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614.0979 Vzs.

UNIV. OF MOH

JUN 6 1908

Bulletin No. 4, Volume VIII.

Issued Quarterly by

Vermont State Board of Health,

June 1, 1908.

Entered October 21, 1901, as second-class matter, Post Office at Brattleboro, Vt., under act of Congress of July 16, 1894.

CONTENTS:

A Fallacy in the Ferric-Chloride Test for Salicylic Acid in Malt Liquors, by C. P.
Moat, Sanitary Chemist. Page 2.

Preventing the Spread of Infectious Diseases, by Thomas Darlington, M. D.,
Commissioner of Health, New York City. Page 3.

Pure Foods, by C. P. Moat, Sanitary Chemist, Vermont State Board of Health.
Page 12.

Food and Drug Inspection, by L. P. Sprague, M. D. Page 23.
Report of Examinations at the State Laboratory. Page 27.

News Items. Page 42.

Tenth Annual School of Instruction for Health Officers. Page 46.

BRATTLEBORO, VT.

ACID IN MALT LIQUORS.

BY C. P. MOAT, SANITARY CHEMIST.

A few months ago in examining a number of different brands of malt extracts, we found that Malt Nutrine, manufactured by the AnheuserBusch Brewing Association, gave a test for salicylic acid. The firm took exception to our report and called our attention to the fact, then unknown to us, that the caramel malt used in the manufacture of Malt Nutrine contains a substance called "Maltol" which gives a violet color with ferric-chloride. This proved to be so. The two may be distinguished by Millon's reagent, which gives no color with "Maltol" but gives a reddish color with salicylic acid.

In looking up the literature available very little has been found regarding this substance.

Allen's Commercial Organic Analysis mentions it as follows:-"According to R. J. L. Shoepp (abst. J. C. S. 1896, ii. 227), the ferric-chloride reaction is yielded by some specimens of beer undoubtedly free from salicylic acid, owing to the presence of maltol, a body isolated by Brand from roasted malt. This substance, however, does not yield any characteristic reaction with Millon's reagent with which salicylic acid gives a dark red coloration." Mulliken's "Identification of Pure Organic Compounds" classes "Maltol" C.H. (OH) under Phenolic Compounds-colorless and solid.

The Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association sent us the following references, which are not available to us at present: "Laboratorium des Brauers," by W. Windisch, p. 336; "Handbuch fur den Amerikanischen Brauer and Malzer," by Hantke, 1st ed. p. 314.

Further inquiry brings out the fact that very little is known of "Maltol," but caramelized malt does contain this substance, which gives the phenolic reaction with ferric-chloride. It is supposed to be a cyclic compound due to the disintegration of some polysaccharide, in which the open chain is condensed to a ring derivative.

We have obtained several samples of caramel malt through the kindness of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association, the Frank Jones Brewing Company, and of George Defren, Esq., of Brookline, Mass., and find that all of the samples give the violet color with ferric-chloride after digesting with water at 65 degrees C., filtering and extracting with chloroform. Ordinary malt does not give the test but we have caramelized some of this same malt in this laboratory and obtained the test. Not knowing the solubility of "Maltol" we have also made the test for salicylic acid by means of ether extraction and extraction by ether and benzine mixture and find the same color is obtained with the ferric-chloride test.

We have not had the time to go into this matter further, but give this information to assist any others who, like ourselves, are unaware of the existence of "Maltol" in malt liquors.

PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES.

BY THOMAS DARLINGTON, M. D., COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH, NEW YORK

CITY.

The department of health of the city of New York is endowed by law, through the provisions of the city charter, with practically unlimited power indealing with all matters affecting directly or indirectly, the health and lives of the inhabitants of the city.

The board of health, which is the governing power of the department of health, issues its rules and regulations in the form of a sanitary code, and this code and its sections have the force of law. Any violation of the sections is a misdemeanor and is punishable as such.

While the powers of the board of health are far-reaching, and often drastic, its functions are purely beneficent and its purpose broadly humanitarian. In dealing with questions of public health, the control of epidemics assumes a position of importance. It has been our endeavor in New York to so systematically and thoroughly observe and control each individual case of infectious disease and to use such methods in the prevention of the spread of contagion, that epidemics may be relegated to a theoretical status.

"A chain is no stronger than its weakest link" and the department of health of New York City has endeavored to weld each link so firmly and thoroughly that the chain of control of infectious diseases is a cordon of strength and protection.

Our chain may seem intricate, but following, as it does, each case from its incipiency to its termination it forms a well rounded and effective whole.

Section 133 of the sanitary code of New York provides that "It shall be the duty of every physician to report to the department of health, in writing, the full name, age and address of every person suffering from any one of the infectious diseases included in the list appended, with the name of the disease, within twenty-four hours of the time when the case is first seen." Then follows a list of infectious diseases divided into three classes, First, the contagious or very readily communicable; Second, communicable, and Third, indirectly communicable, through an intermediary host.

In this provisional classification of the infectious diseases, arranged for practical purposes, the most readily communicable of these diseases, embracing the exanthemata and typhus fever, have been placed in a group by themselves and called contagious. This has been done with a view to emphasizing a distinction, which is not only of scientific significance but of practical importance, in dealing with the sanitary features of administration. This distinction is furthermore of importance because it avoids the misunderstanding and alarm frequently caused by including in the same class the very readily communicable diseases (such as small pox) and the

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