this office, before Thomas Leach, Esq. the sitting magistrate, against a
man of the name of Edmund Rhodes, charged with having, on the 12th of
August last, dyed, fabricated, and manufactured, divers large
quantities, viz. one hundred weight of sloe leaves, one hundred weight
of ash leaves, one hundred weight of elder leaves, and one hundred
weight of the leaves of a certain other tree, in imitation of tea,
contrary to the statute of the 17th of Geo. III.[85] whereby the said
Edmund Rhodes had, for every pound of such leaves so manufactured,
forfeited the sum of 5_l._ making the total of the penalties amount to
2,000_l._ The second count in the information charged the said Rhodes
with having in his possession the above quantity of sloe, ash, elder,
and other leaves, under the like penalty of 2,000_l._ The third count
charged him with having, on the said 12th of August last, in his
possession, divers quantities, exceeding six pounds weight of each
respective kind of leaves; viz. fifty pounds weight of green sloe
leaves, fifty pounds weight of green leaves of ash, fifty pounds weight
of green leaves of elder, and fifty pounds weight of the green leaves of
a certain other tree; not having proved that such leaves were gathered
with the consent of the owners of the trees and shrubs from which they
were taken, and that such leaves were gathered for some other use, and
not for the purpose of manufacturing the same in imitation of tea;
whereby he had forfeited for each pound weight, the sum of 5_l._
amounting in the whole to 1,000_l._; and, in default of payment, in each
case, subjected himself to be committed to the house of correction for
not more than twelve months, nor less than six months.
Mr. Denton, who appeared for the defendant, who was absent, said that he
was a very poor man, with a family of five children, and was only the
servant of the real manufacturer, and an ignorant man from the country,
put into the premises to carry on the business, without knowing what the
leaves were intended for. By direction of Mr. Mayo, who conducted the
prosecution, several barrels and bags, filled with the imitation tea,
were then brought into the office, and a sample from each handed round.
To the eye they seemed a good imitation of tea.
The defendant was convicted in the penalty of 500_l._ on the second
count.
_The Attorney-General against Palmer._--This was an action by the
Attorney-General against the defendant, Palmer, charging him with
having in his possession a quantity of sloe-leaves and white-thorn
leaves, fabricated into an imitation of tea.
Mr. Dauncey stated the case to the jury, and observed that the
defendant, Mr. Palmer, was a grocer. It would appear that a regular
manufactory was established in Goldstone-street. The parties by whom the
manufactory was conducted, was a person of the name of Proctor, and
another person named J. Malins. They engaged others to furnish them with
leaves, which, after undergoing a certain process, were sold to and
drank by the public as tea. The leaves, in order to be converted into an
article resembling black tea, were first boiled, then baked upon an iron
plate; and, when dry, rubbed with the hand, in order to produce that
curl which the genuine tea had. This was the most wholesome part of the
operation; for the colour which was yet to be given to it, was produced
by logwood. The green tea was manufactured in a manner more destructive
to the constitution of those by whom it was drank. The leaves, being
pressed and dried, were laid upon sheets of copper, where they received
their colour from an article known by the name of Dutch pink. The
article used in producing the appearance of the fine green bloom,
observable on the China tea, was, however, decidedly a dead poison! He
alluded to verdigris, which was added to the Dutch pink in order to
complete the operation. This was the case which he had to bring before
the jury; and hence it would appear, that, at the moment they were
supposing they were drinking a pleasant and nutritious beverage, they
were, in fact, in all probability, drinking the produce of the hedges
round the metropolis, prepared for the purposes of deception in the most
noxious manner. He trusted he should be enabled to trace to the
possession of the defendant eighty pounds weight of the commodity he had
been describing.
Thomas Jones deposed, that he knew Proctor, and was employed by him at
the latter end of April, 1817, to gather black and white thorn leaves.
Sloe leaves were the black thorn. Witness also knew John Malins, the son
of William Malins, a coffee-roaster; he did not at first know the
purpose for which the leaves were gathered, but afterwards learnt they
were to make imitation tea. Witness did not gather more than one hundred
and a half weight of these leaves; but he employed another person, of
the name of John Bagster, to gather them. He had two-pence per pound for
them. They were first boiled, and the water squeezed from them in a
press. They were afterwards placed over a slow-fire upon sheets of
copper to dry; while on the copper they were rubbed with the hand to
curl them. At the time of boiling there was a little _verdigris_ put
into the water (this applied to green tea only.) After the leaves were
dried, they were sifted, to separate the thorns and stalks. After they
were sifted, more verdigris and some Dutch pink were added. The
verdigris gave the leaves that green bloom observable on genuine tea.
