CURRENT NOTES.
IN a previous issue of this magazine, occasion was taken to commend the efforts of the American Society for the Prevention of Adulteration of Food, of which Dr. H. W. Amerling, of Philadelphia, is the enthusiastic president, in behalf of legislation by Congress for the suppression of the present wholesale adulteration in foods, drugs, and liquors. It is gratifying to note the growth and earnestness of public sentiment in favor of such legislation, as evidenced by the discussion of the subject in the public press. A most wholesome sign of purer food for the future is exhibited also in the action of the retail dealers of the country, who through their trade associations in the centres of population are harmoniously working towards restrictive legislation. The tradesmen who come next to the consumers have it entirely within their power by united and systematic action to drive every article that is adulterated or unwholesome out of the market. The reports of the meetings of many of the grocers' associations show an enthusiasm upon the subject which portends much good to the public at large.
In our former reference to this matter we expressed the opinion that the most effective remedy for the suppression of impure food would be found in public exposure, and an instance of the efficacy of this method was cited in the alum baking-powders, where such an exposure fearlessly made was the means of preventing almost entirely the sale of these dangerous goods for years. Acting upon a similar opinion, apparently, the Massachusetts State Board of Health, one of the most progressive sanitary bodies in the country, of which Dr. H. P. Walcott, of Cambridge, is at the head, has recently published the names of twenty-six baking-powders sold in New England, and warned the public against their use. Our most eminent physicians have declared that alum in food is poisonous to the system.
The State Dairy and Food Commission of Ohio, acting under the direction of the legislature, has made examinations of many of the more important articles of food sold in that State. The Commissioner has added to the usefulness of his work by prominently publishing the names of the alum baking-powders discovered, thus enabling consumers to protect themselves from a danger which it would appear from the report has become of alarming proportions in that commonwealth. The Food Commissioner goes further, and indicates the baking-powder which the official examination proved the purest and most wholeaome. The best baking-powder is stated to be that which, giving the largest percentage of leavening gas, leaves the lowest percentage of resultant salts or residuum in the bread. Under this rule the cream of tartar powders are ranked as follows:
| Name. | Percentage of carbon gas. | Percentage of resultant salts. |
| Royal | 11.80 | 7.25 |
| Sterling. | 11. | 12.63 |
| Dr. Price's | 10.50 | 12.66 |
| De Land's | 10. | 32.53 |
Will not New York, Pennsylvania, and the great States of the Northwest take a similar action in the interest of the public health?
