F.—No. 5

8

REPORT OE THE COMMITTEE ON

Wines and Spirits. — (Twelve Samples.) In the Subjoined table water at 60- Fahr. is taken as 1,000; absolute alcohol at 60 Eahr. as 7938.

Eor want of proper apparatus it is impossible to determine the exact materials with which the above are adulterated. Beer. Samples from Bellamy's contain : — No. 1. Nil. No. 2. Nil. No. 3. Nil. No. 4. Has been adulterated with cocculus indicus and nux vomica. No. 5. Nothing of a deleterious nature detected. Bread. The six "two-pound" loaves of bread submitted by the Inspector of Police on the 11th instant, on being tried by the Government standard weights, gave the following results :— No. 1 ... ... ... ... loz. short weight. No. 2 ... ... ... ... loz. 13dwts. short weight. No. 3 ... ... ... ... 7dwts. short weight. No. 4 ... ... ... ... loz. ldwt. short weight. No. 5 ... ... ... ... 2oz. over weight. No. 6 ... ... ... ... loz. 8 dwts. short weight. 12th July, 1870. James Hectoe.

No. 3. Memoeandtjm in further reply to Questions by the Chairman. The following quantities of the various substances mentioned should be sent to the Laboratory when an analysis is desired : — 1. Beer in bulk, 2 quarts; beer bottled, 2 bottles as sold. 2. Wines and spirits in bulk, 1 pint j wines and spirits bottled, 1 bottle as sold. 3. Coffee, ■_- lb.; or, if made up, 1 packet as sold. 4. Tea is hardly worth sending, as it is rarely adulterated except in China. 5. Sugar, ■_- lb., carefully weighed and sealed up in a close glass stoppered bottle to guard against loss of moisture. 6. Pickles, 1 bottle. There is a strong temptation to the injurious adulteration of these articles. 7. Preserves of all kinds, 1 tin or package. 8. Pepper, spice, <fee, | ounce. All articles should be sent officially, and sealed by the person to whom the report is to be made. Each package should be distinguished by a letter or mark, signed and dated by the sender. All samples should be sent in carefully cleaned and dried, glass stoppered bottles.

No. Name. Specific gravity. Alchohol. Remarks. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Brandy Bum Port Wine Scotch Whiskey Port Wine Irish Whiskey Bum Gin Old Tom 920246 930197 1016724 930530 1048-212 950072 934-9 944-26 952-73 49 to 50 43 to 44 44 to 45 34 to 35 42 to 43 37 to 38 33 to 34 Sp. gr. a great deal to high (acid). Sp. gr. too high (acid). This alcohol is not correct, the sweetening in Old Tom raising the sp. gr. Acid. Acid. 10 11 12 Sherry ClareScotch Whiskey 980624 995-244 942430 39 to 39

special List of Articles required at the Laboratory for the purpose 0j Adulteration of Rood, tyc. inalysis in relation to the Powerful microscope (with polarizer) Liebig's condenser Potash bulbs ... Chloride calcium tubes ... Combustion tubing Combustion furnace (Hoffman's) ... Aspirators Double-action air pump Burettes (at least six of uniform size) Sp. Gr. bottles ... Chemical watch glasses and clips ... Glass cylinders on feet ... Nitrogen tubes £ s. d. ... 15 0 0 ... 3 10 0 ... 1 5 0 ... 0 10 0 ... 1 0 0 ... 4 10 0 ... 2 0 0 ... 11 0 0 ... 3 0 0 ... 2 0 0 ... 1 0 0 ... 1 0 0 ... 10 0