The black tea went through a similar course as the green, except the
application of Dutch pink: a little verdigris was put in the boiling,
and to this was added a small quantity of logwood to dye it, and thus
the manufacture was complete. The drying operation took place on sheets
of iron. Witness knew the defendant, Edward Palmer; he took some of the
mixture he had been describing, to his shop. The first time he took some
was in May, 1817. In the course of that month, or the beginning of June,
he took four or five seven-pound parcels; when he took it there, it was
taken up to the top of the house. Witness afterwards carried some to
Russell-street, which was taken to the top of the house, about one
hundred weight and three quarters; from this quantity he carried
fifty-three pounds weight to the house of the defendant's porter, by the
desire of Mr. Malins; it was in paper parcels of seven pounds each.
John Bagster proved that he had been employed by Malins and Proctor, to
gather sloe and white-thorn leaves: they were taken to Jones's house,
and from thence to Malins' coffee-roasting premises; witness received
two-pence per pound for them; he saw the manufacturing going on, but did
not know much about it: witness saw the leaves on sheets of copper, in
Goldstone-street.
This was the case for the Crown.--Verdict for the Crown, 840_l._
_The Attorney-General against John Prentice._--This was an information
similar to the last, in which the defendant submitted to a verdict for
the Crown.
_The Attorney-General against Lawson Holmes._--In this case the
defendant submitted to a verdict for the Crown.
_The Attorney-General against John Orkney._--Thomas Jones proved that
the defendant was a grocer, and in the month of May last he carried to
his shop seven pounds of imitation tea, by the order of John Malins,
for which he received the money, viz. 15_s._ 9_d._ or 2_s._ 3_d._ per
pound.
The jury found a verdict for the Crown.--Penalties 70_l._
_The Attorney-General against James Gray._--The defendant submitted to a
verdict for the Crown.--Penalties 120_l._
_The Attorney-General against H. Gilbert, and Powel._--These defendants
submitted to a verdict.--Penalties 140_l._
_The Attorney-General against William Clarke._--This defendant also
submitted to a verdict for the Crown.
_The Attorney-General against George David Bellis._--This defendant
submitted to a verdict for the Crown.
_The Attorney-General against John Horner._--The defendant in this case
was a grocer; it was proved by Jones that he received twenty pounds of
imitation tea.--Verdict for the Crown.--Penalties 210_l._
_The Attorney-General against William Dowling._--This was a grocer.
Jones proved that he delivered seven pounds of imitation tea at Mr.
Dowling's house, and received the money for it, namely 15_s._
9_d._--Penalties 70_l._
METHOD OF DETECTING THE ADULTERATIONS OF TEA.
The adulteration of tea may be evinced by comparing the botanical
characters of the leaves of the two respective trees, and by submitting
them to the action of a few chemical tests.
The shape of the tea-leaf is slender and narrow, as shewn in this
sketch, the edges are deeply serrated, and the end or extremity is
acutely pointed. The texture of the leaf is very delicate, its surface
smooth and glossy, and its colour is a lively pale green.
[Illustration]
The sloe-leaf (and also the white-thorn leaf,) as shewn in this sketch,
is more rounded, and the leaf is obtusely pointed. The serratures or
jags on the edges are not so deep, the surface of the leaf is more
uneven, the texture not so delicate, and the colour is a dark olive
green.
[Illustration]
These characters of course can be observed only after the dried leaves
have been suffered to macerate in water for about twenty-four hours.
The leaves of some sorts of tea may differ in size, but the shape is the
same in all of them; because all the different kinds of tea imported
from China, are the produce of one species of plant, and the difference
between the green and souchong, or black tea, depends chiefly upon the
climate, soil, culture, age, and mode of drying the leaves.
Spurious black tea,[86] slightly moistened, when rubbed on a sheet of
white paper, immediately produces a blueish-black stain; and speedily
affords, when thrown into cold water, a blueish-black tincture, which
instantly becomes reddened by letting fall into it, a drop or two of
sulphuric acid.
