The most pure of the provincial supplies, during September, were Whitehaven, with a valuation of 10; Canterbury, 12; Swansea and Tunbridge Wells, 15 each; Bolton, 17; and Shrewsbury, 19; and in some, although not all, of these cases there is a slight improvement upon the August waters.

The following supplies also show an improvement upon the August waters, viz., Bradford, Brighton, Darlington, Leicester, and Wolverhampton.

On the other hand, the analyses of the following waters give less satisfactory indicacations, viz., Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, King's Lynn, Liverpool, Maidstone, Newcastle, and Nottingham.

WATER ANALYSTS.

Special attention is drawn to the fact that it appears that some analysts have reported results of oxygen absorbed last month as relating to absorption in two minutes, instead of 15 minutes, as arranged under the new instructions. The Water Committee will be glad if the time of 15 minutes will be strictly attended to by analysts in future, and reports made as to the month in which the change was made.

COPYING INK FOR READILY TRANSCRIBING LETTERS WITHOUT A PRESS. BY PROFESSOR ATTFIELD, F.R.S., &c.

The following paper was read at the York Meeting of the British Pharmaceutical Conference:

:

THE author stated that he had for the past 13 years used an ink which he copied into an ordinary thin-paper copying-book with no more effort than is employed in using a piece of blotting-paper, that is by simply pressing with the hand. This ready transcription is accomplished by using ink which dries slowly. The ink will of course be affected as to its drying by the weather, the absorbency of the paper on which it is written, by the thickness of the strokes, and so on; but practically the writer provides for these difficulties. Professor Attfield himself uses the ink from year's end to year's end without any trouble whatever. A firm of manufacturers had some time ago gone to the expense of provisionally patenting it in the hope that before the period of provisional protection elapsed it would be improved sufficiently to render it an ordinary commercial article. They had abandoned that hope, and so had the author. He now, however, offered the mode of making it to others for their own use, and possibly for druggists' sale. The principle of the method consists in dissolving a moderately powerful hygroscopic substance in an ordinary ink. After experimenting on various substances glycerine was found preferable. Reduce, by evaporation, ten volumes of ink to six; then add four volumes of glycerine. Or manufacture some ink of nearly double strength and add to any quantity of it nearly an equal volume of glycerine.

NICE NOURISHMENT.-Any one thinking of spending the winter in Nice had better take all his provisions or an analyst with him, for, according to the Pharmaceutische Zeitung, July 29, 1881, of 850 analyses made in June of food and beverages sold there, no less than 559 were found to be seriously adulterated.

ANALYST'S REPORT.

Dr. Bernays, the professor of chemistry at St. Thomas's Hospital, and analyst to the Southwark District Board of Works, has just issued to that body the result of his analyses for the past year, in which he states that five samples of spirits analysed showed that with one exception the percentage of alcohol was up to and even beyond the legal standards. Two samples of cyder, one on draught and the other bottled, were both good of their kind. Neither of them contained a trace of metallic contamination, and both possessed a most pleasant odour of apples. The bottled cyder was preferable, in that it was less sweet and less liable to acescence. A non-alcoholic drink very much thought of at the present time, answering to the description of a tonic, was well aërated, and contained double its volume of carbonic acid, besides phosphorus in an oxidised form, and a notable quantity of iron. Speaking for himself, Dr. Bernays would prefer a glass of Burton ale, or, if he were an abstainer, a glass of water.

PURE OR ADULTERATED WINE.

