CHAPTER I

How to Detect Food Adulteration

Adulteration when applied to foodstuffs is a broad, general term, and covers all classes of misrepresentation, substitution, deterioration, or addition of foreign substances; adulteration may be either intentional or accidental, but the housekeeper should be prepared to recognize it and so protect herself and her household.

Food is considered adulterated when it can be classified under any of the following headings:

DEFINITIONS OF ADULTERATION.—(1) If any substance has been mixed or packed with it so as to reduce or lower or injuriously affect its quality or strength.

(2) If any inferior substance has been substituted for it, wholly or in part.

(3) If any valuable constituent has been wholly or in part abstracted from it.

(4) If it consists wholly or in part of diseased or decomposed or putrid or rotten animal or vegetable substance, or any portion of an animal unfit for food, whether manufactured or not, or if it is the product of a diseased animal or one who has died otherwise than by slaughter.

(5) If it be colored or coated or polished or powdered, whereby damage is concealed or it is made to appear better than it really is.

(6) If it contains any added poisonous ingredient or any ingredient which may render such article injurious to health; or if it contains any antiseptic or preservative not evident or not known to the purchaser or consumer.

FOOD LAWS.—There is now in effect in the United States a rigid law against the offering for sale of any article intended for human consumption which is adulterated in any way, without the fact and nature of such adulteration being plainly stated on a label attached to the package containing the article. This law, however, applies only to articles of this nature which originate, or are produced, in one State and offered for sale in another. The purchaser is, therefore, in a great degree protected, but many foodstuffs or manufactured articles may have their origin within the State wherein they are sold, and in this case the only safeguards are those afforded by the laws of the State, city, or town immediately concerned. If these restraining laws do not exist or if they are not enforced the housekeeper must rely upon her own efforts to protect her family from adulterated food.

PERMISSIBLE ADULTERANTS.—In this class are included articles having a food value such as salt, sugar, vinegar, spices, or smoke used as preservatives of meats; or starch when added to the salts composing baking powder, where a certain amount is permissible for the purpose of absorbing moisture.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.—The ability to select fresh, wholesome meats, poultry, fish, fruits, and vegetables, to determine readily the purity of dairy products, and to detect adulteration or misrepresentation in all classes of foodstuffs must, in most instances, be acquired. Common sense and good reasoning powers are needed here as in every problem of life. While some adulterants can be detected only by trained chemists and by means of tests too difficult and involved for general use, the average housekeeper may amply protect herself from gross imposition by simply cultivating her powers of observation and by making use of a few simple tests well within her grasp and easily applied.

First—Sight, Taste, and Smell.—All are of prime importance in determining the freshness and wholesomeness of foods, especially meats, poultry, fish, vegetables, and fruits. Avoid all highly colored bottled or canned fruits or vegetables; pure preserved fruits, jams, jellies, or relishes may have a good bright color, but never have the brilliant reds and greens so often shown in the artificially colored products.[4] The same is true of canned peas, beans, or Brussels sprouts; here the natural product is a dull, rather dingy green, and all bright green samples must be suspected. Foreign articles of this class are the worst offenders.

All food products should have a clean wholesome odor, characteristic of their particular class. The odor of decomposition can be readily detected; stale and musty odors are soon recognized.

It should be rarely necessary to use the sense of taste, but any food with a taste foreign to the known taste of a similar product of known purity should be discarded or at least suspected.

Second—Price.—Remember that the best and purest food, however high priced, is cheapest in the end. Its value in purity, cleanliness, food value, and strength gives a greater proportionate return than foods priced lower than one might legitimately expect from their supposed character. To cite a few instances: pure Java and Mocha coffee cannot be retailed at twenty cents per pound; therefore, when the housekeeper pays that price she must expect to get chicory mixed with the coffee; if it contains no other adulterant, she may consider herself fortunate. Cheap vanilla is not made from the vanilla bean. These beans sell at wholesale for from ten to fifteen dollars a pound, and the cheap extracts are made from the Tonka bean or from a chemical product known as vanillin. These substances are not harmful, but they are not vanilla. Pure virgin olive oil is made from the flesh of olives after the stones and skin have been removed; cheaper grades are made from the stones themselves and have little food value, while the virgin oil is one of the most nutritious and wholesome of foods.

