Part 8
The worst kinds of adulterated coffee are to be found in that which is sold in canisters. The value of the tin envelope cannot be less than 2d., and, as the coffee so sold is charged at the same price as that in a paper wrapper, it must be evident that a more extensive adulteration is necessary in order to make up the difference. Such, upon examination, proves to be the case, as it appeared--
"That the whole twenty-nine packages, bottles, and canisters submitted to analysis, with a single exception,[5] were adulterated.
"That in these twenty-eight adulterated samples the falsification consisted of so-called chicory, which in many instances constituted the chief part of the article.
"That three of the samples contained mangold-wurzel, and two of them roasted wheat-flour."
We have said it often happens that the adulterations are adulterated. Chicory is an instance of it. The original fraud is found to have ramified in an endless manner; and Sir Charles Wood will doubtless be astonished to hear of the hideous crop of falsifications his most unfortunate order has caused to spring out of the ground.
Immediately the process of transforming chicory into coffee became legalized by the Government, that article came into very extensive consumption, and factories were set up especially for its secret manufacture. The reason for this secrecy may be gathered from the list of articles which are made to subserve the purpose: roasted wheat, ground acorns, roasted carrots, scorched beans, roasted parsnips, mangold-wurzel, lupin-seeds, dog's biscuits, burnt sugar, _red earth_, roasted horse-chestnuts,--and above and beyond all _baked horses' and bullocks' livers_. This statement rests upon the authority of Mr. P. G. Simmonds, in a work entitled "Coffee as it is, and as it ought to be:"--
"In various parts of the metropolis," he says, "but more especially in the east, are to be found 'liver bakers.' These men take the livers of oxen and horses, bake them, and grind them into a powder, which they sell to the low-priced coffeeshop-keepers, at from fourpence to sixpence per lb., horse's liver coffee being the highest price. It may be known by allowing the coffee to stand until cold, when a thick pellicle or skin will be found on the top. It goes farther than coffee, and is generally _mixed with chicory_, and other vegetable imitations of coffee."
In confirmation of this horrible statement the sanitary commissioners of the Lancet state that, on analysis, this substance, which
"possessed a disagreeable animal smell, ... consisted of some imperfectly-charred animal matter."
The new regulation, enjoining grocers to sell coffee and chicory properly labelled as such, is, no doubt, observed in respectable shops; but in the low neighbourhoods the mixture as before is passed off for genuine Mocha. However, the purchaser has the means of protection in his own hands. If he prefers coffee pure, let him buy the roasted berry and grind it himself; he will thus be sure of having the real article, and will get it in greater perfection than by purchasing it ready ground.
In close proximity to the tea and coffee-pots stand the milk-jug and the sugar-basin. What find we here? A few years ago the town was frightened from its propriety by a little work entitled "Observations on London Milk," published by a medical gentleman of the name of Rugg, which gave some fearful disclosures relative to the manner in which London milk was adulterated. Dr. Hassall's analyses go to show that, with the exception of the produce of the "iron-tailed cow," none of the supposed defilements really exist, and that the milkman is a sadly maligned individual. Water is added in quantities varying in different samples from 10 to 50 per cent.; and in the more unfashionable parts of the town _all_ the cream is abstracted to be forwarded to the West-end. If milk _must_ be adulterated in large towns, water is undoubtedly the most harmless ingredient; at the same time it will be seen what a fraud is perpetrated upon the public by selling milky water at 4d. a quart.
That the London milking-pail goes as often to the pump as to the cow we have no manner of doubt. To bring the diluted goods up to a delicate cream colour, it is common to swing round a ball of annatto in the can; and other careful observers and writers upon the adulteration of food have detected flour, starch, and treacle. All medical men know that children are often violently disordered by their morning or evening portion,--an effect which could not come from the mere admixture of water--and we must confess that we ourselves believe the milkman to be a very wicked fellow.
We are afraid, if we look into the sugar-basin, we shall not find much more comfort than in the milk-jug. We refer here to the ordinary brown sugars, such as are generally used at the breakfast-table for coffee. It is scarcely possible to procure moist sugar which is not infested with animalculæ of the acari genus, a most disgusting class of creatures. In many samples of sugars they swarm to that extent that the mass moves with them; and in almost every case, by dissolving a spoonful in a wine-glass of water, dozens of them can be detected by the naked eye, either floating upon the liquid or adhering to the edge of the glass. Those who are in the habit of "handling" sugars, as it is termed, are liable to a skin affection called the grocer's itch, which is believed to be occasioned by these living inhabitants of our sugar-basins. Horrible as it is to think that such creatures are an article in daily use, we cannot charge the grocer directly with their introduction; the evil is, however, increased by the manner in which he mixes, or "handles," as it is termed in the trade, higher-priced sugars with muscovados, bastards, and other inferior kinds, in which the animalculæ abound.
