Chapter 8

That it may be more difficult for the officers of the excise to detect fraudulent practices in large breweries than in small ones, may be true to a certain extent: but what eminent London porter brewer would stake his reputation on the chance of so paltry a gain, in which he would inevitably be at the mercy of his own man? The eleven great porter brewers of this metropolis are persons of so high respectability, that there is no ground for the slightest suspicion that they would attempt any illegal practices, which they were aware could not possibly escape detection in their extensive establishments. And let it be remembered, that none of them have been detected for any unlawful practices,[79] with regard to the processes of their manufacture, or the adulteration of their beer.

METHOD OF DETECTING THE ADULTERATION OF BEER.

The detection of the adulteration of beer with deleterious vegetable substances is beyond the reach of chemical analysis. The presence of sulphate of iron (p. 134) may be detected by evaporating the beer to perfect dryness, and burning away the vegetable matter obtained, by the action of chlorate of pot-ash in a red-hot crucible. The sulphate of iron will be left behind among the residue in the crucible, which when dissolved in water, may be assayed, for the constituent parts of the salt, namely, iron and sulphuric acid: for the former, by tincture of galls, ammonia, and prussiate of potash; and for the latter, by muriate of barytes.[80]

Beer, which has been rendered fraudulently _hard_ (see p. 148) by the admixture of sulphuric acid, affords a white precipitate (sulphate of barytes), by dropping into it a solution of acetate or muriate of barytes; and this precipitate, when collected by filtering the mass, and after having been dried, and heated red-hot for a few minutes in a platina crucible, does not disappear by the addition of nitric, or muriatic acid. Genuine old beer may produce a precipitate; but the precipitate which it affords, after having been made red-hot in a platina crucible, instantly becomes re-dissolved with effervescence by pouring on it some pure nitric or muriatic acid; in that case the precipitate is malate (not sulphate) of barytes, and is owing to a portion of malic acid having been formed in the beer.

But with regard to the vegetable materials deleterious to health, it is extremely difficult, in any instance, to detect them by chemical agencies; and in most cases it is quite impossible, as in that of cocculus indicus in beer.

METHOD OF ASCERTAINING THE QUANTITY OF SPIRIT CONTAINED IN PORTER, ALE, OR OTHER KINDS OF MALT LIQUORS.

Take any quantity of the beer, put it into a glass retort, furnished with a receiver, and distil, with a gentle heat, as long as any spirit passes over into the receiver; which may be known by heating from time to time a small quantity of the obtained fluid in a tea-spoon over a candle, and bringing into contact with the vapour of it the flame of a piece of paper. If the vapour of the distilled fluid catches fire, the distillation must be continued until the vapour ceases to be set on fire by the contact of a flaming body. To the distilled liquid thus obtained, which is the spirit of the beer, combined with water, add, in small quantities at a time, pure subcarbonate of potash (previously freed from water by having been exposed to a red heat,) till the last portion of this salt added, remains undissolved in the fluid. The spirit will thus become separated from the water, because the subcarbonate of potash abstracts from it the whole of the water which it contained; and this combination sinks to the bottom, and the spirit alone floats on the top. If this experiment be made in a glass tube, about half or three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and graduated into 50 or 100 equal parts, the relative per centage of spirit in a given quantity of beer may be seen by mere inspection.

_Quantity of Alcohol contained in Porter, Ale, and other kinds of Malt Liquors._[81]

One hundred parts, by Measure, Parts of Alcohol, contained. by Measure.

Ale, home-brewed 8,30 Ale, Burton, three Samples 6,25 Ale, Burton[82] 8,88 Ale, Edinburgh[82] 6,20 Ale, Dorchester[82] 5,50 Ale, common London-brewed, } six samples } 5,82 Ale, Scotch, three samples 5,75 Porter, London, eight samples 4,00 Ditto, Ditto[83] 4,20 Ditto, Ditto[83] 4,45 Ditto, Ditto, bottled. 4,75 Brown Stout, four samples 5 Ditto, Ditto[83] 6,80 Small Beer, six samples 0,75 Ditto, Ditto[84] 1,28

FOOTNOTES:

[48] See pages 119, &c.