Such instances might be cited almost without end. Good, pure food demands a good price, and economy defeats its own purpose when it is practiced at the expense of one of the most vital necessities of health and life.

Third—Reliable Dealers.—Select your tradesmen with the same care you bestow in the choice of a physician. A grocer or butcher who has once sold stale, adulterated, or impure wares has forfeited his right to be trusted. A man who is honestly trying to build up a good trade must have the confidence of his customers and it is to his interest to sell only worthy goods; this confidence he can gain only by proving his trustworthiness. When you are convinced of your dealer's honesty give him your trade and do not be lured away by flashy advertisements and the promise of "something for nothing."

PREPARATION FOR CHEMICAL TESTS.—Although the housekeeper will rarely need the use of any chemical tests for the purpose of determining the purity of food, the following directions must be kept in mind if such an expedient is deemed necessary. It will be wise, however, in the majority of cases when the presence of chemical preservatives and adulterants is suspected, to send the article to a chemist for analysis.

1. All refuse matter, such as shells, bones, bran, and skin, must be removed from the edible portion of the food to be tested.

2. If the sample is solid or semi-solid, divide it as finely as possible. All vegetables and meats may be minced in the common household chopping machine. Tea, coffee, whole spices, and the like may be ground or crushed in a mortar or in a spice mill.

3. Milk must be thoroughly stirred or shaken so that the cream is well mixed with the body of the milk.

FLESH FOODS—Meat.—Fresh, wholesome meat is neither pink nor purple; these colors indicate either that the animal was not slaughtered or that it was diseased. Good meat is firm and elastic and when dented with the finger does not retain the impression; it has the same consistency and color throughout; the flesh is marbled, due to the presence of fat distributed among the muscular fibers; it will hardly moisten the finger when touched; it has no disagreeable odor and has a slightly acid reaction so that red litmus paper applied to it should not turn blue.

Wet, sodden, or flabby meat with jellylike fat, a strong putrid odor, and alkaline reaction should be avoided. These signs indicate advanced decomposition, and such meat is unfit for food.

Beef.—This meat should have a fine grain, be firm in texture, with rosy-red flesh and yellowish-white fat.

Lamb and Mutton should have a clear, hard, white fat with the lean part juicy, firm, and of rather light-red color. The flesh should be firm and close of grain.

Veal.—The meat should not be eaten unless the animal was at least six weeks old before slaughtering. The sale of this immature veal, or "bob veal" as it is sometimes called, is prohibited by law in many States. It is unwholesome and may be recognized by its soft, rather mushy consistency and bluish tinge. Good veal has a firm white fat with the lean of a pale-red color.

Pork.—This meat when fresh has a fat that is solid and pure white; if yellow and soft it should be rejected; the lean is pink and the skin like white translucent parchment.

Poultry.—Good poultry is firm to the touch, pink or yellowish in color, is fairly plump, and has a strong skin showing an unbroken surface. It has a fresh odor.

Stale poultry is flabby and shows a bluish color; it becomes green over the crop and abdomen, and the skin is already broken or easily pulled apart in handling. The odor of such a bird is disagreeable and may even be putrid.

Fish.—With the exception of the salted or preserved varieties fish should always be perfectly fresh when eaten. Probably no other article of food is more dangerous to health than fish when it shows even the slightest traces of decomposition. The ability to recognize the earliest signs of staleness is of the utmost importance. Fish deteriorate rapidly and should always be carefully inspected before purchasing.

Fresh fish are firm to the touch, the scales moist and bright, the gills red, and the eyes clear and slightly prominent. When held flat in the hand the fish should remain rigid and the head and tail droop slightly, if at all.

Stale fish are soft and flabby, the skin is dull and the eyes sunken and often covered with a film. The tendency of the head and tail to droop is marked and the fish has a characteristic disagreeable odor. This odor of decomposition is best detected in the gills.

Lobsters and Crabs.—These shellfish should always be alive when purchased. This condition is easily demonstrated by their movements, and the rule should never be disregarded.

