal of the last mentioned date. Among the adulterations which are practised for the purpose of fraudulently increasing the weight or bulk of an article are the following : 1. Adulterations of Milk. This is commonly effected by the addition of water technically termed Simpson ; and it is known by the appearance of the milk, the specific gravity of it, the quantity of cream which rises, and the chemical composition of the milk. Good milk has a rich appearance, and a full pleasant taste. Its specific gravity ranges from 1029 (water being 1000) to 1032 the average being 1030. If, therefore, the density of milk is above 1030, other conditions corresponding, the inference is that the sample is unusually good. Between 1028 and 1030 it is most probably genuine. At from 1026 to 1028 it is of doubtful quality, and below that, unless the amount of cream is enormously large, the sample is not genuine. An instru ment, called a galactometer, has been constructed to show the specific gravity of milk at a glance ; but it must always be remembered that while the addition of water tends to lower the gravity of milk, so also does the presence of much cream, and therefore a sample of skimmed milk may show a high gravity even when diluted with water. The per centage quantity of cream is ascertained by means of an instrument called a lactometer. It is a glass tube about 10 or 1 1 inches long and half an inch in diameter, graduated into 100 parts. Having shaken a sample of milk so as to diffuse the cream throughout its bulk, it is poured into the lactometer to the topmost division; and after standing for 1 2 hours, to allow the cream to rise, the proportion of it is read off from the divisions on the tube. Good milk shows a range of from 8 to 12 divisions. Conjoined with the preceding test, this affords reliable indication of the quality of the sample. After removing the cream, the gravity should be again taken, and this should not be lower than 1030. The chemical composition of milk varies to some extent with the breed of the cow, its age, the diet upon which it is fed, the time of calving, and the time of milking ; for afternoon milk is generally richer than morning, and the last drawn than the first. But taking the results of a large number of analyses by different chemists, it may be said that the average percentage composition of milk is as follows: Casein or cheese matter, 3 64 ; butter, 3 55 ; milk, sugar or lactose, 4-70; saline matter, 81; and water, 87 -30. If, therefore, 1000 grains of milk be treated with a few drops of acetic acid, and then heated in a flask to about 1 20 Fahr., the casein of the milk will curdle, and enclose within it all the butter. When it is quite cold, it can easily be filtered, and when dry, the curd and butter should weigh from 75 to 85 grains ; and the serum or whey should have a density of about 1029. The addition of mineral matter, as common salt or carbonate of soda, to milk is easily recognised by an examination of the ash or saline constitutents. 1000 grains of good milk evaporated to dryness will produce from 120 to 130 grains of solid matter, of which about 8 grains are mineral ; and these are left in the platinum capsule, when the solid matter is incinerated or burnt to an ash. Of this ash about half is phosphate of lime, and 2 7 are alkaline chlorides, the rest being phosphates of magnesia and iron, with a little carbonate of soda. Any notable increase, therefore, in the proportion of ash, or any large diminution of it, will show adulteration. Colouring matter, as annatto, itc., is known by the peculiar tint of the milk ; and starchy matters boiled to an emulsion will give their characteristic reactions with iodine, and will furnish a sediment which the micro scope will reveal. Fatty emulsions, in imitation of milk, were used during the siege of Paris, on the recommendation of M. Dubrunfaut, who claims to have made a very perfect substitute by emulsifying fatty matter with an artificial whey or serum. This he did by dissolving from 40 to 50 grammes of saccharine matter (lactose, glucose, or cane sugar), and from 20 to 30 grammes of albumen (dried white of egg), and from 1 to 2 grammes of the crystals of carbonate of soda, in half a litre of water, and then emulsifying with from 50 to 60 grammes of olive oil or other fatty substance. This is best done at a temperature of from 120 to 140 Fahr. ; and the liquid so prepared has the appearance of cream, and requires to be mixed with twice its volume of water to acquire the consistence of milk. Gelatine may be used instead of albumen, the mixture being even more nearly like rich cream than the former. M. Gaudin says that any kind of fat may be used for this purpose, provided it is purified with superheated steam ; and M. Fan states that even horse grease may be so employed. M. Dumas, however, is of opinion that none of these substitutes can take the place of milk for any time as dietetical agents. Milk from diseased animals, especially those affected with pleuropneumonia, and the foot-and-mouth disease, is very unwholesome, aud ought not to be drunk. The diseased product is recognised by the presence of abnormal inflam matory globules of the nature of pus, aud by a large amount of epithelium cells. Preserved condensed milk is now so commonly used for food, that its properties when good should be known. 100 parts of the specimens at present in the market consist of from 14 to 18 parts of casein, from 12 to 14 of butter, from 44 to 52 of sugar, and from 2 -4 to 2*7 of saline matter making in all from 77 to 81 parts of solid matter the rest, namely, from 23 to 19 parts, being water. It appears, therefore, that the concentration of the milk has been carried to about one-third of its original bulk, and that sugar has then been added, so that when diluted with twice its volume of water, it makes a sweet-tasting milk of ordinary strength. Good cream should contain rom 25 to 34 parts of butter, about 5 of casein, 2 of sugar,
2 of saline matter, and from 62 to 56 parts of water.