[49] Child, on Brewing Porter, p. 7.

[50] Child, on Brewing Porter, p. 16.

[51] Ibid. p. 16.

[52] "Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons, to whom the petition of several inhabitants of London and its vicinity, complaining of the high price and inferior quality of beer, was referred, to examine the matter thereof, and to report the same, with their observations thereupon, to the House. Printed by order of the House of Commons, April, 1819."

[53] 56 Geo. III. c. 2.

[54] Copied from the Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons, appointed for examining the price and quality of Beer.--See pages 18, 29, 30, 31, 36, 43.

[55] The average specific gravity of different samples of brown stout, obtained direct from the breweries of Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, and Co. Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, and Co. Messrs. Henry Meux and Co. and from several other eminent London brewers, amounted to 1,022; and the average specific gravity of porter, from the same breweries, 1,018.

[56] 2 Geo. III. c. 14, § 2.

[57] 59 Geo. III. c. 53, § 25.

[58] Copied from the Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons, appointed for examining the price and quality of beer, p. 19, 29, 36, 37, 43.

[59] See Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons for reporting on the Price and Quality of Beer, 1819, p. 29.

[60] 7 Geo. II. c. 19, § 2.

[61] See List of Publicans prosecuted and convicted for mixing table beer with strong beer, &c. p. 129.

"Alum gives likewise a smack of age to beer, and is penetrating to the palate."--_S. Child on Brewing._

[62] Copied from the Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons, appointed for examining the price and quality of beer, p. 38.

[63] See Mr. Carr's evidence in the Minutes of the House of Commons, p. 32.

[64] 42 George III, c. 38, § 12.

[65] See Minutes of the House of Commons, p. 32.

[66] Copied from the minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons, appointed for examining the price and quality of Beer, 1819, p. 29, 36, 43.

[67] See the Parliamentary Minutes, p. 94.

[68] Mr. Barclay has not specified the relative proportions of brown stout and of bottling beer which are introduced at such an augmentation of expense.

[69] Mr. Child, in his Treatise on Brewing, p. 23 directs, _to make new beer older, use oil of vitriol_.

[70] Copied from the Minutes of the Committee of the House of Commons appointed for examining the price and quality of beer, p. 29, 36.

[71] The deleterious effect of Cocculus Indicus (the fruit of the memispermum cocculus) is owing to a peculiar bitter principle contained in it; which, when swallowed in minute quantities, intoxicates and acts as poison. It may be obtained from cocculus indicus berries in a detached state:--chemists call it picrotoxin, from +pichros+, bitter; and +toxichon+ poison.

[72] See Minutes of the House of Commons, p. 28, 36.

[73] Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, and Co.--Truman, Hanbury and Co.--Reid and Co.--Whitbread and Co.--Combe, Delafield, and Co.--Henry Meux, and Co.--Calvert and Co.--Goodwin and Co.--Elliot and Co.--Taylor and Co.--Cox, and Camble and Co.

See the Minutes, before quoted, p. 32.

[74] _Ibid._ p. 58.

[75] A partner in the brewery of Messrs. Whitbread and Co.

[76] Minutes of the House of Commons, p. 104.

[77] Minutes, before quoted, p. 22.

[78] Minutes of the House of Commons, p. 40.

[79] Minutes of the House of Commons, p. 32

[80] See a Treatise on the Use and Application of Chemical Tests, 3d edition; Tests for Sulphuric Acid, &c.

[81] Repository of Arts, No. 2, p. 74.--1816.

[82] Copied from Professor Brande's Paper in the Philosophical Transactions, 1811, p. 345.

[83] Result of our own Experiments, see p. 127.

[84] Professor Brande's Experiments.