Oysters and Clams.—Oysters should not be eaten during the months of May, June, July, and August; these are their breeding months and they are unwholesome during that period. That oysters sometimes contain the germs of typhoid fever is an assured fact; these germs are acquired not from the natural habitat of the oyster in salt water but from the fresh-water, so-called "fattening beds," where the oysters are placed for a season to remove the brackish and salty taste of the sea and to render them more plump. These beds are frequently subject to pollution, and the housekeeper should only purchase oysters from reliable dealers where the purity of the source of the supply is unquestioned.

Clams are in season and may be eaten throughout the year.

All shellfish when fresh have an agreeable fresh odor. The shells should be firmly closed or should close when immersed in water and touched with the finger. If they have been removed from their shells when purchased, the flesh of the fish itself should be firm, clean in appearance and not covered with slime or scum; the odor should be fresh. The odor of dead or decomposed oysters and clams is pungent and disagreeable.

MEAT PRODUCTS—Canned or Potted Meats.—The label on cans containing meat products should state clearly the exact nature of the contents. Deception as to the character of the meat is easy to practice and difficult to detect by any but a trained analyst. The presence of preservatives can also only be detected by chemical analysis. As these products are practically all put on the market by the large packing houses and designed for interstate commerce, they are subject to government inspection, and, therefore, if they bear the government stamp may be considered pure. The point that the housekeeper may consider is the length of time the meat has remained in the can. Put up under proper precautions these canned goods retain their wholesomeness for an almost indefinite period. The heads of the cans should always present a concave surface; if they are convex, it is a sign of decomposition of the contents. When the can is opened the meat should have a clean appearance, free from mold or greenish hue, and the odor should be fresh and not tainted.

Sausages.—If possible, sausages should be homemade, then one may be assured of their purity and freedom from adulteration.

Owing to the rapid color changes and early decomposition of fresh meat, artificial colors are often used to conceal the former, and preservatives like boric acid or saltpeter to retard the latter.

The artificial colors, such as carmine and aniline red, may be detected by observation or by warming the finely divided material on a water bath with a five per cent solution of sodium salicylate. This fluid will extract the color, if present.

Lard.—Good lard is white and granular and has a firm consistency. It has an agreeable characteristic odor and taste. The choicest leaf lard is made from the fat about the kidneys of the hog; the cheaper grades are made from the fat of the whole animal.

FRESH VEGETABLES AND FRUITS—Vegetables.—All green vegetables to be eaten uncooked should be carefully washed and examined for insects, dirt, and foreign matter generally. The ova or eggs of the tapeworm may be ingested with improperly cleaned vegetables. Running water and a clean brush (kept for this purpose) should be used.

Green vegetables should have a fresh, unwilted appearance; any sign of staleness or decay should cause their rejection. Overripe or underripe vegetables are harmful.

Lettuce, celery, and all leaved or stemmed vegetables should be examined to see if the outer leaves have been removed; this may be determined by the distance of the leaves from the stem head. The general signs of disease in vegetables are softening, change of color, and mold.

The following characteristics indicate fresh and wholesome vegetables:

Asparagus.—Firm and white in the stalk with a green, compact tip.

Beans and Peas should have green, not yellow, pods, brittle, and easily snapped open. The vegetable itself should be tender, full and fleshy, not wrinkled or shrunken.

Cabbage, crisp and firm, with a well-rounded and compact head.

Carrots, light red or yellow, with a regular, conical shape, sweet and crisp.

Cauliflower, white, compact head; any tinge of yellow or green generally indicates an inferior quality.

Celery, nearly white in color; large, crisp, and solid stalks, nutty in flavor.Cucumbers, firm, crisp, with a smooth skin and white flesh.

Lettuce, the head close and compact; the leaves clean, crisp, and sweet. When it is too young or running to seed the taste is bitter. Pale patches on the leaves are caused by mildew and are a sign of decay.

Parsnips, buff in color, with unforked roots, sweet and crisp.

