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75
food supervision.

* Including 96 taken at Paddington (G.W.R.) Terminus in course of delivery ; 17 adulterated.
Of the milk samples (282), 96 were taken at the Paddington (G.W.R.) Terminus. Of the
90 station samples 17 were reported as adulterated, or 18.7 percent., as compared with
8.1 per cent, in 1903. Of the remaining 186 samples purchased in the street and shops,
10 were adulterated, equal to 5.3 per cent. (5.4 per cent, in 1903). The samples at the
railway are taken only at the request of the consignees who have found the consignments
adulterated before communicating with the Department. Hence a larger proportion of
adulterated samples is always obtained. It is, however, difficult to account for the great
increase (over 100 per cent.) in the proportion found adulterated last year.
Of the other samples enumerated in Table 40, those of soda and brandy are deserving
of comment.
The former is what is generally known as washing soda, and should consist of
bicarbonate of soda and water of crystallisation. The commercial article is never quite
pure, generally containing a little (about 5 per cent.) sulphate of soda formed in the
process of manufacture. Within recent years adulteration with the sulphate has become
very general. From information obtained it appears that the increased proportion of
sulphate is not due to the omission of any process of purification, but to the actual addition
of crystals of the sulphate to the carbonate. There is a great difference in the cost of the
two articles, sulphate of soda being worth about 24s. a ton, and "washing soda" over £3
a ton. The commercially pure soda can be purchased at the price the adulterated article is