276

THE LANCET.

SATURDAY, MARCH 8,BEING

No. 10OF THIS JOURNAL FOR THE YEAR 1851.

THE ADULTERATION OF COFFEE WITH CHICORY.

IN a recent article, we offered a few comments upon certainof the many misstatements and inaccuracies contained in that

portion of the Budget of the Chancellor of the Exchequer re-lating to contemplated alterations in the duties on coffee andchicory.We, however, were far from exhausting the subject, and

now purpose to make a few additional observations.

To all applications for legislative enactments against theadulteration of coffee with chicory, the constant reply of theChancellor was to the effect, that it was of no use attemptingto interfere in the matter, since no means existed wherebychicory when mixed with coffee could be detected.In May, 1850, we find the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in

his place in the House of Commons, making amongst otherremarks referring to the adulteration of coffee, the following :

"The question raised by the motion [that of Mr. Anstey]then, was, whether excise-officers should be sent into everycoffee-dealer’s to ascertain whether he mixed chicory with hiscoffee. If that suggestion were acted upon, it might be anti-cipated that the house would be deluged with petitions fromevery corner of the kingdom against these domiciliary visits;and such an outcry would be raided against excise interference,as he would be exceedingly unwilling to provoke. To obtainsatisfactory evidence, were they to suborn persons employedby the dealers? Having desired the Board of Inland Revenueto state whether there was any ready and available proof ofthe mixture of chicory with coffee, he had received a reply tothe effect, that four experienced persons having been employedin making experiments, the result of the inquiry was, thatneither by chemical tests, nor in any other way, could theyascertain with any degree of certainty whether the mixturecontained chicory or not."

Immediately on the appearance of these very singular state-ments, Dr.HAssALL came forward, and clearly showed that theadulteration of coffee with chicory and a variety of other sub-stances might at all times be ascertained with ease and cer-tainty, by means of the microscope, and therefore that it was notnecessary, as insisted upon by the Chancellor, for successfulprosecution, that " excise-officers should be sent into every"coffee-dealer’s to ascertain whether he mixed chicory with his"coffee," that " domiciliary visits" should be paid; nor was itneedful "to suborn persons employed by the dealers!"The custom and revenue officers are constantly in the habit

of making "domiciliary visits," and do not hesitate, when oc-casion demands, " to suborn witnesses;" in proof of which wehave more than sufficient evidence in the recent pepper trials,and in the great revenue cause, in which from twenty to fortyof the servants of the dock company were, if they be not so

still, in the pay of the Custom-House authorities.So much for the impossibility of detecting chicory in ground

coffee, and of reluctance to suborn witnesses.This ground of refusal to act being removed, the Chan-

cellor, when he made known the unsatisfactory contents ofhis last Budget, sheltered, or rather tried to shelter himselfunder the absurd statement that the admixture of chicorywith coffee had increased the consumption of coffee, the fal-

lacy of which we showed by quoting the words and figures ofSir CHARLES WOOD himself.

But the ingenious Chancellor has advanced a third and lastreason for a continuance in the easy course of non-interference

which he pertinaciously follows, in the shape of a certificate,setting forth the " wholesome and the nutritive" properties of

. chicory root.

,

This reason, we believe, has no better foundation than the.

rest, as we shall proceed to show, by an appeal to a higherl authority in such matters than that of even a Chancellor of

the Exchequer.Dr. PEREIRA says that chicory is analogous to taraxacum in

its properties, and, under the latter head, we find the followingobservations :-

" Its obvious effects are those of a stomachic and tonic. Inlarge doses it acts as a mild aperient. Its diuretic operationis less obvious and constant. In various chronic diseases, itscontinued use is attended with alterative and resolvent effects.But where the digestive organs are weak, and readily dis-ordered, taraxacum is very apt to occasion dyspepsia, flatu-lency, pbin, and diarrhma.11But in order to set the question of the action of chicory on

the human frame at rest, we have instituted certain experi-ments, the details of which will be given separately. From

these experiments, it appears, that while chicory invariablyfails to produce the stimulant and exhilarating effect of coffee,it frequently occasions, especially in persons of delicate andsusceptible habit, a feeling of weight at the stomach, heavi-ness, dyspepsia, diarrhoea, &c.

These three great "arguments" being disposed of, it

now appears that the Chancellor has not a reason left to

justify his singular impolicy of non-interference.But, it may be asked, what should be done in this case This

we will now shortly consider.By Act 43rd of GEORGE III., the adulteration of coffee with

any substance was prohibited, and heavy fines inflicted in caseof detection and conviction.

