Burlington Free Press

Danger in our Jars.—The Analytical Commissions of the Times have been dipping their fingers lately into the preserve-pots of the metropolis, and “Oh! the jam such!” must, we fancy, be the exclamation of everybody who reads their report. For among other pleasant discoveries, we find it stated:

That the raspberry jam analyzed contained a very considerable quantity of copper. That the four samples of gooseberry jam examined all contained copper. That cider, and some orange marmalade analyzed. That the nine samples of greengage jam were all more or less impregnated with copper, it being present in considerable quantity in five of the samples. That the greengages contained in three different boxes of crystallized fruits owed their deep green color to the presence of copper. That the limes and greengages preserved in jelly also owed their brilliant color to a salt of copper.—That copper was detected in no less than 33 of the 35 samples of different preserves analyzed, three contained traces only, in 11 the metal was present in small quantity, and in 19, either inconsiderable, or even very large amount.

Preserve us from preserves, say we, in future!—Even as it is our introspection makes us anything but comfortable, and we tremble to think of how many internal coats of copper we may incautiously have given ourselves. In our fondness for the jam, we fear indeed we have been playing “old gooseberry” with our constitution; and we should be certainly making very decided gooseberry fools of ourselves if we were any longer to partake of it.

Before the Lancet's searching fingers,

Had found the jellies art's deep dyes,

that fruit, we confess, was a continued weakness of ours: but the “little glass jar, which was analyzed as above, has proved quite a jar of electricity to us, such a shock has it imparted to our nervous system. Nor have we any longer an appetite for crystallized greengages; for, knowing now to what they owe their color, we should be “deep green” ourselves if we ventured any more to taste them.

With the above appalling facts before them we would seriously recommend any of our readers who may have a “sweet tooth” in their heads, to go immediately to the dentist's, and have it out. There is no telling how soon it may eat them into danger.—Punch.