_Counterfeit Tea-Leaves._

The late detections that have been made respecting the illicit establishments for the manufacture of imitation tea leaves, arrested, not long ago, the attention of the public; and the parties by whom these manufactories were conducted, together with the numerous venders of the factitious tea, did not escape the hand of justice. In proof of this statement, it is only necessary to consult the London newspapers (the Times and the Courier) from March to July 1818; which show to what extent this nefarious traffic has been carried on; and they report also the prosecutions and convictions of numerous individuals who have been guilty of the fraud. The following are some of those prosecutions and convictions.

HATTON GARDEN.--On Saturday an information came to be heard at this office, before Thomas Leach, Esq. the sitting magistrate, against a man of the name of Edmund Rhodes, charged with having, on the 12th of August last, dyed, fabricated, and manufactured, divers large quantities, viz. one hundred weight of sloe leaves, one hundred weight of ash leaves, one hundred weight of elder leaves, and one hundred weight of the leaves of a certain other tree, in imitation of tea, contrary to the statute of the 17th of Geo. III.[85] whereby the said Edmund Rhodes had, for every pound of such leaves so manufactured, forfeited the sum of 5_l._ making the total of the penalties amount to 2,000_l._ The second count in the information charged the said Rhodes with having in his possession the above quantity of sloe, ash, elder, and other leaves, under the like penalty of 2,000_l._ The third count charged him with having, on the said 12th of August last, in his possession, divers quantities, exceeding six pounds weight of each respective kind of leaves; viz. fifty pounds weight of green sloe leaves, fifty pounds weight of green leaves of ash, fifty pounds weight of green leaves of elder, and fifty pounds weight of the green leaves of a certain other tree; not having proved that such leaves were gathered with the consent of the owners of the trees and shrubs from which they were taken, and that such leaves were gathered for some other use, and not for the purpose of manufacturing the same in imitation of tea; whereby he had forfeited for each pound weight, the sum of 5_l._ amounting in the whole to 1,000_l._; and, in default of payment, in each case, subjected himself to be committed to the house of correction for not more than twelve months, nor less than six months.

Mr. Denton, who appeared for the defendant, who was absent, said that he was a very poor man, with a family of five children, and was only the servant of the real manufacturer, and an ignorant man from the country, put into the premises to carry on the business, without knowing what the leaves were intended for. By direction of Mr. Mayo, who conducted the prosecution, several barrels and bags, filled with the imitation tea, were then brought into the office, and a sample from each handed round. To the eye they seemed a good imitation of tea.

The defendant was convicted in the penalty of 500_l._ on the second count.

_The Attorney-General against Palmer._--This was an action by the Attorney-General against the defendant, Palmer, charging him with having in his possession a quantity of sloe-leaves and white-thorn leaves, fabricated into an imitation of tea.

Mr. Dauncey stated the case to the jury, and observed that the defendant, Mr. Palmer, was a grocer. It would appear that a regular manufactory was established in Goldstone-street. The parties by whom the manufactory was conducted, was a person of the name of Proctor, and another person named J. Malins. They engaged others to furnish them with leaves, which, after undergoing a certain process, were sold to and drank by the public as tea. The leaves, in order to be converted into an article resembling black tea, were first boiled, then baked upon an iron plate; and, when dry, rubbed with the hand, in order to produce that curl which the genuine tea had. This was the most wholesome part of the operation; for the colour which was yet to be given to it, was produced by logwood. The green tea was manufactured in a manner more destructive to the constitution of those by whom it was drank. The leaves, being pressed and dried, were laid upon sheets of copper, where they received their colour from an article known by the name of Dutch pink. The article used in producing the appearance of the fine green bloom, observable on the China tea, was, however, decidedly a dead poison! He alluded to verdigris, which was added to the Dutch pink in order to complete the operation. This was the case which he had to bring before the jury; and hence it would appear, that, at the moment they were supposing they were drinking a pleasant and nutritious beverage, they were, in fact, in all probability, drinking the produce of the hedges round the metropolis, prepared for the purposes of deception in the most noxious manner. He trusted he should be enabled to trace to the possession of the defendant eighty pounds weight of the commodity he had been describing.

