220 THE ANALYST. REPORT BY THE PRINCIPAL OF THE SOMEBSET EOUSE LABORATORY. WE extract the following from the 30th Report of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue just published :- " The number of samples examined during the year ended 31st March last amounted to 13,128, representing an average of 43 samples examined and reported upon during each official day. These numbers, however, do not fully represent the whole work of the Department, as in every case referred under the Sale of Food and Drugs' Act, and in cases where a prosecution is likely to arise, or where data are to be furnished for future guidance, the experiments are performed in duplicate.The total number embraces 200 different articles, and as many of these were special in their composition and character, the general processes of analysis published were only partially applicable to them, and consequently the processes given had either to be moidfied, or new ones to be devised to meet our requirements." Under the Sale of Food and Drugs' Act, 32 cases, embracing samples of butter, milk, bread, oatmeal: arrowroot, mustard, tea, whisky, and preserved peas were referred to US by the magistrates. I n the majority of cases the reference was made at the request of the defendants, but several Rere referred at the solicitation of the prosecution.I n some instances we arrived at conclusions which differed from those of the local analyst, but in a large majority of the cases his results were confirmed. " Among the cases referred to us from Scotland was a notable one of whisky which was adulterated with nearly one ounce of sulphuric acid per gallon.This adulterant not onlp made the whisky highly unpalatable, but probably accounted for the complaints of illness which had been made to the local authorities by those who had used it. I n another case, a sample of butter, also from Scotland, was reported by the local analyst to contain 54 per cent.of foreign fat. Two scientific witnesses, who had examined the sample, gave evidence for the defence t o the effect that when the butker was examined by the old mode of analysis the results were consistent with a genuine butter. They also stated that in their opinion there were no well-established means of distinguishing butter fat from other animal fats, and that the new method of analysis relied upon by the prosecution had not been sufficiently tested to establish its reliability, but theyTHE ANALYST.22 1 admitted that if the new processes were trustworthy, then the sample was adulterated. The sample waB referred to us by desire of the prosecution, with a request from the sheriff-substitute of Lanarkahire, who had heard the case, that an opinion should be given as t o the trustworthiness of the processes adopted by the analyst for the prosecu- tion.A report was made expressing confidence in the method of analysis-which had in fact been partly devised by ourselves-adopted by the prosecution, and stating that the sample consisted almost entirely of foreign fat, which appeared to have been worked up with a little milk.3 i t h i n a day or two after the case had been disposed of, one of the local papers gale an account of an artificial butter manufactory, which existed in the town, from which the sample had been sent. Details of the apparatus were given, and by the process of manufacture described, which consisted primarily in churning purified melted fat with milk, an article would be produced which would exactly correspond with the terms of our report on the sample.The existence of the manufactory, and the manufacture of I ( butterine” by the process described, were placed beyond a doubt by subsequent proceedings in a court of justice. ‘( A sample of preserved peas, in the examination of which we practically confirmed the result arrived at by the local analyst, was found adulterated with copper to an extent; which the magistrate held to be injurious to health.We have continued our investigations into the composition of certain articles of food, especially of milk and butter, to determilie the variation in the composition of genuine samples, and also to observe the changes effected by keeping under various condition, at different seasons of the year. These enquiries are slow and tedious, and involve a considerable expenditure of time and labour. We find the information thus obtained of the greatest value in dealing with samples referred to us for analj+sis,++ and in arriving at a decision in any case it is our invariablepractice to take the whole of the constituents, and not one or two only, into consideration, as we consider that by such means only can we arrive at a sound conclusion.” * This is the information which was asked for by the resolution of the Society of Public Analysts, and which, as will be seen by the correspondence, was refused by the Inland Revenue Chemists.-&iToRs ANALYST.