Potatoes, underripe, green potatoes are unfit for food; they contain a poisonous substance which renders them actually harmful. Good potatoes should have a smooth skin and few eyes; the flesh pale and of a uniform color and of a firm consistency. A rough skin, with little depressions, indicates a disease called "scab"; dark-brown patches on the skin are due to a disease called "smut." Potatoes with such diseases are of inferior quality. If green on one side, due to exposure to the sun when growing, the potatoes are unwholesome.

Fruits.—Underripe or green fruit should never be eaten. This condition may be easily detected by the color and consistency of the fruit. Diseased or decayed fruit is known by its change of color, softening, and external mold. Spots on fruit are often caused by a fungus which lowers its quality and renders it less wholesome.

CEREALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS—Cereals.—Particularly when bought in original packages cereals are generally pure and unadulterated. When bought in bulk there may be found dust, dirt, worms, insects, and excessive moisture. These may all be determined by careful inspection. The presence of an undue amount of moisture adds greatly to the weight of cereals and is therefore a fraud. Cereals should be dry to the touch and the individual kernels or particles separate and distinct.

Flour.—By this general term is meant the ordinary wheat flour. It should not be too moist, should have a fine white appearance, remain lumpy, or hold its form, on pressure, not show any particles which cannot be crushed, and when a handful is thrown against the wall, part of it should adhere. The odor and taste should be fresh and clean and not musty or moldy.

The common adulterants are corn and rice meal. If a sample of the flour be thrown on the surface of a glassful of water, the corn and rice, being heavier, will sink; grit and sand may be detected in the same way. If the flour has been adulterated with mineral substances it may be shown by burning a portion down to an ash; the ash of pure flour should not exceed two per cent of the total amount; if mineral substances are present the amount of ash will be greatly increased.

Alum is sometimes added to flour in order to give it a whiter appearance and to produce whiter and lighter bread; it is most unwholesome. It can be detected by the so-called "logwood" test, which is prepared and used as follows:Make two solutions. The first: a five per cent solution of logwood chips in alcohol. The second: a fifteen per cent solution of ammonium carbonate in water. Make a paste of one teaspoonful of the flour and an equal amount of water; mix with it one-quarter of a teaspoonful of the logwood solution; follow this immediately with one-quarter of a teaspoonful of the ammonium carbonate solution. If alum is present, the paste will show a lavender or blue color; if absent, the mass will become pink, fading to a dirty brown. If the result is doubtful, set the paste aside for several hours, when the colors will show more plainly.

Bread.—Bread should be well baked and not too light or too heavy; the crust should be light brown and adherent to the substance of the bread. The center should be of even consistency, spongy, and firm; it should not pit or be soggy or doughy. The pores or holes should be of practically the same size throughout.

Exceedingly white, light, or porous bread shows the presence of alum. It may be detected by means of the solutions already mentioned in the "logwood" test. Mix one teaspoonful of each solution and add three ounces (six tablespoonfuls) of water; pour this over a lump of bread, free from crust and about an inch square. After the bread has become thoroughly soaked, pour off the excess of liquid and dry the bread in the dish; if alum is present, the mass will show a violet or blue tint, more marked on drying; if absent, a brownish color will appear.

Baking Powders.—Baking powders are of three classes, all having sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) as their alkaline salt. The first style is the commonly used and wholesome mixture of cream of tartar and baking soda; the second has calcium phosphate for the acid salt, and the third contains alum. All have a certain proportion of starch to absorb moisture. Of these the alum powders are the most harmful and should be avoided. Practically all of the well-known brands of baking powder are of the first-mentioned class and wholesome, and are rarely adulterated.

DAIRY PRODUCTS—Milk.—Pure milk should have a specific gravity of from 1.027 to 1.033. Its normal reaction is neutral or slightly acid; it should never be strongly acid. If it is strongly alkaline, i. e., turning red litmus paper blue, it is pretty certain that something in the way of a preservative has been added to it. When left standing for a few hours the cream should show as a slightly yellowish top layer, one-tenth or more of the whole amount; the milk below the cream should be lighter in color and with the slightest bluish tinge. If the color is of a yellowish tinge throughout, the addition of coloring matter must be suspected. "Annatto," a vegetable pigment, is used to give a "rich" tint to milk. To detect it, add one teaspoonful of baking soda to one quart of milk and immerse in it a strip of unglazed paper; in a few hours examine the paper; if annatto is present, it will have become an orange color.[5]

If the whole milk has a blue and thin appearance, or if the cream is scant in quantity, it has probably been diluted with water. The popular idea that chalk is sometimes added to poor milk to make it appear of better quality is erroneous; chalk would always show as a precipitate, as it does not dissolve, and the presence of such a sediment would be a too obvious adulteration to be practiced.

