Adulteration is a term not only applied in its proper sense to the fraudulent mixture of articles of commerce, food, drink, drugs, seeds, etc, with noxious or inferior ingredients, but also by magistrates and analysts to accidental impurity, and even in some cases to actual substitution.
The chief objects of adulteration are to increase the weight or volume of the article, to give a colour which either makes a good article more pleasing to the eye or else disguises an inferior one, to substitute a cheaper form of the article, or the same substance from which the strength has been extracted, or to give it a false strength.
Among the adulterations which were commonly practised around 1905 for the purpose of fraudulently increasing the weight or volume of an article are the following: Bread was adulterated with alum or sulphate of copper, which gives solidity to the gluten of damaged or inferior flour; with chalk or carbonate of soda to correct the acidity of such flour; and with boiled rice or potatoes, which enables the bread to carry more water, and thus to produce a larger number of loaves from a given quantity of flour. Wheatflour is adulterated with other inferior flours, as the flour from rice, bean, Indian-corn, potato, and with sulphate of lime, alum, etc. Milk was usually adulterated with water. The adulterations generally present in butter consisted of an undue proportion of salt and water, lard, tallow, and other fats; when of poor quality it was frequently coloured with a little annatto, and, at times, with the juice of carrots. Genuine butter should not contain less than 80 percent of butter-fat. Cheese was also coloured with annatto and other substances. Tea was adulterated chiefly in China with sand, iron-filings, chalk, gypsum, Chinaclay, exhausted tea leaves, and the leaves of the sycamore, horse-chestnut, and plum, whilst colour and weight were added by black-lead, indigo, Prussian-blue (one of the deleterious ingredients used by the Chinese in converting the lowest qualities of black into green teas), gum, turmeric, soapstone, catechu, and other substances.
Confections were adulterated with flour and sulphate of lime. Preserved vegetables were kept green and poisoned by salts of copper. The acridity of mustard is commonly reduced by flour, and the colour of the compound is improved by turmeric. Pepper was adulterated with linseed-meal, flour, mustard husks, etc. Colour was given to pickles by salts of copper, acetate of copper, etc. Ale was adulterated with common salt, Cocculus Indicus, grains of paradise, quassia, and other bitters, sulphate of iron, alum, etc. Porter and stout were mixed with sugar, treacle, salt, and an excess of water. Brandy was diluted with water, and burned sugar was added to improve the colour; sometimes bad whisky was flavoured and coloured so as to resemble brandy, and sold under its name.
Gin was mixed with excess of water, and flavouring matters of various kinds, with alum and tartar, were added. Rum was diluted with water, and the flavour and colour kept up by the addition of cayenne and burned sugar. For champagnegooseberry and other inferior wines were often substituted. Port was manufactured from red Cape and other inferior wines, the body, flavour, strength, and colour being produced by gum-dragon, the washings of brandy casks, and a preparation of German bilberries. Cheap brown sherry was mixed with Cape and other low-priced brandies, and was flavoured with the washings of brandy casks, sugar-candy, and bitter almonds. Pale sherries were produced by gypsum, by a process called plastering, which removes the natural acids as well as the colour of the wine. Other wines were adulterated with elderberry, logwood, Brazil-wood, cudbear, red beetroot, etc, for colour; with lime or carbonate of lime, carbonate of soda, carbonate of potash, and litharge, to correct acidity; with catechu, sloe-leaves, and oak-bark for astringency; with sulphate of lime and alum for removing colour; with cane-sugar for giving sweetness and body; with alcohol for fortifying; and with ether, especially acetic ether, for giving bouquet and flavour.
Medicines, such as jalap, opium, rhubarb, cinchonabark, scammony, aloes, sarsaparilla, squills, etc, were mixed with various foreign substances. Castor-oil has been adulterated with other oils; and inferior oils were often. mixed with cod-liver oil. Cantharides were often mixed with golden-beetle and also artificially-coloured glass.
The adulteration of seeds was largely practised also, the seed which forms the adulterant being of course of the most worthless kind that can be had. Thus turnip-seed was mixed with rape, wild mustard, or charlock, which are steamed and kiln-dried to destroy their vitality, so as to evade detection in the progress of growth; old and useless turnip-seed was also used fraudulently mixed with fresh seeds. Clover was also much mixed with plantain and mere weeds.
