The following bill, recently adopted in New York, constitutes the only instance I have been able to find of legislation directed specifically against the adulteration of any form of fermented liquors in this country. The manner in which such bills are drawn has considerable influence upon their efficiency in preventing and punishing the fraud against which they are directed, and while it is not exactly within the province of this publication to make suggestions as to the proper form for such legislation, I feel impelled to venture the assertion that the crudity of this bill affords little evidence that any chemist was consulted or concerned in its composition:

AN ACT to define pure wines, half wines, made wines, and adulterated wines, and to regulate the manufacture and sale of half wines and made wines and to prohibit the manufacture or sale of adulterated wines within the State of New York.

[Passed June 18, 1887, three-fifths being present.]

The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

Sec. 1. All liquors denominated as wine, containing alcohol, "except such as shall be produced by the natural fermentation of pure undried fruit juice," or compounded with distilled spirits, or by both methods, except as permitted by section two of this act, whether denominated as wine or by any other name whatsoever, in the nature of articles for use as beverages, or for compounding with other liquors intended for such use, and all compounds of the same with pure wine, and all preserved fruit juices compounded with substances not produced from undried fruit, in the character of, or intended for use as beverages, or for use in the fermentation or preparation of liquors intended for use as beverages, and all wines, imitation of wines or other beverages produced from fruit which shall contain any alum, baryta salts, caustic lime, carbonate of soda, carbonate of potash, carbonic acid, salts of lead, glycerine, salcylic* acid, or any other antiseptic, coloring matter, other than that produced from undried fruit, artificial flavoring, essence of ether, or any other foreign substance whatsoever which is injurious to health, shall be denominated as adulterated wine, and any person or persons who shall manufacture with the intent to sell, or shall sell, or offer to sell, any of such wine or beverages shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars, or more than one thousand dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not less than six months, or more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court, and shall be liable to a penalty of one dollar for each gallon thereof sold, offered for sale, or manufactured with intent to sell, and such wine or beverage shall be deemed a public nuisance and forfeited to the State, and shall be summarily seized and destroyed by any health officer within whose jurisdiction the same shall be found, and the reasonable expense of such seizure and destruction shall be a county charge.

* So in original.

Sec. 2. For the purpose of this act the words "pure wine "shall he understood to mean the fermented juice of undried grapes or other undried fruits, provided, however, that the addition of pure sugar to perfect the wine, or the addition of pure distilled spirits to preserve it, not to exceed eight per centum of its volume, or the using of the necessary things to clarify and fine the wine, which are not injurious to health, shall not be construed as adulterations, but such pure wine shall contain at least seventy-five per centum of pure grape or other undried fruit juice.

Sec. 3. For the further purpose of this act, should any person or persons manufacture with the intent to sell, or sell or offer to sell, any wine which contains less than seventy-five per centum and more than fifty per centum of pure grape or other undried fruit juice, and is otherwise pure, such wine shall be known, branded, marked, labeled and sold as "half wine," and upon each and every package of such wine, which shall contain more than three gallons, there shall be stamped upon both ends of such package, in black printed letters, at least one inch high and of proper proportion, the words "half wine," and upon all packages which shall contain more than one quart and up to three gallons, there shall be stamped upon each of such packages, in plain, printed black letters at least one-half inch high, and of proper proportion, the words "half wine," and upon all packages or bottles of one quart or less, there shall be placed a label, securely pasted thereon, on which label the words "half wine" shall be plainly printed in black letters at least one-fourth of an inch high and of proper proportion. Should any number of such packages be inclosed in a larger package, as a box, barrel, case, or basket, such outside package shall also receive the stamp "half wine," the letters to be of the size according to the amount of such wine contained in such outside package: Provided, further, That any person or persons who shall sell, offer for sale, or manufacture with the intent to sell any wine which shall contain less than fifty per centum of pure grape or other uudried fruit juice, and is otherwise pure, such wine shall be known, stamped, labeled, and sold as "made wine," and shall be stamped, marked, and labeled in the same manner as prescribed in this section, except the words shall be in this case "made wine."

Sec. 4. If any person or persons shall sell, or offer for sale, or manufacture with intent to sell any wine of the kind and character as described in the third section of this act, which shall not be stamped, marked, or labeled after the manner and mode therein prescribed, such person or persons shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars, or more than one thousand dollars for each and every offense, or by imprisonment in the county jail, not less than three months, or more than one year, or by both fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court, and in addition thereto shall be liable to a penalty of one-half dollar for each gallon thereof so sold, offered for sale, or manufactured with the intent to sell or offer for sale. All penalties imposed by this act may be recovered with costs of action by any person, in his own name, before any justice of the peace in the county where the offense was committed; where the amount does not exceed the jurisdiction of said justice, or when such action shall be brought in the city of New York, before any justice of the district or of the city court of said city; and such penalties may be recovered in the like manner in any court of record in the State, but on recovery by the plaintiff in such case for a sum less than fifty dollars, the plaintiff shall only be entitled to costs to an amount equal to the amount of such recovery. It shall be the duty of any district attorney in this State, and he is hereby required to prosecute or commence actions in the name of the people of this State, for the recovery of the penalties allowed herein, upon receiving proper information thereof, and in all actions brought by such district attorney, one-half of the penalty recovered shall belong to and be paid over to the person or persons giving the information upon which the action is brought, and the other half shall be paid to the treasurer of the county in which said action is brought within thirty days from the time of its collection, and the said one-half shall be placed to the credit of the poor fund of the town or city in which the cause of action arose. All judgments recovered in pursuance of the provisions of this act, with the interest thereon, may be collected and enforced by the same means and in the same manner as a judgment rendered in an action to recover damages for a personal injury. Two or more penalties may be included in the same action.

Sec. 5. The provisions of this act shall not apply to medicated wines, such as are put up and sold for medical purposes only.

Sec. 6. This act shall take effect on September first, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven.