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50
Whiskey.
The one sample of adulterated whiskey, and the remainder of the
samples of food (all of which latter were returned as genuine), call for no
especial remark.
Seidlitz Powders.
No less than twelve out of the seventeen Seidlitz powders received for
analysis were certified as being not of the composition prescribed in the
British Pharmacopoeia. In eleven cases, the quantities of tartaric acid
were widely different from, and less than, the proportion required to be
present; in two cases, a foreign ingredient, sulphate of magnesia, was
discovered; and five of the powders were destitute of the most distinctive
component of a Seidlitz powder, the Rochelle salt, or tartarated soda.
This is a very unsatisfactary condition of affairs; and, should a recent legal
decision be upheld, according to which Seidlitz powders hitherto purchased
for analysis have not been divided in compliance with the Act, it is possible
that there will in future be considerable difficulty in successfully proceeding
against vendors of improperly compounded Seidlitz powders.
Sale of Food and Drugs Act (1875) Amendment Bill (No. 168).
I would take the present opportunity of calling attention to the Bill
(No. 168), to amend the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875, now before the
House of Commons, prepared and brought in by Dr. Cameron, M.P., and
others. Although there is no prospect of this Bill being passed during the
present Session, it is desirable that its provisions should be widely known,
so that, when it comes up for further discussion, it should meet with such
criticism as may be necessary. One of the sections of the Bill is as
follows:—
"The twenty-fifth section of the said Act shall be and is hereby
amended by the deletion of the word 'written' before the words
'warranty to that effect,' and every wholesale trader or manufacturer
of any article of food or drug, or other person who in the course of
trade shall sell to any person any article of food or drug, with intent
that the same may be resold by retail in the state in which it is
purchased from him, shall, unless he has in writing informed the
purchaser to the contrary, be deemed, for the purposes of the said Act,
to have given a warranty to the person purchasing from him that such
article of food or drug is of the nature, substance, and quality
demanded by such purchaser."
According to this clause, a special warranty as to the purity of an article
sold by one trader to another not being required, every invoice or bill would
be held to constitute such warranty; and the mere production in Court of
an invoice would exonerate the accused: further, as there is no provision
in the Bill for the prosecution of the giver of the invoice, the wholesale