ic power of vinegar, whose sale frequently depends greatly
upon a fine lively green colour; and the consumption of which, by
sea-faring people in particular, is prodigious, are sometimes
intentionally coloured by means of copper. Gerkins, French beans,
samphires, the green pods of capsicum, and many other pickled vegetable
substances, oftener than is perhaps expected, are met with impregnated
with this metal. Numerous fatal consequences are known to have ensued
from the use of these stimulants of the palate, to which the fresh and
pleasing hue has been imparted according to the deadly _formulae_ laid
down in some modern cookery books, such as boiling the pickles with
half-pence, or suffering them to stand for a considerable period in
brazen vessels.

Dr. Percival[106] has given an account of "a young lady who amused
herself, while her hair was dressing, with eating samphire pickles
impregnated with copper. She soon complained of pain in the stomach;
and, in five days, vomiting commenced, which was incessant for two days.
After this, her stomach became prodigiously distended; and, in nine days
after eating the pickles, death relieved her from her suffering."

Among many recipes which modern authors of cookery books have given for
imparting a green colour to pickles, the following are particularly
deserving of censure; and it is to be hoped that they will be suppressed
in future editions of the works.

"_To Pickle Gerkins._[107]--"Boil the vinegar in a bell-metal or copper
pot; pour it boiling hot on your cucumbers."

"_To make greening._[108]--"Take a bit of verdigris, the bigness of a
hazel-nut, finely powdered; half-a-pint of distilled vinegar, and a bit
of alum powder, with a little bay salt. Put all in a bottle, shake it,
and let it stand till clear. Put a small tea-spoonful into codlings, or
whatever you wish to green."

Mrs. E. Raffald[109] directs, "to render pickles green, boil them with
halfpence, or allow them to stand for twenty-four hours in copper or
brass pans."

To detect the presence of copper, it is only necessary to mince the
pickles, and to pour liquid ammonia, diluted with an equal bulk of
water, over them in a stopped phial: if the pickles contain the minutest
quantity of copper, the ammonia assumes a blue colour.

FOOTNOTES:

[106] Medical Transactions, vol. iv. p. 80.

[107] The Ladies' Library, vol. ii. p. 203.

[108] Modern Cookery, or the English Housewife--2d edition, p. 94.

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