XIV / 154
vi
PREF.A.OE.
iwi;tu;te.
This is the basis of the theory on which
this work is founded.
It is well known
to
the trade, and generally sup–
posed by those not engaged in the sale of liquors,
that adulteration is carried on
to
a very great extent
in the United States, as well as in England.
In
France also, the source of more than three fourths
of the liquors imported to this .country, it is conduct–
ed on an extensive scale, though
in
a different and
less objectionable manner. The systems
in
use in
England and
in
the United States have been of a
character to condemn the practice. Drugs of a de–
leterious nature and possessed of qualities poisonous
in
the extreme, have been, and are now more or less
in use, though the system has been gradually under–
going a cha.nge for the bettel'. The French have
been the first
to
inaugu:rate, in the expensive pro–
ducts of their vineyards and distilleries, a system of
adulteration th.11.t,
if
properly undererood, would place
imitation liquors in a new light altogether.
This system has been but little understood in this
country, and the knowledge
has
been confined to a
few individuals.
Although the adulteration of liquors has been
generally condemned
BB
pernicious in the effect
produced, still it
~
h<u
be,en
muJ,
will
con;tim1ue
to
be re1JO'l'WJ,
to,
that the dealer may extend his
profits; nor
will
any amount of legislation or pro–
hibition ever cause its discontinuance. That the
system needs improvement all will admit; and that
the principles laid down in this treatise do away
Digitized
by