Of the articles not specified by name in the table printed above, some of the principal were arrowroot, oatmeal, tea, pepper, aërated waters, and tinned meat and fruits. Arrowroot was occasionally found adulterated with tapioca, flour and similar substances, and oatmeal with barley flour. Tea was in some cases reported to have been made up with exhausted leaves and to have been faced to excess, but the instances of this were so rare as to show that the examination of tea in bond by the analysts of the Commissioners of Customs has produced an excellent effect on the retail trade. Pepper was almost uniformly genuine. Among the aërated waters, instances were again found of the introduction of lead by careless processes of manufacture. The result of the analysis of tinned foods was on the whole decidedly satisfactory, although in one or two instances either the soldering or the tin had been corroded, and part of the metal had been absorbed in the liquid contents so as doubtless to render them unwholesome.

Of the 17,673 samples above referred to all but 337 were obtained by officers appointed under the Act of 1875. Of those purchased privately about one-third were found adulterated, of those purchased officially about one seventh. This difference is of course mainly explicable by the fact that a private purchaser's suspicion of adulteration is ordinarily pretty strongly aroused before he bestirs himself to put the Act into operation on his own account. Moreover, there is little doubt that in some cases of official purchases sufficient care is not taken to prevent the inspector being recognised as such, and served with a superior article.

Several important decisions of the High Court of Justice have been given during the year with reference to the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts. In the case of Horder v. Mannings, an inspector having asked for coffee was served with an article taken from a canister labelled "Symington's coffee." He thereupon stated that he wanted the coffee for analysis, on which the vendor put it into a paper labelled "this is sold as a mixture of chicory and coffee," and delivered it to him. The "coffee" being found by the analyst to contain 85 per cent. of chicory, it was held that it was no defence for the vendor that he sold it just as he had received it from the manufacturer, for if he was cognisant of so great a proportion of chicory to coffee in the article sold, he made himself a party to the manufacturer's fraud (44 J. P. 234). In the case of Horder v. Scott it was decided that an inspector appointed under the 13th section of the Act of 1875 may employ a deputy to purchase articles for the purpose of analysis, and may properly institute proceedings against the seller of such articles if the result of the analysis discloses an offence against the Act (L. R. 4 Q. B. D. 552). In the case of Rouch v. Hall (already referred to) a sample of milk from the country was taken at Euston station, and it being assumed that the procedure prescribed by section 14 of the Act of 1875 was applicable to section 3 of the Amending Act of 1879, notification of analysis was given to a railway porter in charge of the milk, and one-third of the sample was left with him. On this it was held that although the porter could not be regarded as the agent of the consignor, yet where a sample of milk in course of delivery is procured for analysis under section 3 of the Act of 1879, it is not necessary for the officer procuring such sample to notify to the seller or his agent his intention of having the sample analysed, or to deliver to the seller or his agent a portion of the sample in accordance with section 14 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875 (L. R. 6 Q. B. D. 17).

SOCIETY OF PUBLIC ANALYSTS.

Analyses of English Public Water Supplies in September, 1881.

All results are expressed in GRAINS PER GALLON.

SOCIETY OF PUBLIC ANALYSTS.

Analyses of English Public Water Supplies in September, 1881.

All results are expressed in GRAINS PER GALLON.

THE ANALYSES OF THE PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES OF ENGLAND.

Tunbridge Wells.- The sample tested was taken from the covered reservoir at Pembury, about four miles from Tunbridge Wells; this reservoir is supplied by seven different springs in the neighbourhood, the quality of each of which differs somewhat, but the sample tested represents the mixed water of all the springs. From Pembury the water is pumped to the Blackhurst reservoirs, which are also covered, and which are at sufficient elevation to allow of the supply of the higher parts of the town, as Mount Ephraim. The supply is on the intermittent system, and in summer is somewhat deficient in quantity. Fresh reservoirs are, however, about to be constructed, capable of holding a three months' supply.

THE PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES OF ENGLAND.

VALUATION, ACCORDING TO WIGNER'S VALUATION SCALE, OF THE ANALYSES PUBLISHED THIS MONTH. In the following table we give the average valuation of the public water supplies from January to June, and the valuation of the July, August and September waters.

* By a printer's error this was reported, last month, 56.

Taking the Metropolitan waters, we find that the average valuation of the supplies for September is about 3·5 higher than that for August, the valuation being now nearly 29.3. This is, however, lower by 1.8 than the average for the first six months of the year.