Milk should always be kept at a temperature below 50° F.; above that temperature the bacteria in it multiply with great rapidity and render it unfit for use.

Milk may be preserved for several days if "pasteurized" or "sterilized." Pasteurization consists of heating milk to a temperature of about 167° F., and maintaining it at that degree for twenty minutes. Sterilization means keeping the milk at a temperature of 212° F. for two hours and a half. Immediately after either process the milk should be cooled, then placed in absolutely clean, covered bottles and kept on ice. These methods are not only harmless but actually beneficial in that they destroy any disease germs that might be present.

Chemical preservatives are occasionally found in milk. They may be suspected if the milk is alkaline in reaction and has a disguised taste. The ones most commonly used are boric and salicylic acids and formaldehyde; the two former can only be detected by chemical tests too delicate and intricate to be used by the housewife. Formaldehyde may be tested for by using a solution of one drop of a ten per cent solution of ferric chloride to one ounce of hydrochloric acid.[6] Fill a small porcelain dish one-third full of this solution; add an equal volume of milk and heat slowly over a flame nearly to the boiling point, giving the dish a rotary motion to break up the curd. If formaldehyde is present, the mass will show a violet color, varying in depth with the amount present; if it is absent, the mass turns brown.

Butter.—Good butter has a fresh, sweet odor and an agreeable taste. It should be of the same color and consistency throughout, easily cut and adherent and not crumbly when molded into shapes. Pure butter is very light in color; nearly all that is sold is colored, in order to meet the popular demand for "yellow" butter; annatto and other vegetable and mineral substances are sometimes employed for this purpose. These coloring matters are generally harmless but may be detected by dissolving a portion of the butter in alcohol; the natural color will dissolve, while foreign coloring will not. Butter should consist of eighty-five per cent fat, with the remainder water, casein, and salt. The most common methods of adulteration consist in an excess of water and the addition of oleomargarine. If an excess of water has been added it may be shown by melting the butter; the water and fat will separate in two distinct layers. Oleomargarine has a distinctive meaty smell, like that of cooked meat, and lacks the characteristic odor of pure butter. If pure butter is melted in a spoon, it will not sputter; if oleomargarine is present, it will.

The preservatives sometimes used, namely, boric and salicylic acids and formaldehyde, can only be detected by chemical tests.

Eggs.—Two methods may be used to detect stale eggs. First: make a solution of one part of table salt to ten parts of water and immerse the suspected egg; if it sinks, it is perfectly fresh; if it remains in the water below the surface, it is at least three days old, and if it floats, it is five or more days old.

Second: hold the egg between a bright light and the eye. If it is fresh, it will show a rosy tint throughout, without dark spots, as the air chamber is small; if not fresh, it will look cloudy, with many dark spots present.

TEA AND COFFEE.—These substances are extensively adulterated, but the adulterants are almost without exception harmless.

Tea.—The commonest forms of adulteration of tea are as follows: (a) Exhausted tea leaves which have already been used are dried and added. Their presence may be detected by the weakness of the infusion, made from a given quantity of the suspected tea, compared with a similar infusion made from tea known to be pure. (b) Leaves from other plants are sometimes dried and added; these are easily shown if an infusion is made and when the leaves are thoroughly wet unrolling and comparing them. (c) Green teas may be "faced" or colored with Prussian blue, indigo, French chalk, or sulphate of lime; black teas may be similarly treated with plumbago or "Dutch pink." If teas so treated are shaken up in cold water the coloring matter will wash off. (d) Sand and iron filings are occasionally added for weight; observation, and the fact that they sink when tea is thrown in water, will show their presence. Iron filings may be readily found by using a magnet. (e) The presence of starch may be shown by washing the tea in cold water, straining it, and testing the solution in the following manner: dissolve one-half teaspoonful of potassium iodide in three ounces of water and add as much iodine as the solution will dissolve; a few drops of this solution added to the suspected sample will give a blue color if starch is present.

