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value of oatmeal. If used for infants' food, unless, as directed,
made up with milk, they could not support life.
A sample of Oatmeal was very good of its kind, but contained
considerable admixture with wheaten flour. I regarded the
admixture as accidental. The nutritious character of the meal
may be inferred from the presence of 2.44 per cent. of nitrogen.
Coffees, three in number, were genuine. So also was a Mustard,
a Pickled Cabbage, and a Lime Juice.
Of tinned articles, two Potted Meats and two Extracts of Meat
have been analysed. Both the potted ham and the bloater-paste
were of excellent quality. The bloater-paste was colored with
oxide of iron, as the public will have it so. This is no adulteration,
as the fact is stated on the label, and is confirmed by the analysis.
It seems that the attempt to sell the bloater-paste without the
coloring matter has hitherto failed, and as the appearance of the
paste without the color is not so agreeable to the eye, the color
added is the least objectionable.
Both of the meat extracts were good; No. 51 is the better of
the two. They are excellent stimulants, and best adapted for
admixture with weak beef-tea. In households where soups are a
common feature of the dinner-table, the introduction of such
extracts would be a real economy. They contain, however, no
albumen, and this should be supplied, when necessary, by fresh
meat.
Of Drugs, two called White Precipitate, and three Mercurial
Ointments deserve mention. One sample of white precipitate,
No. 59, was perfect in composition; the other, No. 60, varied from
the theoretical standard. As no fixed standard is given in the
Pharmacopæia, I, of course, took no notice of the discrepancy.
As two of the mercurial ointments were sold simply as such, and
as a mild kind of mercurial ointment is commonly sold, as well as
the one mentioned in the Pharmacopæia, no exception could be
taken to the diminished quantity of mercury in the respective
ointments. The sample Bold as Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis
was well made, and of the nature, substance, and quality demanded.
Three Spirits, a Gin, a Whiskey, and a sample of Rum, conclude
my list. All three were up to the standard of the Act of
Parliament. They were quite free from metallic contamination.
In conclusion, may I express the belief that the information
supplied by the Annual Report will be found of general service,
and will justify the appointment of a Public Analyst.