Within the last few years, however, that portion of theAct relating to chicory has been suspended by what is calleda " Treasury Order," a very questionable exercise of a veryquestionable power.We advise, then, the rescinding of the Treasury Order, and

the prosecution of all parties found guilty of adulterating coffeewith chicory or with any other substance, for which purpose,as we have already shown, it is not necessary that Domi-

ciliary Visits," of which the Chancellor entertains such dread,should be paid, or that witnesses should be suborned.In 1818, the Chancellor of that time was not so particular,

and under his sanction several prosecutions and convictionsof parties adulterating coffee took place; and again, if theChancellor still unreasonably refuses to act in the case ofchicory, why does he allow the law to remain so long a deadletter, and not enforce it by authorizing the prosecution ofpersons adulterating coffee with corn, beans, parsnips, &c.

And here again, we must expose another great inaccuracyon the part of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

" At the same time," states the Chancellor, "I propose toreduce the duty upon foreign chicory and other roots usedfor mixing with coffee, to a uniform rate of 3d. the pound."The reader will be surprised to learn that the duty on raw

chicory root is only 21s. per cwt.,* that is less than 3d. per lb.,* By the proposed tariff, the duty will be still further reduced to 10s.

per cwt.

277THE REPORT OF THE INDIAN SMALL-POX COMMISSIONERS.

while it is on chicory in powder that 6d. is charged, this

high duty having been imposed under the impression thatground coffee might be smuggled in with the chicorypowder.

Again, very little unground chicory-root is imported intothis country, and the little which finds its way evades the

duty by being taken to the Channel Islands, whence it isshipped here under the name of Guernsey chicory. Of the Ichicory powder, not a ound has been imported for some time i

past. In the words of a wholesale coNee-merchant," it is neverimported." Another point worthy the consideration of the Chancellor

is the following. Coffee and chicory are both imported in theraw state, but in the process of roasting they lose weight very unequally; so that under the proposed tariff of 3d. per Ib.and 5 per cent. on raw coffee, and of 10s. per cwt. and 5 percent. on raw chicory, the respective duties, in the state the

z

articles are sold, mixed, to the consumer, would be, 4d. per lb. oncoffee, and only 2d. per lb. on chicory.The manifest fallacy of this pretended equalization of duties

it is needless to insist upon.

Really the Chancellor would appear to be quite inexpe-rienced in such matters, and we consider that the revenueauthorities are much to blame for not having given himsounder and more complete instructions.M’CULLOCH, in his Dictionary, forcibly points out the folly

and injustice of the course pursued with regard to chicory,and the opinion of this gentleman ought surely to carry withthe Chancellor not less weight than that of an adulterating citygrocer. He estimates the entire quantity of chicory sold at12,500 tons, and states that if this additional weight of coffeewere to pay duty it would yield .6500,000 and how much, weask, would the revenue amount to, if coffee of an equal weightwith the corns, beans, &c., employed in the adulterations, alsopaid duty ! tIn an article to be given in the next LANCET, we shall dis-

close, amongst other facts with which it is as well that theChancellor should be acquainted before he attempts to

legislate on the subject, the somewhat curious one that themajority of grocers buy their chicory from wholesale chicory-dealers, and that this is frequently adulterated to their handwith the corn, beans, &c., subsequently detected in the varioussamples of coffee which we have examined.

In conclusion, we observe, that the proposal of the Chan-cellor has produced much dissatisfaction amongst the colonialholders of coffee estates, the wholesale coffee-merchants, andthe upright and respectable wholesale and retail dealers. Wetrust that the Chancellor is open to reason and conviction, andthat he will abandon his present very absurd intentions onthe subject of the adulteration of coffee. The consumers

generally, of all the complaining parties, have the greatestreason to he dissatisfied.

OWNNG to the kindness of Mr. J. R. MARTIN we have been

favoured with a copy of the Report of the Small-pox Com-missioners appointed by the Indian Government, in 1850, tomake an extended inquiry into the subjects of Inoculation andVaccination in the Bengal Presidency. We have examined thisable Report with a view to elicit any facts it may contain, bear-ing on the questions which we understood Dr. GREGORY to haveraised at the last meeting of the Medico-Chirurgical Society.

We regret that we do not find any points bearing directly uponthe occurrence of a specific eruption in those who are inocu-lated in adult life after vaccination in childhood; the Reportcontains, however, a large mass of valuable matter whichshould be known to the profession in this country.