Coffee.—Coffee should always be purchased in the bean, as ground coffee is much more frequently adulterated and the foreign substances are more difficult to detect.

The adulterants commonly used are: chicory, peas, beans, peanuts, and pellets of roasted wheat flour, rye, corn, or barley.

Fat globules are always present in pure coffee; their presence may be shown by the fact that imitation coffee sinks in water, while pure coffee floats.

Chicory is the most frequently used adulterant; it is added for flavor and to produce a darker infusion, thus giving the impression of greater strength. It is perfectly harmless and as a drink is actually preferred by some people. Its detection is comparatively easy. Chicory grains are dark, gummy, soft, and bitter; coffee grains are hard and brittle; a small amount put in the mouth will demonstrate the difference. Chicory will often adhere to the wheels of a coffee grinder, clogging them on account of its gummy consistency.

When a sample of adulterated coffee is thrown in water the pure coffee floats and leaves the water unstained; chicory sinks almost instantly, coloring the water, while peas and beans sink more slowly but also color the water.

Peas and beans are also detected by the polished appearance of the broken or crushed grains in marked contrast to the dull surface of crushed coffee.

The presence of peas, beans, rye, wheat, bread crumbs, and allied substances may be shown by the fact that they all contain starch.

Make a ten per cent infusion of the suspected coffee; filter it, and decolorize the solution by boiling it with a piece of animal charcoal. Test the decolorized solution by slowly adding a few drops of the "potassium-iodide-iodine solution," directions for preparing which were given under heading of "Tea." A resulting blue color will indicate the presence of starch.

COCOA AND CHOCOLATE.—The adulterants of these substances are generally harmless, as they usually consist of flavoring extracts, sugar, starch, flour, and animal fats. No tests other than flavor, consistency, and smoothness need be considered. Good cocoa and chocolate should be slightly bitter, with a pleasant characteristic odor and taste; they should have a smooth, even consistency and be free from grit or harsh particles.

CANNED AND BOTTLED VEGETABLES AND FRUITS.—In general, acid substances, such as tomatoes and fruits, should not be canned in tin, as the action of the acid tends to dissolve the tin. It is better, therefore, to purchase these articles in glass.

After opening the can the odor and appearance of the contents should be noted. The odor should be clean and fresh, and the slightest trace of any sour, musty, or disagreeable smell should cause the rejection of the food. The appearance should be clean, with no mold; the consistency and color of the fruit or vegetables should be uniform throughout. If the color is brighter than that of a similar article when canned at home, the presence of artificial coloring matter must be suspected. The brilliant green of some brands of peas, beans, or Brussels sprouts is produced by the addition of the salts of copper. This may be proved by leaving the blade of a penknife in the contents of the can for a short time; if copper is present it will be deposited on, and discolor, the blade.

Brightly colored fruits should excite suspicion; this same dictum applies to all brightly colored jams and jellies, as the colors are usually produced by the addition of carmine or aniline red.

The presence of preservatives, salicylic and boric acids, the benzoates, etc., can only be proved by delicate chemical tests.

SUGAR.—Pure granulated or powdered sugar is white and clean. The presence of glucose should be suspected in sugar sold below the market price; it is perfectly harmless, but has a sweetening power of only about two-thirds that of sugar and is added on account of its cheapness and to increase the bulk.

If sand, dirt, or flour are present they may be detected by observation, or by washing the suspected sample in water; flour will not dissolve, sand will sink, and dirt will discolor the water.

SPICES.—Spices should be bought whole and ground in a spice mill as needed; if this is done, there need be little fear of their impurity, for whole spices are difficult to simulate or adulterate. Ground spices may be adulterated with bark, flour, starches, or arrowroot; these adulterants are harmless, but are fraudulent, as they increase the bulk and decrease the strength. Their actual presences can only be demonstrated by a microscopical or chemical examination.