Acts against adulteration have been passed in various countries and at various times. In Britain there was a law against it as early as 1267. Research Adulteration
The American Association was an association formed among the American colonists in 1774 to enforce their claim of rights against the British government. Fourteen articles were agreed to, pledging the associates to an entire commercial non-intercourse with Great Britain, Ireland and the West Indies, denouncing the slave trade and appointing committees to detect and publish the names of violators of the articles. The association was formed against such acts as the Sugar, Stamp, Tea and Quartering Acts and the Boston Port Bill. Research American Association
The Boston Tea Party was an incident that occurred at the height of the agitation antecedent to the American revolution. On December 16th, 1773 a group of Bostonians, disguised as Indians, boarded several ships laden with taxed tea and threw 350 chests of it into the harbour. In retaliation the home government declared the port closed. Research Boston Tea Party
A butler is a domestic servant, one of the principal menservants, who is principally in charge of the household's wine and beer cellar (hence the name which derives from the French word meaning someone who bottles drinks) and plate. It is a common misunderstanding that a butler is in charge of the other servants, in reality this was the duty of the valet, however in the absence of a valet the role would be required of a butler. Primarily a butler is a wine consultant and brewer of beer. The notion of a butler opening the door to guests is quite incorrect, that duty was traditionally conducted by a footman.
The duties and role of the 19th century butler were helpfully described in 1860 by Mrs Beeton to those starting a household as:
The domestic duties of the butler are to bring in the eatables [food] at breakfast, and wait upon the family at that meal, assisted by the footman, and see to the cleanliness of everything at table. On taking away, he removes the tray with the china and plate [silver plated metal articles], for which he is responsible. At luncheon, he arranges the meal, and waits unassisted, the footman now being engaged in other duties. At dinner, he places the silver and plated articles on the table, sees that everything is in its place, and rectifies what is wrong. He carries in the first dish, and announces in the drawing-room that dinner is on the table, and respectfully stands by the door until the company are seated, when he takes his place behind his master's chair on the left, to remove the covers, handing them to the other attendants to carry out. After the first course of plates is supplied, his place is at the sideboard to serve the wines, but only when called on.
The first course ended, he rings the cook's bell, and hands the dishes from the table to the other servants to carry away, receiving from them the second course, which he places on the table, removing the covers as before, and again taking his place at the sideboard.
At dessert, the slips being removed, the butler receives the dessert from the other servants, and arranges it on the table, with plates and glasses, and then takes his place behind his master's chair to hand the wines and ices, while the footman stands behind his mistress for the same purpose, the other attendants leaving the room. Where the old-fashioned practice of having the dessert on the polished table, without any cloth, is still adhered to, the butler should rub off any marks made by the hot dishes before arranging the dessert.
Before dinner, he has satisfied himself that the lamps, candles, or gas-burners are in perfect order, if not lighted, which will usually be the case. Having served every one with their share of the dessert, put the fires in order (when they are used), and seen the lights are all right, at a signal from his master, he and the footman leave the room.
He now proceeds to the drawing room, arranges the fireplace, and sees to the lights; he then returns to the pantry, prepared to answer the bell, and attend to the company, while the footman is clearing away and cleaning the plate and glasses.
At tea he again attends. At bedtime he appears with the candles; he locks up the plate, secures doors and windows, and sees that all the fires are safe.
In addition to these duties, the butler, where only one footman is kept, will be requires to perform some of the duties of the valet, to pay bills, and superintend the other servants. But the real duties of the butler are in the wine-cellar; there he should be competent and advise his master as to the price and quality of the wine to be laid in; "fine," [refine] bottle, cork and seal it, and place it in the binns [wine racks]. Brewing, racking and bottling malt liquors [beers, ales, stouts and the like], belong to his office, as well as their distribution. These and other drinkables are brought from the cellar every day by his own hands, except when an under-butler is kept; and a careful entry of every bottle used, entered in the cellar-book; so that the book should always show the contents of the cellar. Research Butler
A chest was a British measurement of tea ranging from 80 to 84 lbs.