In addition to this foreign animal element, grocers sometimes mix flour with their sugar, and, if we are to put any credit in popular belief, sand; but of the presence of this gritty ingredient we have never seen any trustworthy evidence. Nevertheless we have said enough to show that the tea-dealer and grocer do their best to supply the proverbial "peck of dirt" which all of us must eat before we die. Would that we were fed with nothing more deleterious or repulsive! Let us see, however, the base admixtures one is liable to swallow in taking--
A CUP OF TEA _or a_ CUP OF COFFEE.
_In the Tea._
If Green-- Prussian-blue. Turmeric. China clay or French chalk. Used tea-leaves. Copperas. If Black-- Gum. Black lead. Dutch pink. Used tea-leaves. Leaves of the ash, sloe, hawthorn, and of many other kinds.
_In the Milk._
On an average 25 per cent. of water. Annatto. Treacle. Flour. Oxide of iron. And other unknown ingredients.
_In the Sugar._
If Brown-- Wheat flour. Hundreds of the sugar-insect. If White-- Albumen of bullock's blood.
_In the Coffee._
Chicory.
_In the Chicory._
Roast wheat. " acorn. " mangold-wurzel. " beans. " carrots. " parsnips " lupin-seeds. " dog-biscuits. " horse-chestnuts. Oxide of iron. Mahogany sawdust. Baked horse's liver. " bullock's liver.
_In the Milk._
Water 25 per cent. Annatto. Flour. Treacle. Oxide of iron. And other unknown ingredients.
_In the Sugar._
If Brown-- Wheat flour. Hundreds of the sugar-insect. If White-- Albumen of bullock's blood.
As we perceive the teetotalers are petitioning Parliament and agitating the towns for the closing of public-houses, we beg to present them, in either hand, with a cup of the above mixtures, with the humble hope that means will be found by them to supply the British public with some drink a little less deleterious to health, a little more pleasant to the palate, and somewhat less disgusting to the feelings. Some of the sugar impurities may be avoided by using the crystallized East-Indian kind--the size of the crystals not permitting of its being adulterated with inferior sorts.
We shall not dwell upon cocoa further than to state that it is a still rarer thing to obtain it pure than either tea or coffee. The almost universal adulterations are sugar, starch, and flours together with red colouring matter, generally some ferruginous earth; whilst, as far as we can see, what is termed homoeopathic cocoa is only distinguished from other kinds by the small quantity of that substance contained in it.
There is scarcely an article on the breakfast-table, in fact, which is what it seems to be. The butter, if salt, is adulterated with between 20 and 30 per cent. of water. A merchant in this trade tells the _Lancet_ that "between 40,000 and 50,000 casks of adulterated butter are annually sold in London, and the trade knows it as well as they know a bad shilling." Lard when cheap also finds its way to the butter-tub. Perhaps those who flatter themselves that they use nothing but "Epping" will not derive much consolation from the following letter, also published in the same journal:--
"_To the Editor of the Lancet._
"SIR,--Having taken apartments in the house of a butterman, I was suddenly awoke at three o'clock one morning with a noise in the lower part of the house, and alarmed on perceiving a light below the door of my bed-room; conceiving the house to be on fire, I hurried down stairs. I found the whole family busily occupied, and, on my expressing alarm at the house being on fire, they jocosely informed me they _were merely making Epping butter_. They unhesitatingly informed me of the whole process. For this purpose they made use of fresh-salted butter of a very inferior quality: this was repeatedly washed with water in order to free it from the salt. This being accomplished, the next process was to wash it frequently with milk, and the manufacture was completed by the addition of a small quantity of sugar. The amateurs of fresh Epping butter were supplied with this dainty, which yielded my ingenious landlord a profit of at least 100 per cent., besides establishing his shop as being supplied with Epping butter from one of the first-rate dairies.--I am, sir, your obedient servant,
"A STUDENT."
If we try marmalade as a succedaneum, we are no better off--at least if we put any faith in "real Dundee, an excellent substitute for butter," to be seen piled in heaps in the cheap grocers' windows. Dr. Hassall's analysis proves that this dainty is adulterated to a large extent with turnips, apples, and carrots: we need not grumble so much at these vegetable products, excepting on the score that it is a fraud to sell them at 7d. a pound; but there is the more startling fact that, in twelve out of fourteen samples analysed, copper was detected, and sometimes in large and deleterious quantities!