Two ounces of the suspected leaves, should be infused in half-a-pint of
cold, soft water, and suffered to stand for about an hour. Genuine tea
produces an amber-coloured infusion, which does not become reddened by
sulphuric acid.
All the samples of spurious green tea (nineteen in number) which I have
examined, were coloured with carbonate of copper (a poisonous
substance,) and not by means of verdigris, or copperas.[87] The latter
substances would instantly turn the tea black; because both these
metallic salts being soluble in water, are acted on by the astringent
matter of the leaves, whether genuine or spurious, and convert the
infusion into ink.
Tea, rendered poisonous by carbonate of copper, speedily imparts to
liquid ammonia a fine sapphire blue tinge. It is only necessary to shake
up in a stopped vial, for a few minutes, a tea-spoonful of the suspected
leaves, with about two table-spoonsful of liquid ammonia, diluted with
half its bulk of water. The supernatant liquid will exhibit a fine blue
colour, if the minutest quantity of copper be present.
Green tea, coloured with carbonate of copper, when thrown into water
impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, immediately acquires a black
colour. Genuine green tea suffers no change from the action of these
tests.
The presence of copper may be further rendered obvious, by mixing one
part of the suspected tea-leaves, reduced to powder, with two or three
parts of nitrate of potash, (or with two parts of chlorate of potash,)
and projecting this mixture by small portions at a time, into a platina,
or porcelain-ware crucible, kept red-hot in a coal fire; the whole
vegetable matter of the tea leaves will thus become destroyed, and the
oxide of copper left behind, in combination with the potash, of the
nitrate of potash (or salt-petre,) or with the muriate of potash, if
chlorate of potash has been employed.
If water, acidulated with nitric acid, be then poured into the crucible
to dissolve the mass, the presence of the copper may be rendered
manifest by adding to the solution, liquid ammonia, in such quantity
that the pungent odour of it predominates.
FOOTNOTES:
[85] Also, 2 Geo. I, c. 30, § 5; and 4 Geo. II, c. 14, § 11.
[86] The examination of twenty-seven samples of imitation tea of
different qualities, from the most costly, to the most common, which it
fell to my lot to undertake, induces me to point out the marks of
sophistications here detailed, as the most simple and expeditious.
[87] Mr. Twining, an eminent tea-merchant, asserts, that "the leaves of
spurious tea are boiled in a copper, with copperas and sheep's
dung."--See Encyclop. Britan. vol. xviii. p. 331. 1797. See also the
History of the Tea Plant, p. 48; and p. 167 of this Treatise.
_Counterfeit Coffee._
The fraud of counterfeiting ground coffee by means of pigeon's beans and
pease, is another subject which, not long ago, arrested the attention of
the public: and from the numerous convictions of grocers prosecuted for
the offence, it is evident that this practice has been carried on for a
long time, and to a considerable extent.
The following statement exhibits some of the prosecutions, instituted by
the Solicitor of the Excise, against persons convicted of the fraud of
manufacturing spurious, and adulterating genuine coffee.
Alexander Brady, a grocer, (_See p. 182_) prosecuted and convicted of
selling _sham-coffee_, said, "I have sold it for twenty years." Some of
the persons prosecuted by the Solicitor of the Excise for this fraud, we
might, at first sight, be inclined to believe, were inconscious that the
adulterating of genuine coffee with spurious substances was illegal; but
this ignorance affords no excuse, as the Act of the 43 Geo. III. cap.
129, explicitly states: "If after the first day of September, 1803, any
burnt, scorched, or roasted pease, beans, or other grain, or vegetable
substance or substances prepared or manufactured for the purpose of
being in imitation of or in any respect to resemble coffee or cocoa, or
to serve as a substitute for coffee or cocoa, or alleged or pretended by
the possessor or vender thereof so to be, _shall be made_, or kept for
sale, or shall be _offered_ or _exposed to sale_, or shall be _found_ in
the custody or possession of any _dealer_ or dealers in or _seller_ or
sellers of _coffee_, or if any burnt, scorched, or roasted pease, beans,
or other grain, or vegetable substance or substances not being coffee,
shall be called by the preparer, manufacturer, possessor, or vender
thereof, by the name of _English_ or _British_ coffee, or _any other
name_ of coffee, or by the name of _American_ cocoa, or _English_ or
_British_ cocoa, or any other name of cocoa, the same respectively shall
be forfeited, together with the packages containing the same, and shall
and may be seized by any officer or officers of Excise; and the person
or persons preparing, manufacturing, or selling the same, or having the
same in his, her, or their custody or possession, or the dealer or
dealers in or seller or sellers of coffee or cocoa, in whose custody
the same shall be found, shall forfeit and lose the sum of one hundred
pounds."
