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3.45 per cent. of real acetous acid should be warned by a
letter from the Vestry Clerk, while a test prosecution should
be instituted against the vendor of "sample No. 52," which
contained only 2.85 per cent. of real acetous acid.
The Sanitary Committee resolved accordingly.
Notice was then given by a solicitor on behalf of the vendor
(really on behalf of the wholesale houses) that the prosecution
would be fought, and upon that becoming clear the
magistrate adjourned the case. When the trial came on the
resistance collapsed. The vendor pleaded guilty, and a fine
of twenty shillings and costs was imposed. It will be
observed that in deciding upon such prosecutions the real
difficulty encountered by the Vestry is to settle what the
purchaser is entitled to expect when he asks for a particular
article which, like "vinegar," has no precise legal standard
settled for it, or in which general custom has debased the
standard. "Vinegar," when sold by a druggist, must be sold
according to the standard fixed by the British Pharmacopoeia,
and that standard requires it to contain 5.41 per cent. of real
acetous acid. It would be much better, in my opinion, if the
standard, or Proof Vinegar," as defined by the Vinegar Act,
containing 6 per cent. of real acetous acid, and known as
"No. 24 vinegar," were legalised as what a purchaser is
entitled to have when he asks for "vinegar." The lower
strengths do not keep so well, and they are prepared mostly
by the addition of water.
Of "Milk of sulphur," 13 samples were submitted for
analysis. Of these 13 samples 11 were found to be pure precipitated
sulphur, while No. 29 was found to contain 10.8 per
cent. of anhydrous gypsum, or sulphate of lime (Ca S O4);
and No. 32 contained 38.5 per cent. of the same lime salt.