It appears that during the last eighteen years, small-poxhas raged as an epidemic in Calcutta, and that in these visi-tations upwards of 13,000 victims have been carried off. The

last epidemic-that of 1849-50-has been the most fatal

visitation, having destroyed 6100 persons. We are told thatduring the first three months of 1850, small-pox killed 3329out of a native population estimated at 387,398! This fearful

epidemic-far more devastating than the cholera in this metro-polis, considering the disproportion of the two populations-began with the occurrence of eight fatal cases, in the monthof November, 1848. The most careful examination failed to

discover whether those eight persons had been inoculated, orwhether they had been exposed to contagion, or whether thedisease broke out spontaneously in some of the filthy bazaars,in which the seeds of pestilence alwaysfind ready shelter. This

epidemic at first attacked the young and unvaccinated; butthe Report says that it subsequently " extended to people ofall ages and conditions," from which we infer that those whohad been vaccinated, and even those who had been inoculated,did not escape, though this is not positively stated. We aretold, that in Europeans the disease was " modified" by previousvaccination. The most distinct testimony we can find on thispoint is the account of the cases treated by Drs. MACPHERSONand CANTOR, in the General Hospital, Calcutta, all the

patients being Europeans, and nearly all of them adults. Thenumber admitted from December, 1849, to May 1, 1850, were76, of whom 20 died and 56 recovered. Dr. MACPHERSON

divided the cases into 46 mild or modified, and 30 severeor confluent. Of these (the confluent) 12 are stated to havebeen previously vaccinated, and exhibited good cicatrices; 13had been vaccinated, but the cicatrices were not well marked;five only had not been vaccinated. Of eight children at-tacked, six of them had been vaccinated. Thus, out of 30cases of confluent small-pox, of which 20 cases were fatal, noless than 25 cases had been vaccinated! This would seem de-

cisive, that in hot climates vaccination is not an absolute pro-tection during the raging of a violent epidemic of small-pox. On the other hand, it should be stated, that of the 70th

Regiment, in Fort William, numbering men, women, and chil-dren, 1168, but five cases of small-pox have occurred, and theseof modified character, only one case proving fatal. Dr. Ross,of Hooghly, also mentions the extraordinary fact that he hadattended nine persons with confluent small-pox, "the whole ofwhom had been inoculated in early life." To add to the con-

sternation which this epidemic produced, " numberless caseswere stated in January to have occurred of the failure of vac-cination, and worse still, of its producing small-pox." This

produced, of course, great distrust of vaccination. The Reportstates, in another place, also, " that owing to the great preva-lence of the epidemic, its existence, in fact, in almost everyhouse in the native town, and the difficulty or impossibility ofseparating the already affected members of a family fromthose whom panic led to seek the protection of vaccination,great numbers who were punctured by the vaccinators withunexceptionable lymph, exhibited, within a few days after theoperation, undeniable symptoms of small-pox."

278 SUPPLY OF WATER TO THE METROPOLIS.

In India, up to the date of the present commission, hordesof Ticcadors, or vaccinators, exist, and are even sanctioned andsalaried by the Indian government. They are sometimesBrahmins, but generally they are of low castes and trades,and uneducated. It is their interest to represent inoculationas a religious rite, and to prefer it to vaccination. They de-clare the human variety of the disease infinitely preferable tothe vaccine. The process of inoculation, or the eruption ofsmall-pox, is looked upon in a religious quite as much as in amedical point of view. When a person is inoculated, the

goddess SITULA, the presiding Deity of small-pox, is invokedwith sundry rites, and various ceremonies are performed byall pious Hindoos. The same occurs after small-pox has beentaken naturally. Some refuse inoculation altogether, as irre-ligious, and when attacked, believe that the first child or indi-vidual fatally attacked is a propitiation to the goddess SITULA,and ensures the preservation of the rest. It is remarkable

that some of the I-lindoo superstitions are favourable in anextraordinary degree to the preservation of the variolous poi-son. Thus, in the bazaars and other places, many marriedbrothers or sisters live together, and it is a religious dogmanot to inoculate pregnant women. The consequence is, thatas some of the women of a household are always pregnant,there is always present the material for the contagion ofsmall-pox to work upon.We have referred to the circumstance stated in the Report

-namely, that it frequently happened that small-pox wouldappear a few days after vaccination. It is right also to statethe method in which this extraordinary fact may be accountedfor. There are some grounds for believing that during avirulent epidemic, the small-pox miasm becomes so powerfulas to overcome the vaccine influence. It would even seem that

in certain cases the process of vaccination produced small-pox, owing to the violence of the epidemic predisposition. It

must also be said that during the height of the late visitation,the vaccine lymph at Calcutta lost its potency either from theviolence of the epidemic influenza, the heat of the weather,deterioration of the lymph, or some other cause. It is declared

that the lymph was purposely deteriorated and mixed withsmall-pox at this juncture by the vaccinators. The Report ofthe Commissioners states,-"That the present race of native vaccinators are mostly