A chest was a British measure of cloverequivalent to 200 lbs, in use during the 19th century. Research Chest
A doiley was a small ornamental napkin, originally used at table to set glasses on at dessert, and later for setting cakes on at tea. By the late 20th century the use of doileys was almost over. Research Doiley
Enamel is a vitreous glaze of various colours fused to the surface of gold, silver, copper, and other substances. The art of enamelling, which is of great antiquity, was practised by the Assyrians and by the Egyptians, from whom it may have passed into Greece, and thence into Rome and its provinces, including Great Britain, where various Roman antiquities with enamelled ornamentation have been discovered. The enamelled gold cup given by King John to the corporation of Lynn, in Norfolk, proves that the art was known among the Normans. The Byzantines of the 10th century produced excellent cloisonne enamels on a gold base, the cloisonne process consisting in tracing the design in fillets of gold upon the gold plate and filling up the small moulds thus formed with enamels the design appearing in coloured enamels separated by thin gold partitions or cloisons. In some cases, however, the enamels were filled into hollows beaten out in the gold plate, which formed part of the field.
In the 12th century the town of Limoges acquired the high reputation for inlaid enamels which it held until the 14th century, aud re-acquired in the 16th for its painted enamels. The costliness of the sculptured ground had led the Italians early in the 14th century to substitute the practice of incising the design on the face of the plate, and then covering it with a transparent enamel. The further step, which made the Limousin workshops famous, consisted in the method of superficial enamelling, in which opaque colours or colours laid on a white opaque ground were used. The Limoges school degenerated greatly in the 17th century, but its method with certain modifications in detail is still employed.
The basis of all kinds of enamel is a perfectly transparent and fusibleglass, which is rendered either semitransparent or opaque by the admixture of metallic oxides. White enamels are composed by melting the oxide of tin with glass, and adding a small quantity of manganese or phosphate of calcium to increase the brilliancy of the colour. The addition of the oxide of lead, or antimony, or oxide of silver, produces a yellow enamel. Reds are formed by copper, and by an intermixture of the oxides of gold and iron. Greens, violets, and blues are formed from the oxides of copper, cobalt, and iron.
In the middle of the 18th century enamelling was largely applied to the decoration of snuff-boxes, tea-canisters, candlesticks, and other small articles. Of later years it was extensively applied to the coating of iron vessels for domestic purposes, the protection of the insides of baths, cisterns, and boilers, and the like. Enamelling in colours upon iron was common, iron plates being thus treated by means of various mixtures, and words and designs of various kinds being permanently fixed upon them by stencilling, for advertising, signboards, etc.
A footman was a domestic servant. During the 18th century, pompous and grand-looking footmen strutting through the streets of London caused some degree of resentment among the ordinary population who termed them 'fart catchers', and dismissed them as little more than fashion accessories showing off the wealth of their employers. However, Mrs Beeton helpfully describes the duties of the footman to those starting a household in 1860 as:
Where a single footman, or odd man, is the only male servant, then, whatever his ostensible position, he is required to make himself generally useful. He has to clean the knives and shoes, the furniture, the plate [silver plated metal objects]; answer the visitors who call, the drawing-room and parlour bells; and do all the errands. His life is no sinecure; and a methodical arrangement of his time will be necessary, in order to perform his many duties with any satisfaction to himself or his master.
The footman is expected to rise early, in order to get through all his dirty work before the family are stirring. Boots and shoes, and knives and forks, should be cleaned, lamps in use trimmed, his master's clothes brushed, the furniture rubbed over; so that he may put aside his working dress, tidy himself, and appear in a clean jacket, to lay the cloth and prepare breakfast for the family... He lays the cloth on the table; over it the breakfast-cloth, and sets the breakfast things in order, and then proceeds to wait upon his master, if he has any of the duties of a valet to perform.