Accum, in his "Death in the Pot," quotes, from cookery-books of reputation in his day, recipes which make uninitiated persons stare. For instance, "Modern Cookery, or the English Housewife," gives the following serious directions "to make Greening:"--"Take a bit of _verdigris the bigness of an hazel-nut_, finely powdered, half a pint of distilled vinegar, and a bit of alum-powder, with a little baysalt; put all in a bottle and shake it, and let it stand till clear. _Put a small teaspoonful into codlings, or whatever you wish to green!_"
Again, the "English Housekeeper," a book which ran through eighteen editions, directs--"to make pickles green _boil them with halfpence_, or allow them to stand for twenty-four hours in copper or brass pans!" Has the notable housewife ever wondered to herself how it is that all the pickles of the shops are of so much more inviting colour than her own? We will satisfy her curiosity in a word--she has forgotten the "bit of verdigris the bigness of a hazel-nut," for it is now proved beyond doubt that to this complexion do they come by the use of copper, introduced for the sole purpose of making them of a lively green. The analyses of twenty samples of pickles bought of the most respectable tradesmen proved, firstly, that the vinegar in the bottles owed most of its strength to the introduction of sulphuric acid; secondly, that, out of sixteen different pickles analysed for the purpose, copper was detected in various amounts. Thus, "two of the samples contained a small quantity; eight rather much, one a considerable quantity, three a very considerable quantity; in one copper was present in a highly deleterious amount, and in two _in poisonous amounts_. The largest quantity of this metal was found in the bottles consisting entirely of green vegetables, such as gherkins and beans."
We trust after this the good housewife will feel jealous no longer, but rest satisfied that the home-made article, if less inviting and vivid in colour, is at least more wholesome. A simple test to discover the presence of copper in such articles is to place a bright knitting-needle in the vinegar, and let it remain there for a few hours, when the deleterious metal will speedily form a coating over it, dense or thin, according to the amount which exists. Wherever large quantities are found, it is wilfully inserted for the purpose of producing the bright green colour, but a small quantity may find its way into the pickles in the process of boiling in copper pans. Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell, the great pickle and preserve manufacturers in Soho, immediately they became aware, from the analyses of the _Lancet_, that such was the case, in a very praiseworthy manner substituted silver and glass, at a great expense, for all their former vessels. The danger arising from the introduction of this virulent poison into our food would not be so great if it were confined to pickles, of which the quantity taken is small at each meal, but it is used to paint all kinds of preserves, and fruits for winter pies and tarts are bloomed with death. The papa who presents his children the box of sweetmeats bedded in coloured paper, and enclosed in an elegant casket, may be corroding unawares the very springs of their existence. As a general rule, it is found that the red fruits, such as currants, raspberries, and cherries, are uncontaminated with this deleterious metal, but owe their deep hue to some red colouring matter, such as a decoction of logwood or an infusion of beetroot, in the same way that common white cabbage is converted into red by the nefarious pickle-merchant. The green fruits are not all deleterious in the same degree; there seems to be an ascending scale of virulence, much after the following manner:--Limes, gooseberries, rhubarb, greengages, olives--the last-mentioned fruit, especially those of French preparation, generally containing verdigris, or the acetate of copper, _in highly dangerous quantities_. The _Lancet_ publishes a letter from Mr. Bernays, F.C.S., dated from the Chemical Library, Derby, in which he shows the necessity of watchfulness in the purchase of these articles of food:--
"Of this," he says, "I will give you a late instance. I had bought a bottle of preserved gooseberries from one of the most respectable grocers in the town, and had its contents transferred to a pie. It struck me that the gooseberries looked fearfully green when cooked; and in eating one with a steel fork its intense bitterness sent me in search of the sugar. After having sweetened and mashed the gooseberries, with the same steel fork, I was about to convey some to my mouth, when I observed the prongs to be completely coated with a thin film of bright metallic copper. My testimony can be borne out by the evidence of others, two of whom dined at my table."
It was fortunate that these three gentlemen used steel forks, which instantly disclosed the mischief; if they had chanced to use silver, all three might have fallen victims to these poisonous conserves.
But we are not yet at the worst. When Catherine de' Medici wished to get rid of obnoxious persons in an "artistic" manner, she was in the habit of presenting them with delicately made sweetmeats, or trinkets, in which death lurked in the most engaging manner; she carried--
"Pure death in an earring, a casket, A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket."
Her poisoned feasts are matters of history, at which people shudder as they read; but we question if the diabolical revenge and coldblooded wickedness of an Italian woman ever invented much more deadly trifles than our low, cheap confectioners do on the largest scale. We select from some of these articles of bonbonerie the following feast, which we set before doting mothers, in order that they may see what deadly dainties are prepared for the especial delectation of their children:--
"A FISH.
