Genre:

Serial, Dialogue, Spoof

Subjects:

Adulteration, Crime, Commerce, Analytical Chemistry

    Introduces a series of dialogues composed 'with the aid of the Ingenious Doctor of Medicine, Arthur Hill Hassall'. The first dialogue features 'Mr. Rancid, the Butterman', 'Patts, his Apprentice', and 'Scrape, the Boy', and describes the education of Patts by Mr Rancid in adulteration techniques. Having heard Patts give a satisfactory definition of butter, Rancid urges that 'it is needful to make, out of a pound of the original article, as much more than a pound as we can', and proceeds to explain how to adulterate butter with such substances as water, salt, and starch.