Peppers.—Black pepper is made from the whole berry; white pepper is made from the same berry with the outer husk removed. The adulterants are usually inert and harmless substances, such as flour, mustard, or linseed oil; their presence is obviated by the use of the whole peppercorns, ground as needed.

Red Pepper.—This may be adulterated with red lead; when pure it will be entirely suspended in water; if a sediment falls it is probably red lead.

Mustard.—Practically all of the adulterants of mustard can only be detected by intricate chemical tests. The presence of turmeric may be detected by the appearance of an orange-red color when ammonia is added to a solution of the sample.

Tomato Catsup.—Artificial dyestuffs are common, giving a brilliant crimson or magenta color. Such catsup does not resemble the natural dull red or brown color of the homemade article.

Preservatives, such as boric, salicylic, or benzoic acids and their salts, are sometimes added. While their presence cannot be condoned, yet they are usually present in small amounts and therefore practically harmless.

Pickles.—These should be of a dull-green color. The bright emerald green sometimes observed is due to the presence of the salts of copper; this may be proved by dipping the blade of a penknife in the liquor, as described under the heading of "Canned Goods."

Alum is sometimes used as a preservative and in order to make the pickles crisp. Its presence may be demonstrated by means of the "logwood" test mentioned under the heading of "Flour."

VINEGAR.—Cider vinegar is of a brownish-yellow color and possesses a strong odor of apples.

Wine vinegar is light yellow if made from white wine, and red if made from red wine.

Malt vinegar is brown and has an odor suggestive of sour beer.

Glucose vinegar has the taste and odor of fermented sugar.

Molasses vinegar has the distinctive odor and taste of molasses.

OLIVE OIL.—Pure olive oil has a pleasant, bland taste and a distinctive and agreeable odor, unmistakable in character for that of any other oil. The finest virgin oil is pale green in color, the cheaper grades are light yellow.

The adulterants consist of cotton-seed, corn, mustard, and peanut oils.

When pure olive oil is shaken in a glass or porcelain dish with an equal quantity of concentrated nitric or sulphuric acid[7] it turns from a pale to a dark green color in a few minutes; if under this treatment a reddish to an orange or brown color is produced the presence of a foreign vegetable oil is to be suspected.

FLAVORING EXTRACTS—Vanilla.—This may be wholly or in part the extract of the Tonka bean or may be made from a chemical substance known as vanillin. The best practical working tests as to its purity are the price, taste, and odor. The distinctive odor and taste of vanilla are characteristic and cannot be mistaken.[8]

Lemon.—This extract is often made from tartaric or citric acid. They may be tested for as follows: to a portion of the extract in a test tube add an equal volume of water to precipitate the oil; filter, and add one or two drops of the filtrate to a test tube full of cold, clear limewater; if tartaric acid is present a precipitate will fall to the bottom of the tube. Filter off this precipitate (if present) and heat the contents of the tube; if citric acid is present it will precipitate in the hot limewater.

2. Horse Mushroom (Agaricus Arvensis).—This species may be considered with the foregoing, but it differs in being considerably larger (measuring four to ten inches across) and in having a more shiny cap, of a white or brown hue. The ring about the stem is noticeably wider and thicker, and is composed of two distinct layers. The gills are white at first, turning dark[Pg 118]
[Pg 119] brown comparatively late, and the stem is a little hollow as it matures. In some localities it is more common than the campestris in fields and pastures, while in other places it is found only in rich gardens, about hot beds, or in cold frames. It is not distinguished from the campestris by market people, but is often sold with the latter.

3. Shaggy Mane, Ink Cap, or Horsetail Fungus (Coprinus Comatus).—This mushroom possesses the most marked characteristics of any of the edible species; it would seem impossible to mistake its identity from written descriptions and illustrations. It is considered by many superior in flavor to the campestris.