"_Purchased in Shepherd's Market, May Fair._
"The tip of the nose and the gills of the fish are coloured with the usual pink, while the back and sides are highly painted with that virulent poison _arsenite of copper_."
"A PIGEON.
"_Purchased in Drury Lane._
"The pigments employed for colouring this pigeon are light yellow for the beak, red for the eyes, and orange yellow for the base or stand. The yellow colour consists of the light kind of chromate of lead, for the eyes bisulphate of mercury, and for the stand the deeper varieties of chromate of lead, or orange chrome."
"APPLES.
"_Purchased in James Street, Covent Garden._
"The apples in this sample are coloured yellow, and on one side deep red; the yellow colour extending to a considerable depth in the substance of the sugar. The red consists of the usual non-metallic pigment, and the yellow is due to the presence of CHROMATE OF LEAD in really _poisonous amount_!"
"A COCK.
"_Purchased in Drury Lane._
"The beak of the bird is coloured bright yellow, the comb brilliant red, the wings and tail are variegated, black, two different reds, and yellow; while the stand, as in most of these sugar ornaments, is painted green. The yellow of the beak consists of CHROMATE OF LEAD; the comb and part of the red colour on the back and wings is VERMILION; while the second red colour on the wings and tail is the usual pink non-metallic colouring matter, and the stripes of yellow consist of gamboge; lastly, the green of the stand is MIDDLE BRUNSWICK GREEN, and, therefore, contains CHROMATE OF LEAD. In the colouring of this article, then, no less than three active poisons are employed, as well as that drastic purgative gamboge!"
"ORANGES.
"_Purchased in Pilgrim Street, Doctors' Commons._
"This is a very unnatural imitation of an orange, it being coloured with a coarse and very uneven coating of RED LEAD."
"MIXED SUGAR ORNAMENTS.
"_Purchased in Middle Row, Holborn._
"The confectionery in this parcel is made up into a variety of forms and devices, as hats, jugs, baskets, and dishes of fruit and vegetables. One of the hats is coloured yellow with CHROMATE OF LEAD, and has a green hatband round it, coloured with ARSENITE OF COPPER; a second hat is white, with a blue hatband, the pigment being PRUSSIAN-BLUE. The baskets are coloured yellow with CHROMATE OF LEAD. Into the colouring of the pears and peaches the usual non-metallic pigment, together with CHROMATE OF LEAD and MIDDLE BRUNSWICK GREEN, enter largely; while the carrots represented in a dish are coloured throughout with a RED OXIDE OF LEAD, and the tops with BRUNSWICK GREEN. This is one of the worst of all the samples of coloured sugar confectionery submitted to analysis, as it contains no less than four _deadly poisons_!"
The painted feast contains, then, among its highly injurious ingredients, ferrocyanide of iron or Prussian-blue, Antwerp-blue, gamboge, and ultramarine, and among its deadly poisons the three chrome yellows, red lead, white lead, vermilion, the three Brunswick greens, and Scheele's green or arsenite of copper. The wonder is that, considering we set such poison-traps for children, ten times more enticing and quite as deadly as those used to bane rats, that the greater number of youngsters who partake of them are not at once despatched; and so undoubtedly they would be if nurses were not cautious about these coloured parts, which have always enjoyed a bad name under the general denomination of "trash and messes." As it is, we are informed by Dr. Letheby that "no less than seventy cases of poisoning have been traced to this source" within three years!
In France, Belgium, and Switzerland the colouring of confectionery with poisonous pigments is prohibited, and the vendors are held responsible for all accidents which may occur to persons from eating their sugar confectionery. It is absolutely essential that some such prohibition should be made in England. Arsenic, according to law, must be sold coloured with soot, in order that its hue may prevent its being used by mistake for other substances; how absurd it is that we should allow other poisons, quite as virulent, to be mixed with the food of children and adults, merely for the sake of the colour! All kinds of sugar-plums, comfits, and "kisses," in addition to being often adulterated with large quantities of plaster of Paris, are always open to the suspicion of being poisoned. Necessity cannot be urged for the continuance of this wicked practice, as there are plenty of vegetable pigments which, if not quite as vivid as the acrid mineral ones, are sufficiently so to please the eye. Of late years a peculiar lozenge has been introduced, in which the flavour of certain fruits is singularly imitated. Thus we have essence of jargonel drops, essence of pine-apple drops, and many others of a most delicate taste. They really are so delicious that we scarcely like to create a prejudice against them; but the truth is great, and must prevail: all these delicate essences are made from a preparation of æther and rancid cheese and butter.