A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons | Page 5

a variety of species inferior to the genuine; that too little
discrimination is exercised by the collectors of this precious
medicament; that it is carelessly assorted, and is frequently packed in
green hides; that much of it arrives in Spain in a half-decayed state,
mixed with fragments of other vegetables and various extraneous
substances; and in this state is distributed throughout Europe.
But as if this were not a sufficient deterioration, the public are often
served with a spurious compound of mahogany saw-dust and oak wood,
ground into powder mixed with a proportion of good quinquina, and
sold as genuine bark powder.
Every chemist knows that there are mills constantly at work in this
metropolis, which furnish bark powder at a much cheaper rate than the
substance can be procured for in its natural state. The price of the best
genuine bark, upon an average, is not lower than twelve shillings the
pound; but immense quantities of powder bark are supplied to the
apothecaries at three or four shillings a pound.
It is also notorious that there are manufacturers of spurious rhubarb
powder, ipecacuanha powder,[2] James's powder; and other simple and
compound medicines of great potency, who carry on their diabolical
trade on an amazingly large scale. Indeed, the quantity of medical
preparations thus sophisticated exceeds belief. Cheapness, and not
genuineness and excellence, is the grand desideratum with the
unprincipled dealers in drugs and medicines.
Those who are familiar with chemistry may easily convince themselves
of the existence of the fraud, by subjecting to a chemical examination
either spirits of hartshorn, magnesia, calcined magnesia, calomel, or
any other chemical preparation in general demand.

Spirit of hartshorn is counterfeited by mixing liquid caustic ammonia
with the distilled spirit of hartshorn, to increase the pungency of its
odour, and to enable it to bear an addition of water.
The fraud is detected by adding spirit of wine to the sophisticated spirit;
for, if no considerable coagulation ensues, the adulteration is proved. It
may also be discovered by the hartshorn spirit not producing a brisk
effervescence when mixed with muriatic or nitric acid.
Magnesia usually contains a portion of lime, originating from hard
water being used instead of soft, in the preparation of this medicine.
To ascertain the purity of magnesia, add to a portion of it a little
sulphuric acid, diluted with ten times its bulk of water. If the magnesia
be completely soluble, and the solution remains transparent, it may be
pronounced pure; but not otherwise. Or, dissolve a portion of the
magnesia in muriatic acid, and add a solution of sub-carbonate of
ammonia. If any lime be present, it will form a precipitate; whereas
pure magnesia will remain in solution.
Calcined magnesia is seldom met with in a pure state. It may be
assayed by the same tests as the common magnesia. It ought not to
effervesce at all, with dilute sulphuric acid; and, if the magnesia and
acid be put together into one scale of a balance, no diminution of
weight should ensue on mixing them together. Calcined magnesia,
however, is very seldom so pure as to be totally dissolved by diluted
sulphuric acid; for a small insoluble residue generally remains,
consisting chiefly of silicious earth, derived from the alkali employed
in the preparation of it. The solution in sulphuric acid, when largely
diluted, ought not to afford any precipitation by the addition of oxalate
of ammonia.
The genuineness of calomel may be ascertained by boiling, for a few
minutes, one part, with 1/32 part of muriate of ammonia in ten parts of
distilled water. When carbonate of potash is added to the filtered
solution, no precipitation will ensue if the calomel be pure.
Indeed, some of the most common and cheap drugs do not escape the

adulterating hand of the unprincipled druggist. Syrup of buckthorn, for
example, instead of being prepared from the juice of buckthorn berries,
(rhamnus catharticus,) is made from the fruit of the blackberry bearing
alder, and the dogberry tree. A mixture of the berries of the buckthorn
and blackberry bearing alder, and of the dogberry tree, may be seen
publicly exposed for sale by some of the venders of medicinal herbs.
This abuse may be discovered by opening the berries: those of
buckthorn have almost always four seeds; of the alder, two; and of the
dogberry, only one. Buckthorn berries, bruised on white paper, stain it
of a green colour, which the others do not.
Instead of worm-seed (artemisia santonica,) the seeds of tansy are
frequently offered for sale, or a mixture of both.
A great many of the essential oils obtained from the more expensive
spices, are frequently so much adulterated, that it is not easy to meet
with such as are at all fit for use: nor are these adulterations easily
discoverable. The grosser