The top or cap does not expand in this mushroom, until it begins to turn black, but remains folded down about the stem like a closed umbrella. Mature specimens are usually three to five, occasionally from eight to ten, inches high. The stem is hollow. The inside of the cap or gills and the stem are snow white. The outer surface of the cap, which is white in young plants, becomes of a faint, yellow-brown or tawny color in mature specimens, and also darker at the top. Delicate scales often rolled up at their lower ends are seen on the exterior of the cap, more readily in mature mushrooms, hence the name "shaggy mane." There is a ring around the stem at the lower margin of the cap, and it is so loosely attached to either the cap or stem that it sometimes drops down to the base of the latter.

[Pg 120]
[Pg 121]The most salient feature of shaggy mane is the change which occurs when it is about a day old; it turns black and dissolves away into an inky fluid, whence the other common name "ink cap." The mushroom should not be eaten when in this condition. The ink cap is usually found growing in autumn, rarely in summer, in richer earth than the common mushroom. One finds it in heaps of street scrapings, by roadsides, in rich lawns, in soils filled with decomposing wood and in low, shaded, moist grounds.

4. Fairy-ring Mushroom (Marasmius Oreades).—This species usually grows on lawns, in clusters which form an imperfect circle or crescent. The ring increases in size each year as new fungi grow on the outside, while old ones toward the center of the circle perish. This mushroom is small and slender, and rarely exceeds two inches in breadth. The cap and the tough and tubular stem are buff, and the gills, few in number and bulging out in the middle, are of a lighter shade of the same color. There is no ring about the stem. Several crops of the fairy-ring mushroom are produced all through the season, but the most prolific growth appears after the late fall rains. There are other fungi forming rings, some of which are poisonous, and they may not be easily distinguished from the edible species; hence great care is essential in gathering them. The under surface of the cap is brown or blackish in the mature plants of poisonous species.

5. Edible Puffball (Lycoperdon Cyathiforme).—Edible puffballs grow in open pastures, and on lawns and grassplots, often forming rings. They are spherical in form, generally from one and a half to two inches, occasionally six inches, in diameter, broad and somewhat flattened at the top, and tapering at the base, white or brown outside. They often present an irregularly checkered appearance, owing to the fact that the white interior shows between the dark raised parts. The[Pg 123]
[Pg 124] interior is at first pure white and of solid consistency, but later becomes softer and yellowish, and then contains an amber-colored juice. After the puffball has matured, the contents change into a brown, dustlike mass, and the top falls off; and it is then inedible. All varieties of puffball with a pure white interior are harmless, if eaten before becoming crumbly and powdery. There is only one species thought to be poisonous, and that has a yellow-brown exterior, while the interior is purple-black, marbled with white.

POISONOUS MUSHROOMS FREQUENTLY MISTAKEN.

To escape eating poisonous mushrooms do not gather the buttons, and be suspicious of those growing in woods and shady spots that show any bright hue, or have a scaly or dotted cap, or white gills.[9] By so doing the following species will be avoided.

Fly Amanita (Amanita Muscaria).—Infusions of this mushroom made by boiling in water are used to kill flies. This species grows in woods and shady places, by roadsides, and along the borders of fields, and is much commoner than the campestris in some localities. It prefers a poor, gravelly soil, and is found in summer.

The stem is hollow and its gills are white. The[Pg 125]
[Pg 126]
[Pg 127] cap is variously colored, white, orange, yellow, or even brilliant red, and dotted over with corklike particles or warty scales which are easily rubbed off. There is a large, drooping collar about the upper part of the hollow, white stem, and the latter is scaly below with a bulbous enlargement at its base.

The young mushrooms, or buttons, do not exhibit the dotted cap, and the bulbous scaly base may be left in the ground when the mushroom is picked. The fly amanita is usually larger than the common mushroom.

Death Cup or Deadly Agaric (Amanita Phalloides).—This species is more fatal in its effects than the preceding. Its salient feature is a bulbous base surmounted and surrounded by a collar or cup out of which the stem grows. This is often buried beneath the ground, however, so that it may escape notice. The gills and stem are white like the preceding, but the cap is usually not dotted but glossy, white, greenish, or yellow. There is also a broad, noticeable ring about the stem, as in the fly amanita. This mushroom frequents moist, shady spots, also along the borders of fields. It occurs singly, and rarely in fields or pastures.