made up of the basest and most untrustworthy of their country-men, frequently consenting, for a small bribe, to mix somesmall-pox matter with the vaccine lymph which they arehired and expected to propagate in purity."From the Indian Report, which is of extreme value and

interest, we believe we may gather the proofs, that even inhot climates, vaccination is a protector and modifier, in personsof all ages, though nor an absolute safeguard. Neither is

inoculation an absolute preventive, though it is attended bythe fearful risk of the propagation of small-pox among theuninoculated. We see, in the Report, abundant reasons whyinoculation, as practised in India by the Ticcadors, or vagrantvaccinators, should be suppressed, and vaccination rendered

compulsory. We have sought in vain for any evidence bear-

ing upon the more perfect immunity of persons who havebeen inoculated in adult age, after vaccination. The Reportis silent on this point, because it is evident the matter did notcome under inquiry before the reporters. Yet India is re-

markably favourable for such an inquiry. It frequently hap-pens, in that country, that persons who are vaccinated, in the

first instance, are subsequently inoculated; such is the varyingfeeling of the people between vaccination and inoculation. It

would be of very great importance if Indian medical practi-tioners particularly noted the cases of persons who have beensubjected to post-vaccine inoculation. They might be able tosettle a point, which can only be agitated in this country-namely, whether post-vaccine inoculation, performed after

puberty, be an absolute, positive, and unfailing defence againstsmall-pox in middle life. We beg to direct the attention ofour Indian brethren to this point, as one worthy of their beststudy and observation. We shall be delighted to publish anyobservations on this subject. The ravages of small-pox in vac-cinated persons in hot climates, and the facts stated by Dr.GREGORY, that of a large number of persons attacked with small-pox, in this country, after vaccination, nearly seven per cent.are destroyed, render this subject one of the highest in whichmedical men can engage at the present time. The gloriousdiscovery of JENNER claims at our hands that everything whichcan be done to render it perfect and availing to the wholehuman race should be accomplished without loss of time.

IN the current number of THE LANCET we have brought toa conclusion some elaborate articles on the supply of waterto the metropolis. In these articles the whole of the more

important facts connected with this subject are so clearlyarranged and fully discussed, that any person, by an hour’sattention, may acquaint himself with the chief particulars,and so be in a position to form an accurate and independentopinion.For those who have little time to devote to reading, we

propose so to put together the more important facts, that afew minutes’ consideration may be sufficient to ensure a rightcomprehension of the subject.London and the suburbs are at present entirely supplied

with hard water-that is, with water holding in solution avariety of salts, upon some of which, especially the earthybicarbonates, the quality of hardness depends.Now hard waters possess many disadvantages, dietetic, eco.

nomic, and sanitary; they are not readily imbibed by organicstructures, dead or living, and therefore they form a badvehicle for the introduction of food &c. into the system; theydo not freely extract the active properties or principles ofeither vegetable or animal substances, and hence they are notwell adapted for cooking vegetables, making broth, coffee, tea,&c., or for washing; and lastly, by reason of the many saltsdissolved in them, and the energetic action of several of theseon lead, they are calculated in many cases to affect the healthseriously, and to produce disease.But the waters at present in use in this metropolis are not

alone hard, but being derived from rivers, which, in theircourse, receive much sewage, and are exposed to numerousother sources of impurity, they are all largely contaminatedwith organic matter, and it is this particular pollution whichrenders river water so prejudicial to health, and which notunfrequently even occasions fatal disorders.For some years past, many of the northern towns of Scot-

land and England, as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley, &c., havebeen supplied with soft water; the benefits which have re-sulted in a variety of ways from its use have been so great,that after full inquiry and consideration, it is now proposedthat London itself should be supplied with soft water.

279

The advantages of soft water are numerous and great, and arealso divisible into the dietetic, economic, and sanitary; theyare readily imbibed by organized substances, dead or living,animal or vegetable, and therefore they form the best possiblevehicle for the conveyance into the system of food, &c.; theypossess highly solvent and extractive powers, and hence theirgreat superiority for a variety of culinary and domestic pur-poses-the making of broth, tea, coffee, and all other animaland vegetable infusions, for washing, &c.; lastly, as they donot contain those salts which act so injuriously on lead, theyaffect that metal to a much less extent, and they exert noinfluence whatever in predisposing to dyspeptic, urinary, andcalculous affections.

While, then, the disadvantages of hard, and, more particu-larly, river water, are great and undoubted, the advantagesresulting from the use of pure soft water are equally greatand incontestible.With a view to remedy the many evils accruing from the

hard and very impure waters now in use, the General Boardof Health have submitted to the consideration of the publicand parliament the following proposition.