The subject of wine adulteration continues to engage a great amount of attention both in Germany and France. In the former country, as most of our readers must doubtless be aware, more penal enactments have been recently passed with a view to the repression of anything in the shape of adulteration, and also to define with approximate clearness what is natural and what is artificial wine. Some difficulty appears to be experienced in establishing this definition. Chemists all over the world are very much alike, and those in Germany appear to be no less infallible in respect to analytical work than those in this country. There have recently been in Germany several prosecutions against wine merchants for the sale of adulterated wine, and many learned savants have given certificates of analysis to the effect that such wine ought not to be permitted to enter into consumption. These certificates have in many instances been called in question on behalf of the incriminated wine merchants, and rebutting evidence has not unfrequently shown that the analytical ipse dixit is practically entitled to not the least respect. The addition of water to wine has been the great cause of complaint, and with regard to the precise percentages of water added the German chemists have differed materially and egregiously erred. Their inaccuracies, of course, have been exposed in court, and it has been shown that they are more or less ignorant of the vinous properties naturally appertaining to wine, and those which an ingenious manipulator may have subsequently added on his own account. In France they manage things in a somewhat different fashion. The authorities there are determined to repress the adulteration of articles of food and drink—a very meritorious determination which, it is to be hoped, they will be able to successfully accomplish. They have established a municipal laboratory for the special analysis of suspected samples, and this seems to have given a great stimulus to the work of detecting adulteration. Numerous prosecutions of dealers have consequently been instituted, and special attention has been given to the wine trade. In reference to one of these prosecutions we notice that it was recently heard before the Eighth Chamber of the Tribunal of the Seine, the defendant being a wine merchant of Paris, who, in the reports is described as 'M. D.," his full name not being given. He was charged with having sold a falsified wine, and from the evidence it transpired that he had been previously convicted of a similar offence. From the report of the chemist of the municipal laboratory the following facts are gleaned :- "M.D." who sold at 65 centimetres per litre a wine, the first cost of which was 73 centimes, added to this wine a certain quantity of water; his customers were distinctly informed of such addition, and a notice above his counter told the public that natural wine cost one franc per litre: This being the case, the defendant's advocate (M. Meurge) urged that no legal fraud had been committed; but the court sentenced the defendant to six days' imprisonment, a fine of 50 francs, and the cost of advertising the judgment. It must be noted that before any analysis of his wine had been made " M. D." had spontaneously admitted that he added 15 per cent. of water to it. The analysis of the municipal laberatory showed 9.20 of alcohol, and 18.50 dry extract, vinous elements which protect the merchant from prosecution, so that without the admission of “M. D." it is uot probable that he would have been brought before Seine tribunal. Notice may also be taken of the negligence with which analyses appear to be conducted in the municipal laboratory. The report on this wine stated the existence of a foreign vegetable colourant, but without indicating its nature, and no information was given to the court with regard to the qualities of the wine. In consequence of these omissions, and in virtue of an analysis made by the able chemist of the Wine Trade Syndicate, the counsel employed by M. D," asked that the wine should again be analysed by some competent and reliable authority. This request, however, was somewhat unreasonably refused, which shows that French tribunals are not disposed to show any favour to people who are brought before them accused, rightly or wrongly, of adulteration.—Grocer.

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LAW REPORTS.

Summons dismissed because taken out by person who had had the analysis made :

A curious case was tried at Exeter recently. The Governors of the Devon and Exeter Hospital pay a large sum annually for milk, and they deem it of the highest importance that the milk supplied should be of the best quality, as it formed the chief food of children and typhoid fever patients in the Institution. An analysis was made, when it was found a great deal of the cream had been taken from the milk. When steps were being taken in connection with the analysis, the contractor wrote to the committee stating that if he had had more cows of his own, the cause of complaint would not have arisen, and he promised to get more, and supply milk only from these. He also pointed out that his family had been the contractors for thirty years. The Governors, however, decided to proceed against the contractor and he was summoned for having abstracted a certain portion of the milk, so as to injuriously affect its quality. A technical objection was taken that the prosecution was in the name of the person who had caused the analysis to be made; and the Bench ruling the objection to be good, dismissed the summons.

