APPARATUS, ETC. 255 OFFICIAL ORDERS. COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA. IMPORT~TION OF PEPPER. THE Board of Trade have received copy of Statutory Rules No. 47 of 1917, dated February 28, 1917, which have been issued under the “ Commerce (Trade Descrip- tions) Act, 1905,” and which amend the previous Regulations issued under tihat Act (Statutory Rules No. 347 of 1913), with effect on and after June 1, 1917.The amending Regulations provide that;, in addition to the prescribed “ trade description ” which must be applied to all articles of food for man before their importation into the Commonwealth is permitted, in the case of pepper berries (Piper Nigrum, L.) the ‘‘ trade description ” shall specify whether t-hey are white or black. The following Standards are added by the present Regulations to the list of Standards specified in the First Schedule to the original Regulations-viz.:256 ABSTRACTS OF CHEMICAL PAPERS “Black Pepper ”: Black Pepper is the dried immature berry of Piper Nigrum, L.; it shall contain- ( a ) No foreign substance ; ( b ) Not more than (1) 5 per cent. white berries, (2) 15 per cent. of waste material, (3) 7 per cent. of total ash ; (1) 6 per cent.of extract soluble in ether, and (2) 8 per cent. of extract soluble in ethylic alcohol. (c) Not less than “ White Pepper ”: White pepper is the dried more or less mature berry of Piper Nigrum, L . ; i t shall contain- ( a ) No foneign substance; ( b ) Not more than (1) 5 per cent. black berries, (2) 7 per cent. of immature berries, (3j 3-5 per cent. of ash; (1) 6 per cent. of extract soluble in ether, and (2) 7 per cent.of extract soluble in ethylic alcohol. ( c ) Not less than It is provided in the Regulations of 1913, which are still operative, that the importation of all goods mentioned in the First Schedule above referred to, which do not comply with the Standards set out therein, is prohibited, unless the trade description applied to the goods includes in bold and legible, characters the matters and the extent to which the goods do not comply with the standards applicable thereto.-Board of Tmde Journal, May 24, 1917.