76 Typical Java. Consists of Orange Pekoe and 77 Typical Black China. Composite of North ....... 79 Typical India. Composite of Orange Pekoes 45 Salada Orange Pekoe Blend. Composed of 8.09 VINEGAR. Thirty-nine samples were examined for the Dairy and Food Commissioner of which four were adulterated. Three of the four adulterated samples were made by Silver and Kushmann, Waterbury, and one by J. A. Silver Bottling Works also in Waterbury. Twenty-six samples have been submitted by individuals, representing mostly the product of farm manufacture. MISCELLANEOUS FOODS, ETC. The usual number of miscellaneous foods have been submitted by health officers, town officials or private individuals, either directly or through the office of the Dairy and Food Commissioner, to be examined for poisons or other injurious substances. The materials, forty-two in number, are listed as follows: Remarks Available carbon dioxide 13.9 per cent. Required by standard 12 per cent. ... Copper, arsenic and lead found in quantity. No evidence of poison found. No alkaloidal or metallic poisons found. No alkaloidal or metallic poisons found. No evidence of poison found. No volatile, alkaloidal or metallic No narcotic drugs found. soda. No alcohol was found and Alcohol 3.3 per cent; no heavy metals found. Dark color due evidently to oxidation of iron and combination with tannin absorbed from the barrel. Alcohol 7.8 per cent.; had been preserved with "anti-ferment" .No chicory, cereal products or other adulterants found. . No evidence of spoilage. . Used in making soft drinks. Showed characteristics of racemic malic acid. Corrosive sublimate (mercuric chloride found.) Nothing found to suggest probable cause of illness. Rats fed on sample six days developed no unfavorable symptoms. TABLE XIV-FOODS EXAMINED FOR POISONS, ETC.-Concluded. D. C. 27915 and 27908, crown caps, D. C. No. 27907, ginger ale were submitted to determine, if possible, the source of an oily taste in the ginger ale. Examination revealed no explanation of the off-taste about which complaint was made. Arsenic was found in 5 cases of dog poisoning; and of two fowls examined, arsenic was found in one. II. DRUGS. The work on drugs for the past year includes the usual examinations of drugs recognized in the Pharmacopoeia and National Formulary, and of proprietary and miscellaneous products. In addition, a study has been made of variations in the amounts of medicament in pills and tablets, samples having been obtained chiefly from the stocks of dispensing physicians. A few preparations obtained on prescriptions have also been examined. A classification of the products examined is as follows: Practically all of the samples in the three first named groups were submitted by the Dairy and Food Commissioner. Ninetytwo samples of tablets and pills are reported here, but analyses of about forty more could not be completed for discussion in this report and will, therefore, be made a part of our work for the coming year. Such products present many analytical difficulties and the work consumes much time. TABLETS, PILLS, ETC. The ninety-two samples in this group represent one hundred and four items of medicament which were declared in definite quantities and which have been checked by direct determinations. In some instances constituents have been determined which were not declared as to quantity; and in other cases medicaments declared were not determined because of inadequate methods for reliable analyses. The samples collected consisted of from twenty-five to one hundred tablets depending upon the nature of the medicaments and the analyses required. Individual weights of a representative number of tablets were taken, after which they were ground to a uniform powder, and the medicaments determined in percentage amounts of the ground sample. Maximum, minimum and average amounts of medicament were then calculated in terms of grains per tablet. WEIGHT VARIATIONS. Variations in weights of tablets and pills are due, in part, to the mechanical limitations of manufacturing processes. Much improvement has been made in this direction in recent years and compressed tablets, at least, can be made with a surprising degree of uniformity. In the case of pills coated with saccharated lime, or similar preparations, the weight of the coating may considerably exceed that of the medicament enclosed and, hence, if it were possible or practicable to examine the medicament apart from the coatings, less variation might be shown than appears when calculations are based on analyses of the ground pills as a whole. The complete data on weight variations for the samples examined are given in Table XV. The distribution of samples on the basis of total variations in weight is shown in the following summary: It is of interest to compare these results with similar data given in a previous report of this laboratory1 which cites also the experience of Kebler. The results by Kebler were of about the same date as our earlier analyses; our recent results show a substantia! improvement in this particular. |