_The Attorney-General against William Malins._--This was an information
filed by the Attorney-General against the defendant, charging him, he
being a dealer in coffee, with having in his possession a large quantity
of imitation coffee, made from scorched pease and beans, resembling
coffee, and intended to be sold as such, contrary to the statute of the
43d of the King, whereby he became liable to pay a fine of 100_l._
J. Lawes deposed that he had lived servant with the defendant; he
constantly roasted pease and beans, and ground them into powder. When so
ground, the powder very much resembled coffee. Sometimes the sweepings
of the coffee were thrown in among the pease and beans. Witness carried
out this powder to several grocers in different parts of the town.
Thomas Jones lived with the defendant. His occupation was roasting and
grinding pease and beans. They looked, when ground, the same as coffee.
Witness had seen Mr. John Malins sweep up the refuse coffee, and mix it
with the pease and beans. He had taken out this mixture to grocers.
J. Richardson, an excise-officer, deposed, that, in December 1817, he
went to the premises of the defendant, and there seized four sacks, five
tubs, and nine pounds in paper, of a powder made to resemble coffee. The
quantity ground was 1,567 pounds; it had all the appearance of coffee;
and a little coffee being mixed with it, any common person might be
deceived. He also seized two sacks, containing 279 pounds of whole pease
and beans roasted. Among the latter were some grains of coffee. The
witness here produced samples of the articles seized.
John Lawes deposed, that the articles exhibited were such as he was in
the habit of manufacturing while in Mr. Malins' employment.
The jury found a verdict for the Crown.--Penalty 100_l._
_The King against Chaloner._--Mr. Chaloner, a dealer in tea and coffee,
was charged on the oaths of Charles Henry Lord and John Pearson, both
Excise officers, with having in his possession, on the 17th of March,
nine pounds of spurious coffee, consisting of burnt pease, beans, and
gravel or sand, and a portion of coffee, and with selling some of the
same; also with having in his possession seventeen pounds of vegetable
powder, and an article imitating coffee, which contained not a particle
of genuine coffee.
The defendant was convicted in the penalty of 90_l._
_The King against Peether._--This was an information against Mr. Thomas
Peether, tea and coffee dealer, charging him with having in his
possession a quantity of imitation coffee (or vegetable powder) on the
25th of April last.
The case being proved by the evidence of several witnesses, the
defendant was convicted in the penalty of 50_l._
_The King against Topping._--This was an information against Mr. John
Lewis Topping, a dealer in tea and coffee, charging him with having
thirty-seven pounds of vegetable powder in his possession. The article
seized was produced to the commissioners of the Excise.
The defendant was convicted in the penalty of 50_l._
_The King against Samuel Hallett._--The defendant, Hallett, a grocer and
dealer in tea and coffee, was charged with having seven pounds of
imitation coffee in his possession.
Charles Henry Lord, an officer of the Excise, being sworn, stated, that
he and Spencer, an officer, went, on the 28th of February last, to the
shop of the defendant, and asked for an ounce of coffee, at three
halfpence per ounce. He received the same, and having paid for it, left
the shop. He examined the article, and found it was part coffee, and
part imitation coffee, or what the defendant called vegetable powder,
which is nothing more nor less than burnt pease and beans ground in a
mill.
Spencer, the officer of the Excise, corroborated the above evidence, and
stated, that the sham-coffee seized at the defendant's house was shown
to Mr. Joseph Hubbard, grocer, and tea and coffee dealer, in
High-street, in the Borough of Southwark.
Mr. Hubbard being sworn, stated, that he had examined the sham-coffee
seized by the officers in the defendant's shop. The one ounce purchased
by Lord, he knew to be nothing else than black pigeon's beans; there was
no coffee amongst it.
The defendant was convicted in the penalty of 50_l._
_The King against Fox._--Mr. Edward Fox, grocer, and dealer in tea and
coffee, was charged with having a large quantity of sham-coffee in his
possession, and with selling the same for genuine coffee.
