Hand-book of Sanitary Information for Householders: Containing facts and suggestions about ventilation, drainage, care of contageous diseases, disinfection, food, and water. With appendices on disinfectants and plumbers' materials.Tracy, Roger Sherman
Science
Hand-book of Sanitary Information for Householders: Containing facts and suggestions about ventilation, drainage, care of contageous diseases, disinfection, food, and water. With appendices on disinfectants and plumbers' materials.
Tracy, Roger Sherman
Disinfection and disinfectants; Drinking water; Food adulteration and inspection; Hygiene; Sanitation, Household; Ventilation
=Canned meats.=—No adulterations and no tin or lead found. The heads of
all cans should be slightly concave. This shows that the contents were
hot when the can was sealed. If the heads are convex, the contents are
decomposing.
=Cereals.=—Ninety-four samples, including wheat and Graham flour,
farina, oatmeal, rye, barley, corn-meal, rice, buckwheat, sago, and
tapioca. Two adulterated. Adulterations consisted in mixture of other
cereals, and were harmless. (Love.)
=Cheese.=—Skim-milk cheese often contains lard, put in to replace
the butter which has been removed. This adulteration improves the
quality of the cheese and often can not be detected by experts. One
sample of cheese, which had caused sickness in those who ate it,
was examined, and, although it also made the analyst ill, no known
poisonous substance could be detected in it. (G. C. Caldwell, Ph. D.)
All yellow cheese is colored with annotto, which can therefore hardly
be considered an adulteration. The rind is sometimes washed with a
mercurial or arsenical solution, to protect it from insects, and should
therefore never be eaten.
=Cocoa= and =chocolate=.—Six samples. None adulterated. (Lattimore.)
=Coffee.=—Thirty-five samples of unroasted, three of roasted unground,
twenty-one of ground, three of coffee extract. Of the thirty-five
unroasted, in five a few grains were found which had been slightly
colored or faced, apparently with Prussian blue; the three roasted
unground were pure; of the twenty-one ground, nineteen contained
chiccory, beans, wheat, rye, etc. One sample consisted entirely of
roasted hominy. Three samples of coffee extract consisted chiefly of
caramel and licorice, and contained no coffee. (Lattimore.) Pure coffee
swims in water, and colors it slowly. Chiccory sinks and colors water
rapidly. Peas sink and color water slowly. Rye sinks more rapidly
than coffee, and colors water more quickly. Ground coffee is hard and
crumbles between the teeth; chiccory is soft and does not crumble.
=Gin.=—No injurious adulterations detected. Twenty-five samples.
(Engelhardt.)
=Honey.=—Three samples: two pure. One, labeled “white-clover honey,”
contained 50 per cent of artificial glucose. The presence of added
glucose is indicated by the turbidity produced by oxalic acid in a
solution of the honey in distilled water. This turbidity is due to
the presence of gypsum in artificial glucose—a substance which is not
contained in pure honey. (Pitt.)
=Horse-radish.=—Often harmlessly adulterated with grated turnip.
=Isinglass.=—Two samples. Both were common gelatine. (Chester.)
=Jellies.=—Fruit-jellies are often simple apple-jelly, flavored with
artificial essences and colored with aniline. Safest not to use them
unless their source is known to be trustworthy.
=Lard.=—Twenty-eight samples. Fifteen pure; the rest contained water.
Good lard should melt to a clear fat without sputtering.
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