It proposes to supply the whole metropolis with soft, purespring water, not exceeding one degree of hardness, cool, andwell aerated, in sufficient and ample quantities, and on theconstant, in place of the intermittent, system of supply.The water is to be procured from the extensive districts of

Bagshot and Hindhead; pipes are to be laid down to the verysources of the springs; they are to be placed deep in the earth,so that the coolness of the water may be preserved, and theyare to discharge themselves into a covered viaduct, terminatingin a reservoir, also covered, on Wimbledon Common.The numerous benefits which this plan holds out must be

obvious to every person who will bestow on it a few minutes’

consideration, and who will just recall to mind what has beensaid respecting the advantages of a soft water supply.The proposal of the Board, the details of which we have

carefully considered, appears to us to be complete in everyrespect. The cost of the works is estimated at about 6700,000-a less sum than has been expended on the works of morethan one of the district companies, while the water-rate will

amount, on small houses, to only 1d. per week, and on the

larger tenements, to 2d. Thus the financial part of the pro-position is of a character equally satisfactory with the otherparticulars.Should the proposition of the Board of Health be carried

into effect, we have no hesitation in stating our belief, thatLondon will be the city the best supplied in the world withthat necessary to health-wATER.

IN our recent observations on the unhappy resignation oftwo medical officers of the Royal Navy, we are aware that, bypersons whose opinions we highly value, our strictures wereconsidered severe. We can truly affirm that, in recordingour opinion, we were actuated solely by a sense of what is

due to the service of the State, and by a sense of what is dueto the honour and efficiency of our Medical Department, bysea and land. We strove to avoid everything that could bepersonally offensive to the unfortunate officers concerned,and stuck closely to the public question before us.Since writing the article referred to, we have perused the

following statement, in the narrative of the second siege of

Zaragoza, by the military historian of the Peninsular War,Sir William Napier :-" The bands of discipline were relaxed, the ardour of the

soldiers relaxed, and they reasoned openly upon the chancesof success, which in time of danger is but one degree abovemutiny."So that, in the common soldier, the open discussion of the

chances of military success in time of danger stands but onedegree above mutiny, or desertion, the greatest crime a soldiercan commit. If this be so, and who can doubt it, what shallbe said of the educated officer who, in the face of the mostordinary duty, proposes to evade the risks by a resignation ofhis commission ! The more we reflect on the recent unhappy

resignations, the more we are grieved, and we can only hopethat we may never again be called upon to notice so painfuland melanclioly a dereliction of duty on the part of anymember of our profession.

ONE of the most successful modes employed by the vendorsof quack medicines to get rid of their trash, is to prefix somewell-known name to the nostrum. Thus, " Sir Astley Cooper’sPills," "Locock’s Lozenges," &c., have been puffed, as thoughthey really had the sanction of the names appended. The

following advertisement, extracted from the Times newspaper,is worthy of being noticed, as it gives a hint in respect to themanner, that the truth in regard to quack medicines of thischaracter may be known. A little money spent in such ad-vertisements might be well laid out :-

(COPY.)26, Hertford-street, May Fair, Feb. 17, 1851.

SiR,--In reply to your inquiry, I have no hesitation inassuring you, that the PULMONIC WAFERS, FEMALE WAFERS,ANT1BILIOUS WAFERS, or FEMALE PILLS, that have so oftenbeen advertised with my name, are not mine, nor do I knowanything of their composition, nor have I anything whateverto do with them, either directly or indirectly.

Your obedient servant,To Mr. Keating. CHARLES LOCOCK, M.D.

THE

ANALYTICAL SANITARYCOMMISSION.

RECORDS OF THE RESULTS OF

MICROSCOPICAL AND CHEMICAL ANALYSESOF THE

SOLIDS AND FLUIDS

CONSUMED BY ALL CLASSES OF THE PUBLIC.

WATER,AND ITS IMPURITIES.

(Continued from p. 261.)

" Forewarned, forearmed."

Experiments showing the Action of certain Waters now in use inthis Metropolis on Lead, as Thames, FIampstead Well andPond Waters, and the Wate1’ofthe Artesian Well at Trafalgar-square.

The following are the experiments referred to in a previouspart of this Report. The results obtained are of the highestimportance, and not merely sufficient to set at rest for everthe question of the comparative action of soft and hard wateron lead, but they also clearly show how dangerous is the em-ployment of that metal in any form in connexion with thepresent water supplies of this metropolis.

Considerable as was the quantity of lead taken up anddissolved by each 0: the hard waters experimented with, theamount would, no doubt have been much greater had pieces