Henry Spencer, an officer of the Excise, stated, that on the 21st of
February he and Lord, another officer, went to the defendant's shop and
purchased an ounce of coffee, for which he paid three halfpence. They
examined it, and he was satisfied it was not genuine coffee; they
purchased another ounce (which he produced to the commissioners of the
Excise, who examined it); they were convinced it consisted partly of
coffee and beans and pease.
The defendant, in his defence said, that the poor people wanted a
low-price article; and by mixing the vegetable powder and coffee
together, he was able to sell it at three halfpence an ounce; he had
sold it for years; he did it as a matter of accommodation to the poor,
who could not give a higher price; he did not sell it for genuine
coffee.
_Commissioner._--"Then you have been defrauding the public for many
years, and injuring the revenue by your illicit practices: the poor have
an equal right to be supplied with as genuine an article as the rich."
He was convicted in the penalty of 50_l._
_The King against Brady._--The defendant, Mr. Alexander Brady, grocer,
and dealer in tea and coffee, was charged with having, on the 28th of
February last, in his possession eighteen pounds of sham-coffee, and
selling the same for genuine coffee.
Lord and Pearson, Excise officers, stated, that they purchased an ounce
of coffee of the defendant, on the 28th of February, and upon examining
it they discovered that it was made up of pease and beans, ground with a
small quantity of coffee. They also found eighteen pounds of vegetable
powder mixed with coffee, in a state prepared for sale, wrapped in
papers.
One of the commissioners tasted some of the eighteen pounds of
sham-coffee produced by the officers, and declared that it was a most
infamous stuff, and unfit for human food.
_Defendant._--"Why, I have sold it for twenty years."
_Commissioner._--"Then you have been for twenty years acting most
dishonestly, defrauding the revenue; and the health of the poor must
have suffered very much by taking such an unwholesome article. Your
having dealt in this article so long aggravates your case; you have for
twenty years been selling burnt beans and pease for genuine coffee.--You
are convicted in the penalty of 50_l._"
_The King against Bowser._--The excise officers stated, that on the 28th
of February they went to his shop: he was a grocer, dealer in tea and
coffee; they seized seven pounds and a half of vegetable powder, which
contained very little coffee, if any; and also a quarter of a pound of
coffee mixed with vegetable powder.
The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge, and prayed the court to
mitigate the penalty. He was convicted in the penalty of 50_l._
_The King against Thomas Owen._--The defendant, an extensive dealer in
tea and coffee, appeared to an information charging him with having in
his possession, and selling, a quantity of deleterious ingredients, and
mixing them with coffee.
Charles Henry Lord deposed, that on the 26th of February, he found, at
the shop of the defendant, nineteen pounds of a composition consisting
of beans and pease ground, and prepared so as to imitate coffee. He also
discovered two pounds and a half of a mixture of coffee and vegetable
powder. On the same day he proceeded to another shop of the defendant,
and he there found five pounds more of the same stuff.
Samples of the composition, in its mixed and unmixed state, were
produced.
Mr. Lawes addressed the commissioners on behalf of the defendant, in
mitigation of punishment; for he did not mean to deny the offence. His
client was a very young man, and had been most unfortunate in business.
He was not aware until lately of the existence of any law by which it
could be punished.
The Commissioners observed, that they had a double duty to perform,
namely, to protect the revenue from fraud, and to prevent the public
from being imposed upon and injured by ingredients served to them
instead of the food they intended to purchase. The fraud upon the
revenue was, in the estimation of the court, the least part of the
offence. Under all the circumstances, however, the court was inclined to
be lenient to the defendant.
He was convicted in the penalty of 50_l._ for each quantity of
sham-coffee.
Mr. Greely and Mr. William Dando were fined 20_l._ each; and Mr. Hirling
and Mr. Terry were fined 90_l._ each for selling spurious coffee.
The adulteration of ground coffee, with pease and beans, is beyond the
reach of chemical analysis; but it may, perhaps, not be amiss on this
occasion to give to our readers a piece of advice given by a retired
grocer to a friend, at no distant period:--"Never, my good fellow," he
said, "purchase from a grocer any thing which passes through his mill.
You know not what you get instead of the article you expect to
receive--coffee, pepper, and all-spice, are all mixed with substances
which detract from their own natural qualities."--Persons keeping mills
of their own can at all times prevent these impositions.
_Adulteration of Brandy, Rum, and Gin._