Thomas Jones deposed, that he knew Proctor, and was employed by him at the latter end of April, 1817, to gather black and white thorn leaves. Sloe leaves were the black thorn. Witness also knew John Malins, the son of William Malins, a coffee-roaster; he did not at first know the purpose for which the leaves were gathered, but afterwards learnt they were to make imitation tea. Witness did not gather more than one hundred and a half weight of these leaves; but he employed another person, of the name of John Bagster, to gather them. He had two-pence per pound for them. They were first boiled, and the water squeezed from them in a press. They were afterwards placed over a slow-fire upon sheets of copper to dry; while on the copper they were rubbed with the hand to curl them. At the time of boiling there was a little _verdigris_ put into the water (this applied to green tea only.) After the leaves were dried, they were sifted, to separate the thorns and stalks. After they were sifted, more verdigris and some Dutch pink were added. The verdigris gave the leaves that green bloom observable on genuine tea.

The black tea went through a similar course as the green, except the application of Dutch pink: a little verdigris was put in the boiling, and to this was added a small quantity of logwood to dye it, and thus the manufacture was complete. The drying operation took place on sheets of iron. Witness knew the defendant, Edward Palmer; he took some of the mixture he had been describing, to his shop. The first time he took some was in May, 1817. In the course of that month, or the beginning of June, he took four or five seven-pound parcels; when he took it there, it was taken up to the top of the house. Witness afterwards carried some to Russell-street, which was taken to the top of the house, about one hundred weight and three quarters; from this quantity he carried fifty-three pounds weight to the house of the defendant's porter, by the desire of Mr. Malins; it was in paper parcels of seven pounds each.

John Bagster proved that he had been employed by Malins and Proctor, to gather sloe and white-thorn leaves: they were taken to Jones's house, and from thence to Malins' coffee-roasting premises; witness received two-pence per pound for them; he saw the manufacturing going on, but did not know much about it: witness saw the leaves on sheets of copper, in Goldstone-street.

This was the case for the Crown.--Verdict for the Crown, 840_l._

_The Attorney-General against John Prentice._--This was an information similar to the last, in which the defendant submitted to a verdict for the Crown.

_The Attorney-General against Lawson Holmes._--In this case the defendant submitted to a verdict for the Crown.

_The Attorney-General against John Orkney._--Thomas Jones proved that the defendant was a grocer, and in the month of May last he carried to his shop seven pounds of imitation tea, by the order of John Malins, for which he received the money, viz. 15_s._ 9_d._ or 2_s._ 3_d._ per pound.

The jury found a verdict for the Crown.--Penalties 70_l._

_The Attorney-General against James Gray._--The defendant submitted to a verdict for the Crown.--Penalties 120_l._

_The Attorney-General against H. Gilbert, and Powel._--These defendants submitted to a verdict.--Penalties 140_l._

_The Attorney-General against William Clarke._--This defendant also submitted to a verdict for the Crown.

_The Attorney-General against George David Bellis._--This defendant submitted to a verdict for the Crown.

_The Attorney-General against John Horner._--The defendant in this case was a grocer; it was proved by Jones that he received twenty pounds of imitation tea.--Verdict for the Crown.--Penalties 210_l._

_The Attorney-General against William Dowling._--This was a grocer. Jones proved that he delivered seven pounds of imitation tea at Mr. Dowling's house, and received the money for it, namely 15_s._ 9_d._--Penalties 70_l._

METHOD OF DETECTING THE ADULTERATIONS OF TEA.

The adulteration of tea may be evinced by comparing the botanical characters of the leaves of the two respective trees, and by submitting them to the action of a few chemical tests.

