New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 1874.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4176, 8 August 1874, Page 2

New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 1874.

The attention of the Premier was directed during tho recess to the very important subject of the adulteration of food, drink, and other articles of trade supplied by retail dealers throughout tho Colony. There appeared to be a certainty- that spurious ; goods were being sold for real, and no one could form more than a conception to. what extent tho practice was being carriod on. Dr Hector was therefore requested by the Premier during the month of April in tho present year, to have an analysis conducted, in the Colonial laboratory, of articles in common use amongst the pooplo. A papor, showing the result of tho labor of tho analyst, Mr. Skoy, hasjust been submitted to Parliament. The analysis made, so far, has|been that of 120 samples, and the result, for convenience sake, has beon announced in one general, and throe specific tablesj with full remarks and comments appended ito each. Those samples consisted of food, coffees, teas, cocoas, spices, preserves, condiments, liquors, various grocories, and textile fabrics; all, besides being tostod

for quality, were weighed for Of the 120 samples, 97 were found to be free from adulteration, and the remainder to be more or less open to objection; ;This result, we are scarcely warranted in considering unsatisfactory. The teas examined were first on the blaek list." Every sample, whether green or black, was adulterated, and in the case of the green to such an extent as to be injurious if it were made an article of daily use. " All were faced with a mineral compound—green tea with Prussian blue and chromate of lead. From this the conclusion follows that when Mr. Fox takes his cup of bohea that cheers but does not inebriate, the rednosed man may look suspiciously at it and say " There is death in _ the pot." Coffees, it was notorious are a mixed compound, as also are cocoas ; usually, the same remark applies to mustard, of which five samples out of seven were found to be adulterated. Snuff, also, it was known, was scented and otherwise treated. For us to remark that wines and spirits are not always pure would be to give utterance to a fact that requires no establishment. These articles exhaust the black list; to their credit be it spoken, colonial beers, which Dr. Hector_ states are constantly being examined in the Custom House laboratory, have always stood any test to which they were subjected! The course of analysis is not yet nearly complete, a number of liquors ordinarily sold on the goldfields having yet to be treated, and also, we may hope, others obtained elsewhere. Consequently, it will probably be not before' next session that we shall have placed before us information that is necessarily of a curious and interesting nature. The textile fabrics came out of the ordeal very well, cotton being sold as cotton, wool as wool, silk as silk, and raised goods according to the description given of them. On the whole, the report appears to be of a more satisfactory nature than we should have anticipated. When we say the report appears to be satisfactory, we speak advisedly, for practically it is, so far, of little real value. Dr. Hector, at the commencement, lays down the theory very correctly that adulteration has three aspects, that of fraud, as affecting the public health, and as a disturbing element in financial and commercial arrangements. The discovery of adulteration is, of course, a simple chemical process, but to trace it home is a widely different matter. It may take place prior to importation or subsequently. Dr. Hector explained that "there would probably be no object in investigating the adulterations effected by the retail dealers, except with the view of repression. This is already provided for by Act." This, we submit, is not exactly a fair way of putting the case. Adulteration is adulteration, whether it be effected by manufacturers or by retail dealers. To the public it is of little or no consequence who does the dirty business, if it be done at all. And, in fact, it is just the adulteration that takes place immediately prior to articles reaching consumers that is of the greatest importance. Take the case of wines, spirits, and beers as an instance. Dr. Hector appears to have sent for a bottle of Hennessy's, Martell's, Bisquit's, and the U.V. Company's brandies, and found it pure in each case. No man conversant with the trade would consider there was the slightest necessity to analyse Hennessy's case brandy for adulteration. But, if a few glasses of the compounds retailed across some counters were analysed, we venture to say the result would not only interest but startle the public. Very much the same remark applies to the report of the analysis of wines. There are few people simple enough to imagine that ports sold by firms of the highest character in the trade are the pure juice of the grape. Sherries, it is notorious, are manufactured. Few people drink sherry at a public dinner without having a painful consciousness of this fact. Therefore, when the analysis showed that those operated upon were chiefly composed of brandy and caramel, with flavoring matters, there were no grounds for; surprise. But this was not the sort of information we required. We wanted to know whether there was much fusel oil, sulphuric acid, and methyllated spirit in the compounds supplied to a large number of the public every day, and if any, what was the proportion. Fusel oil,'a product of the fermentation of sugar, may be found in colonial beer, for anything the report tells to'the contrary. It may lurk, in injurious quantities, in colonially manu-! factured spirits, for aught we can tell. It was information of this character that the public desiresy and we hope Dr. Hector and Mr. Skey will supply it.