Milk Adulteration Cases :

At the Thames Police Court, Henry Haveringham, of 26, Tapley Street, Bromley-by-Bow, was summoned under the Food and Drugs Act for selling adulterated milk. Evidence was given which showed that the public analyst of the district had found the sample submitted was adulterated with fourteen per cent. of water. The defendant said he put half a pint of water into a large quantity of milk. He was seventy-two years of age, and his wife seventy-four, and they were trying to earn a crust the best way they could. The magistrate said the defendant was cheating poor people who dealt with him, and fined him 20s. and 2s. costs.

Rebecca Bacon, of 145, Crisp Street, Bromley, similarly summoned, was fined £3 and 21s. costs. Butterine Sold by an Assistant :—

At the Wednesbury Police Court, lately, Mr. Timothy Carter, grocer and provision dealer, Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham, was charged before Mr. F. F. Boughey (stipendiary), by Mr. Horder, the inspector under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act for the South Staffordshire district, with selling butter which was not of the quality and nature demanded by the purchaser. Mr. Stirk, of Wolverhampton, appeared for the defendant. Francis Henry Somerville, an assistant to Mr. Horder, stated that, on the 22nd ult., he visited a stall kept in the Wednesbury market by the defendant, and asked to be supplied with one pound of butter. An assistant supplied him with an article which he supposed to be genuine butter, for which he paid 8d. He informed the assistant that the article supplied him would be analysed by the county analyst (Mr. Jones), and if it were found to be adulterated, his employer would be summoned before the magistrate. Upon this the assistant stated that the article supplied was butterine. By Mr. Stirk : He was quite sure that he asked for butter. He was not told the article, before being supplied him, was butterine. It was after it was purchased that he was informed that it was butterine. In reply to Inspector Horder, witness stated that he had bought butter at 8d. per lb., which the analyst had certified to be pure. Mr. Horder stated that, on the 4th inst., he received two packets from the last witness, and he delivered one of them to the county analyst (Mr. Jones), who had since sent him a certificate to the effect that the article was not butter, and contained less than 1 per cent. of real butter fat. The analysis was: water 6.55, salt 1.32, curd 1.50, fat 90-53. Mr. Stirk said the article was not sold as butter, but as butterine; and as it was supplied by a young assistant, he trusted the Stipendiary would dismiss the case. The Stipendiary said he considered the case clearly proved, and as it was highly important that the public should be supplied with genuine articles, it was necessary that he, as a magistrate, should enforce the law. He considered the present case a bad one, and defendant would have to pay a fine of £5, and £1 14s. 6d. costs.

Coffee and Chicory Cases :

At Clerkenwell Police Court, on September 9, Mr. Matthew Manns, grocer, of 270, Goswell Road, was summoned for having sold coffee adulterated with an admixture of chicory to the extent of 15 per cent. Inspector Eadds, inspector of nuisances, for the parish of St. Luke's, prosecuted. Four ounces of the coffee were purchased by a woman on August 5, at the instance of the inspector, and it was found to be adulterated in the way described. For the defence, it was said that it was usual in the defendant's shop to wrap mixtures of coffee and chicory in a paper on which was written notice to the effect that there was chicory admixed. Mr. Hannay imposed a penalty of 40s. and costs.

Mr. Henry Crocker, grocer, also of Coombs-street, St. Luke's, was fined 20s. for having sold coffee adulterated with 5 per cent. chicory.

Butterine Prosecution :