The shape of the tea-leaf is slender and narrow, as shewn in this sketch, the edges are deeply serrated, and the end or extremity is acutely pointed. The texture of the leaf is very delicate, its surface smooth and glossy, and its colour is a lively pale green.

The sloe-leaf (and also the white-thorn leaf,) as shewn in this sketch, is more rounded, and the leaf is obtusely pointed. The serratures or jags on the edges are not so deep, the surface of the leaf is more uneven, the texture not so delicate, and the colour is a dark olive green.

These characters of course can be observed only after the dried leaves have been suffered to macerate in water for about twenty-four hours.

The leaves of some sorts of tea may differ in size, but the shape is the same in all of them; because all the different kinds of tea imported from China, are the produce of one species of plant, and the difference between the green and souchong, or black tea, depends chiefly upon the climate, soil, culture, age, and mode of drying the leaves.

Spurious black tea,[86] slightly moistened, when rubbed on a sheet of white paper, immediately produces a blueish-black stain; and speedily affords, when thrown into cold water, a blueish-black tincture, which instantly becomes reddened by letting fall into it, a drop or two of sulphuric acid.

Two ounces of the suspected leaves, should be infused in half-a-pint of cold, soft water, and suffered to stand for about an hour. Genuine tea produces an amber-coloured infusion, which does not become reddened by sulphuric acid.

All the samples of spurious green tea (nineteen in number) which I have examined, were coloured with carbonate of copper (a poisonous substance,) and not by means of verdigris, or copperas.[87] The latter substances would instantly turn the tea black; because both these metallic salts being soluble in water, are acted on by the astringent matter of the leaves, whether genuine or spurious, and convert the infusion into ink.

Tea, rendered poisonous by carbonate of copper, speedily imparts to liquid ammonia a fine sapphire blue tinge. It is only necessary to shake up in a stopped vial, for a few minutes, a tea-spoonful of the suspected leaves, with about two table-spoonsful of liquid ammonia, diluted with half its bulk of water. The supernatant liquid will exhibit a fine blue colour, if the minutest quantity of copper be present.

Green tea, coloured with carbonate of copper, when thrown into water impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, immediately acquires a black colour. Genuine green tea suffers no change from the action of these tests.

The presence of copper may be further rendered obvious, by mixing one part of the suspected tea-leaves, reduced to powder, with two or three parts of nitrate of potash, (or with two parts of chlorate of potash,) and projecting this mixture by small portions at a time, into a platina, or porcelain-ware crucible, kept red-hot in a coal fire; the whole vegetable matter of the tea leaves will thus become destroyed, and the oxide of copper left behind, in combination with the potash, of the nitrate of potash (or salt-petre,) or with the muriate of potash, if chlorate of potash has been employed.

If water, acidulated with nitric acid, be then poured into the crucible to dissolve the mass, the presence of the copper may be rendered manifest by adding to the solution, liquid ammonia, in such quantity that the pungent odour of it predominates.

FOOTNOTES:

[85] Also, 2 Geo. I, c. 30, § 5; and 4 Geo. II, c. 14, § 11.

[86] The examination of twenty-seven samples of imitation tea of different qualities, from the most costly, to the most common, which it fell to my lot to undertake, induces me to point out the marks of sophistications here detailed, as the most simple and expeditious.

[87] Mr. Twining, an eminent tea-merchant, asserts, that "the leaves of spurious tea are boiled in a copper, with copperas and sheep's dung."--See Encyclop. Britan. vol. xviii. p. 331. 1797. See also the History of the Tea Plant, p. 48; and p. 167 of this Treatise.

_Counterfeit Coffee._

The fraud of counterfeiting ground coffee by means of pigeon's beans and pease, is another subject which, not long ago, arrested the attention of the public: and from the numerous convictions of grocers prosecuted for the offence, it is evident that this practice has been carried on for a long time, and to a considerable extent.

The following statement exhibits some of the prosecutions, instituted by the Solicitor of the Excise, against persons convicted of the fraud of manufacturing spurious, and adulterating genuine coffee.