Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 January 1874 — Death in the Sirup-Jug. [ARTICLE]

Death in the Sirup-Jug.

Probably there arc very' few articles of daily consumption which are not adulterated in a more or less vile manner. One of the most scoundrelly impositions that unscrupulous rascals practice upon a long suffering public is the scandalous compound sold as sugar sirup. It is asserted that nearly fifty per cent, of the article sold under the seductive names of golden sirup, silver drips, etc., is a rank poison, formed by the action of sulphuric acid upon some of the substances containing the essential material of wood fiber. The quantity of sulphuric acid used to form sugar by this process is so great that it cannot be thoroughly extracted from the product. It leaves enough to be dangerous even to the stomachs of robust men —excessively so to the more delicate organizations of children, wb<ruse far more of the article than grown persons. Since public attention has been called to. this rascality’, many instances have come to light of mysterious sicknesses which disappeared on the use of this breakfast dainty being discontinued. Severe burning pains at the stomach, and racking headaches, are among the lighter symptoms of sirup-poisoning. A case is mentioned where the cork in a keg of sirup sent for the use of a lumberman’s camp was found to be nearly eaten away. Fancy a vile drug which will corrode cork, gnawing aWay at the coat of one’s stomach. The Western liural will in future worry down its buckwheat cakes without the adventitious aid of sweetening, unless sufficient guarantees of the character of the article be furnished with it. „ Fortunately, the detection of the pernicious stuff is easy. A small quantity of muriate or nitrate of baryta, mixed with water, makes a clear solution. If to this be added a small quantity of sulphuric acid, a white precipitate is formed, which is insoluble in water. Tannin also gives a black precipitate, unless the acid has been neutralized by albumen. If toy of our readers have reason for looking upon their matutinal sirup with snspicion, let them at once take a sample to a chemist and have it analyzed. If found to be dangerous, let the makers and retailers he prosecuted with the same vigor that wholesale murderers would meet with. —Western Rural. How to preserve moss.— Most beautiful mosses grow in the forests upon rocks, roots of trees, and upon the surface of the earth sometimes, and if gathered and dried,.ordyed, may be made to retain- a bright, lively color. To preserve it, turn its roots up on the cellar bottom, and let it remain until thoroughly dry, and It will be as green as when growing, and remain so. _ —A Georgia editor was bitten Iff a. dog, ‘‘being evidently mistaken for p bone.” ‘ .