At the Portsmouth Police Court, Mr. Wm. Lang, of Russell-street, Landport, was summoned for selling to the prejudice of the purchaser an article which was not of the nature, substance, and quality demanded. Mr. Feltham defended. Inspector Bell, one of the officers under the Food and Drugs Act, said that on August 24 he went in plain clothes to the defendant's shop, and saw some fatty substance in a tub, resembling butter, and marked 1s. per lb. Pointing to it, witness said, “Give me half a pound of that butter?" Defendant served him, and after the purchase had been completed, he said he was going to have it analysed by the public analyst. Thereupon the defendant remarked, "You did not ask for butter, you only said, 'Give me half a pound of that?" The inspector, however, was positive upon the point. The certificate of the public analyst, Dr. Sykes, showed that the sample was entirely composed of foreign fat. In cross-examination, the inspector admitted that there were three tubs standing together. He asked for a half pound out of one of the end ones. The centre one was marked 10d. per lb., and on this tub was a printed card with "Butterine" in letters about three quarters of an inch in length. These other tubs were priced in the same way as the one from which he purchased a sample. Mr. Lance (one of the Bench): But is it possible to get butter at 1s. a lb. ? The Inspector: Oh yes, sir, you can get very good butter at that price. Mr. Lance: Well, I should very much like to. Mr. Feltham, for the defence, said his client sold nothing else but butterine in the shop, and the fact that the centre tub of the three was labelled "Butterine" was, he contended, a sufficient protection for the defendant. His version of the story was that the inspector simply pointed to the tub, and said, "Give me a half a pound of that." As to the composition of butterine, Dr. Turner, the former medical officer of health, had said that butterine was more nutritious to the stomach than some kinds of butters. The magistrates, after consultation, said that, as there was a doubt in the case, the defendant would have the benefit of it, and be discharged.

RECENT CHEMICAL PATENTS.

The following specifications have been recently published, and can be obtained from the Great Seal Office, Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane, London.

The Chemist and Druggist; The Brewers' Guardian; The British Medical Journal; The Medical Press; The Pharmaceutical Journal; The Sanitary Record; The Miller; Journal of Applied Science; The Boston Journal of Chemistry; The Provisioner; The Practitioner; New Remedies; Proceedings of the American Chemical Society; Le Practicien; The Inventors' Record; New York Public Health; The Scientific American; Society of Arts Journal; Sanitary Engineer of New York; The Cowkeeper and Dairyman's Journal; The Chemists' Journal; Oil and Drug News; The Textile Record of America; Sugar Cane; Country Brewers' Gazette; The Medical Record; Oil and Drug Journal; Physiological and Therapeutic Properties of Mineral Waters, by Dr. P. Killian.

THE ANALYST.

NOVEMBER, 1881.

197

SOCIETY OF PUBLIC ANALYSTS.

THE next General Meeting of this Society will be held at Burlington House, on Wednesday, the 16th inst., at 8 o'clock.

ANALYSES OF GRAPE JUICES, AND OF VARIOUS SAMPLES OF
UNFERMENTED AND OTHER WINES.

By J. CARTER BELL.

My reason for these investigations was that the Salford inspector brought me some samples labelled "Pure Grape Juice," "Unfermented Wine," "Sacramental Wine," &c., &c., some of which I suspected were not genuine, and as I was unable to find any recent reliable data as to what grape juice really is, I determined to ascertain for myself; I therefore bought several samples of grapes and squeezed the juice from them myself. Other samples I obtained from Mr. Frank Wright, of London, who is well known in the temperance world as a maker of pure unfermented wines. He imports large quantities of grapes from which he presses the juice; some of the grapes were squeezed by him in my presence.

The following list gives the names of the pure grape juices operated on :

1. Black English hot-house grapes.

2. White English hot-house grapes.

3. Almeira, 1879.

4. Do., 1880.

Purchased in England, and juice expressed by myself.

5. French Cluster, 1878. Chiefly used in the production of "Vin Ordinaire."

6. Portuguese Cluster, 1879. Purchased in England, and juice expressed in my presence.

7. Bordeaux, 1880. A mixed must, consisting of Carbenet Sauvignion, Malbec and Verdat Varieties.

8. Oporto, 1880. "The Bastardo," from the Alta Douro.

9. Pineau. (The Champagne grape). From the Cot d'or.

10. Folly Blanc. (Cognac grape).

11. Blanquette.

12. Grenach, No. 1.

13. Grenach, No. 2.

14. Granache.

15. Clairette.

From the vineyards of Perpignan.

From a vineyard in the vicinity of Tarragona.

16. Congress. From vineland, New Jersey, U.S.

17. Madeira Videilho.

18. Madeira Tinta.