purpose of analysis, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds.

NOTE.-Sunday mornings are the best for taking

samples.

Reduction of Spirit.

In determining whether an offence has been committed by selling, to the prejudice of the purchaser, spirits not adulterated otherwise than by the admixture of water, it shall be a good defence to prove that such admixture has not reduced the spirit more than twenty-five degrees under proof for brandy, whisky or rum, or thirty-five degrees under proof for gin.

PART 3.

The Margarine Act, 1887.

Every person dealing in margarine, whether wholesale or retail, whether a manufacturer, importer, or as consignor or consignee, or as commission agent or otherwise, who is found guilty of an offence under this Act, shall be liable, on summary conviction for the first offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, for the second offence fifty pounds, and for the third or any subsequent offence one hundred pounds.

The Marking of Margarine.

Every package, whether open or closed, and containing margarine, shall be branded or durably marked". Margarine' on the top, bottom and sides, in printed capital letters not less than three-quarters of an inch square; and if such margarine be exposed for sale by retail, there shall be attached to each parcel thereof so exposed, and in such manner as to be

clearly visible to the purchaser, a label marked in printed capital letters, not less than one and a half inches square, "Margarine"; and every person selling margarine by retail, save in a package duly branded or durably marked as aforesaid, shall in every case deliver the same to the purchaser in a paper wrapper on which shall be printed, in capital letters not less than a quarter of an inch square, Margarine."

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What Amounts to an Exposure for Sale?

If the margarine is not exposed for sale on the public and visible part of the counter, but is hidden away on a private part of the counter behind a screen so that no customer could see it, such margarine would not be exposed for sale. (Crane v. Lawrence (1890), 25 Q. B. D. 152.)

But if the margarine is on the public portion of the counter, and cannot be seen by a customer by reason only of its being wrapped up' in paper, then in such case such margarine undoubtedly is exposed for sale. (Wheat v. Brown, (1892) 1 Q. B. 418.)

There always is a presumption of guilt against a vendor in whose possession, for the purpose of sale, margarine is found, unless he can show

1. That he purchased article in question as butter, and with a written warranty or invoice to that effect.

2. That he had no reason to believe at the time when he sold it that article was other than butter.

3. That he sold it in the same state as he purchased it. On establishing such evidence he shall be discharged from the prosecution, but shall be liable to pay the costs incurred by the prosecutor, unless he shall have given due notice to him that he will rely upon the above defence.

All margarine imported into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland shall, whenever forwarded by any public conveyance, be duly consigned as margarine, and any officer of His Majesty's Customs or Inland Revenue, or any of the officials before mentioned, may take samples for analysis from any such package.

Registration.

Every manufactory of margarine within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland shall be registered by the owner or occupier thereof with the L. A. from time to time as the L. G. B. may direct, and everyone guilty of non-registration shall be guilty of an offence under this

Act.

ᏢᎪᎡᎢ 4.

The Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1899.

Precautions against the Insufficient Marking of Imported Food.

If there is imported into the United Kingdom any of the following articles :

(a) Margarine or margarine-cheese, except in packages conspicuously marked "Margarine" or "MargarineCheese" respectively; or,

(b) Adulterated or impoverished butter (other than margarine), or adulterated or impoverished milk or cream, except in packages or cans conspicuously marked with a name or description indicating that the butter or milk or cream has been so treated; or,

(c) Condensed, separated, or skimmed milk, except in tins or other receptacles which bear a label whereon the words "Machine-Skimmed Milk," or "Skimmed Milk," as the case may require, are printed in large and legible type; or, (d) Any adulterated or impoverished article of food to which, by Order in Council, this section shall be applied, unless the same be imported in packages or receptacles conspicuously marked with a name or description indicating that the article has been so treated,

the importer shall be liable, on summary conviction for the first offence, to a fine of 207.; second offence, 501.; any subsequent offence, 1007.

NOTE.-Prosecutions under this section shall be undertaken by the Commissioners of Customs, and importer means the person in possession of, or in anywise entitled to the custody or control of, the article.

Procedure.

1. The Commissioners of Customs shall, after consultation with the Board of Agriculture, take samples of consignments.

2. They shall divide such samples into not less than three parts, send one to the importer, one to the principal chemist of the Government Laboratories, and retain one part.

3. The certificate of the principal chemist of the result of his analysis shall be sufficient evidence of the facts therein stated, unless the defendant requires that he be called as a witness.

4. If Commissioners of Customs think that an offence

has been committed, they shall communicate to the Board of Agriculture the name of importer, and such other facts as they possess as to the destination of consignment.

NOTE. Any article shall be deemed adulterated or impoverished if it has been mixed with any other substance, or if any part has been abstracted, so as in either case to affect injuriously its quality, substance or nature, provided that no food shall be deemed adulterated by reason only of the addition of a preservative or colouring matter of such a nature and in such quantity as not to render the article injurious to health.

Who can Prosecute under this Section?

No person or persons except the Commissioners of Customs, whereas, for offences against the Acts before recited, any L.A., or private person, might do so.

The Board of Agriculture may make regulations for determining what deficiency of normal constituents of genuine milk, cream, butter, or cheese, or what addition of extraneous matter or proportion of water in any sample thereof shall raise a presumption, until the contrary is proved, that such commodities are not genuine, or are injurious to health. And an analyst shall have regard to such regulations which shall be notified in the London and Edinburgh Gazettes.

NOTE.-Acting on the above power, the Board of Agriculture, by the Sale of Milk Regulations, 1901, decided that

(a) Milk containing less than 3 per cent. of milk fat, or less than 8.5 per cent. of non-fatty solids, and skimmed or separated milk (other than condensed