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Also three samples of "cocoa," which were, as usual,
mixtures of cocoa, sugar, and sago, or arrowroot; and one
sample of "sherbet," which contained nothing of a deleterious
nature.
In all 148 samples.
Of these only two were submitted for analysis by private
purchasers, viz., one of whisky, which was genuine, and one
of flour, which was genuine, but of inferior quality, and
contained flour mites.
One sample of milk was brought by the Inspector of the
Metropolitan Dairymen's Association; it was adulterated
with 11 or 12 per cent. of water, and I gave a certificate
to that effect; no prosecution was, however, undertaken at
the time, pending the decision of an Appeal Case on the
question as to whether an Inspector could be "prejudiced"
by the sale of an adulterated article; on the decision of this
question, the vendor of the above sample was prosecuted,
convicted, and fined.
It has been decided that the words "to the prejudice of
the purchaser" refer to the purchaser generally, and not to
any particular purchaser, so that an adulterated article sold
to an Inspector, though not prejudicing him, is sold to the
prejudice of the purchaser generally, i.e., to the prejudice
of the public.
The samples of tea classed as of doubtful quality, had
not been adulterated in this country, but contained small
quantities of "lie" tea.
The adulterated butters contained "butterine," a substance
harmless enough in itself, and were sold at low
prices.
The adulterated coffees contained chicory; one was
labelled to that effect, and was purchased on account of a
complaint.
The samples of adulterated mustard contained wheat