Where a valet is not kept, a portion of his duties falls to the footman's share - brushing the clothes among others. If the footman is required to perform any part of a valet's duties, he will have to see that the housemaid lights a fire in the dressing-room in due time; that the room is dusted and cleaned; that the washhand-ewer is filled with soft water; and that the bath whether hot or cold, is ready when required; that towels are at hand; that hairbrushes and combs are properly cleansed and in their places; that hot water is ready at the hour ordered; the dressing-gown and slippers in their place, the clean linen aired, and the clothes to be worn for the day in their proper places. After the master has dressed, it will be the footman's duty to restore everything to its place properly cleansed and dry, and the whole restored to order.
At breakfast, when there is no butler, the footman carries up the tea-urn, and, assisted by the housemaid, he waits during breakfast. Breakfast over, he removes the tray and other things off the table, folds up the breakfast-cloth, and sets the room in order, by sweeping up all crumbs, shaking the cloth, and laying it on the table again, making up the fire, and sweeping up the hearth.
At luncheon-time nearly the same routine is observed, except where the footman is either out with the carriage or away on other business, when, in the absence of any butler, the housemaid must assist.
For dinner, the footman lays the cloth, taking care that the table is not too near the fire, if there is one, and that passage-room is left. A table-cloth should be laid without a wrinkle; and this requires two persons; over this the slips are laid, which are usually removed preparatory to placing dessert on the table. He prepares knives, forks, and glasses, with five or six plates for each person. This done, he places chairs enough for the party, distributing them equally on each side of the table, and opposite to each a napkin neatly folded within it a piece of bread or small roll, and a knife on the right side of each plate, a fork on the left, and a carving-knife and fork at the top and bottom of the table, outside the others, with the rests opposite to them, and a gravy-spoon beside the knife. The fish-slice should be at the top, where the lady of the house with the assistance of the gentleman next to her, divides the fish, and the soup-ladle at the bottom: it is sometimes usual to add a desert-knife and fork; at the same time , on the right side also of each plate, put a wine-glass for as many kinds of wine as it is intended to hand round, and a finger-glass or glass-cooler about four inches [nine centimetres] from the edge. The latter are frequently put on the table with the dessert.
About half an hour before dinner, he rings the dinner-bell, where that is the practice, and occupies himself with carrying up everything he is likely to require. At the expiration of the time, having communicated with the cook, he rings the real dinner-bell, and proceeds to take it up with such assistance as he can obtain. Having ascertained that all is in order, that his own dress is clean and presentable, and his white cotton gloves are without a stain, he announces in the drawing-room that dinner is served, and stands respectfully by the door until the company are seated: he places himself on the left, behind his master, who is to distribute the soup; where soup and fish are served together, his place will be at his mistress's left hand; but he must be on the alert to see that whoever is assisting him, whether male or female, are at their posts. If any of the guests has brought his own servant with him, his place is behind his master's chair, rendering such assistance to others as he can, while attending to his master's wants throughout the dinner, so that every guest has what he requires. This necessitates both activity and intelligence, and should be done without bustle, without asking any questions, except where it is the custom of the house to hand round dishes or wine, when it will be necessary to mention, in a quiet and unobtrusive manner, the dish or wine you present.
When required to go out with the carriage, it is the footman's duty to see that it has come to the door perfectly clean, and that the glasses and sashes, and linings are free from dust. In receiving messages at the carriage door, he should turn his ear to the speaker, so as to comprehend what is said, in order that he may give his directions to the coachman clearly. When the house he is to call at is reached, he should knock, and return to the carriage for orders. In closing the door upon the family, he should see that the handle is securely turned, and that no part of the ladies' dress is shut in.
It is the footman's duty to carry messages or letters for his master or mistress to their friends, to the post, or to the tradespeople; and nothing is more important than dispatch and exactness in doing so, although writing even the simplest message is now the ordinary and very proper practice.
In addition, footmen were also required to reserve seats in the family's box at the theatre, awaiting the arrival of the family. To lay out and wait at table for evening receptions and games of cards. To open and close doors behind visitors and to announce visitors upon directing them into the drawing room where the master or mistress awaited. Research Footman
A grocer is someone dealing in dried and preserved foods and other household goods. Originally the term grocer applied to someone dealing in wholesale (engros), later it was applied to a dealer of sugar, coffee, tea and spices and the like, which in Mediaeval times was known as a spicer. Research Grocer
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Adulteration
