FOUR HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR FOR ICE CREAM.

A correspondent of one of the Philadelphia papers. according to Commerce and Finance, furnishes the following interesting facts in relation to the great American delicacy-ice cream:

"Many persons think that Dolly Madison invented ice cream, but Thyra Samter Winslow declares Dolly Madison was merely the first person to serve it in America. This was at a White House reception. The guests liked ice cream so well that they asked how it was made, and from this small beginning the ice-cream business has grown until, according to a creamery expert who has followed the development of the business in America, the American people last year consumed 250,000,000 gallons, which, figured at 80 cents a gallon, means a business of $200,000,000.

"The first ice cream was made by a London confectioner named Gunton, and from him others learned to make it, and it was introduced to America by Dolly Madison. But his methods of freezing were crude and uncertain. It remained for Nancy Johnson, the wife of an American naval officer, to invent the ice-cream freezer.

"To-day the ice-cream business has outgrown the small freezer. Vast quantities are frozen by special machinery. The industry has become so great that fortunes have been made out of it. And every year it increases.

"During the last ten years the consumption of ice cream in the United States doubled. In the northeastern States there has been a steady growth for many years. The southern and western States like ice cream, especially in the summer, but in the northeastern States it has become a winter as well as a summer dish, although of course much more is consumed in the summer.

"When ice cream became the national dish the manufacturers demanded better dairy products, and they have done much in the campaign for clean milk. The rise of the industry also created a large demand for flavorings, soda-fountain equipment, etc., and it introduced a new and profitable feature into the drug business. It is estimated that the average consumption in the United States is 60 dishes a year for each person."

Accepting the creamery expert's figures as correct it is possible to get a fair idea of the retailer's profit in ice cream. The expert puts ice cream at 80 cents a gallon. That presumably is the average price at which large manufacturers sell it. There are 24 good sized "plates" of ice cream to the gallon. That is 3 1-3 cents per plate. The people pay from 5 cents to 25 or 35 cents a dish for cream, according to its quality and the place where it is purchased. The average price probably is not less than 7 cents.

That would mean an expenditure in America of more than $400,000,000 a year for ice cream.

Lime juice

11⁄2 fluidounces. 1 fluidounce. 4 fluidounce.

Egg

Prepare and serve the same as any egg drink.

..one.

EIGHT-CENT ICE-CREAM SODAS.

In the section of New Jersey known as North Hudson the majority of the confectioners have decided to sell ice-cream sodas and the dishes of ice cream hitherto sold at five cents for eight cents.

Curiously enough, the movement was initiated by a local newspaper, the Hudson Dispatch, when it commented editorially on the question of prices of commodities, and suggested that a good ice-cream soda could not be sold profitably for five cents, and that ten cents should be the price.

The paper also stated that rather than submit to icecream soda being reduced in quality to meet the increasing costs of materials, the public should be willing to pay the additional cost, or do without a soda which could not be of the proper standard. Acting on this suggestion, the matter was compromised and the eightcent soda is the result.

Some of the confectioners advocated smaller-sized glasses at the five-cent rate, but it was pointed out that the average fountain pump is adapted to the twelve ounce glass, and that the only reduction would be in the amount of charged water dispensed, and the cost of this is the least item to be considered, while on the other hand, the soda would be too sweet, and would be entirely unpalatable. It could be seen by this argument that more would be lost than gained by cutting the size of the glass, for a good soda must have the proper proportions, and even if some trade strays on account of the advanced price, it would be compensated for, as the soda as now dispensed is unprofitable.

Though some trouble is anticipated in getting the thing started, it is hoped that it will work out all right in the end.-International Confectioner.

QUERIES

Information is given in this department under the following conditions only: (1) No queries are answered by mail; (2) queries must reach us before the 15th of the month to be answered in the BULLETIN of the month following: (3) inquirers must in every instance be regular subscribers; and (4) names and addresses must be affixed to all communications.

Removing Tattoo Marks and Making Aromatic
Castor Oil.

F. B. K. asks: "Will you tell me how to remove tattoo marks and also how to make aromatic castor oil?" Tattoo marks are said to be removed by the application of a paste of salicylic acid and glycerin. A compress is applied over the paste, and the whole secured with sticking plaster. After about eight days the paste is taken off, the dead skin removed, and the application of the paste repeated (as a rule, three times).

Applications of cotton wadding, soaked in chloroform, and kept in place by means of a bandage, have also been recommended.

Henley's Book of Formulas gives this method, also: Apply a highly concentrated tannin solution on the tattooed places and treat them with the tattooing needle as the tattooer does. Next vigorously rub the places with a lunar caustic stick and allow the silver nitrate to act for some time, until the tattooed portions have turned entirely black. Then take off by dabbing. At first a silver tannate forms on the upper layers of the skin, which dyes the tattooing black; with slight symptoms of inflammation a scurf ensues, which comes off after fourteen to sixteen days, leaving behind a reddish scar. The latter assumes the natural color of the skin after some time. The process is said to have given good results.

Since these methods are borrowed from the literature, we are in no way responsible for any untoward results following their use.

Here is a formula which is said to mask effectively the disagrecable taste of castor oil:

C. D. C. asks: "Will you supply me with formulas for making vanilla, chocolate, and fruit ice creams?" Here is a formula for vanilla ice cream recommended by a dispenser of twenty years' experience: Thin cream... .2 gallons, 1 to 2 quarts. Granulated sugar .4 pounds. Tincture of vanilla. .3 ounces. Powdered tragacanth 1⁄2 ounce.

Rub the tragacanth with one-half pound of sugar, then mix with the remainder of the sugar and dissolve the mixture in the cream. If desired, the tragacanth may be omitted, although its inclusion results in a smoother product. The vanilla should be added after the cream has begun to solidify. This formula produces about five gallons of finished product.

According to a leading ice-cream manufacturer a single mix should supply the primary foundation for all plain and fancy ice-cream products. After plain vanilla ice cream is frozen in the machine and discharged there from in a soft and mushy condition is the proper time to change the plain product to a chocolate or fruit flavor.

Directions for making chocolate, strawberry, and fancy flavored ice creams were printed in the June, 1916, BULLETIN, and you can obtain the information by referring to page 250 of that issue.

Camphorated Phenol and Analgesic Ointment.

W. E. E. writes: "Please publish formulas for camphorated phenol and analgesic ointment."

Camphor and crystalline phenol when triturated together form an oily-appearing liquid (camphorated phenol) which does not possess the caustic properties of phenol. Popular preparations of the combination, under various names, consist of mixtures of equal parts of camphor and phenol, or mixtures of three parts of the former with one part of the latter.

The Standard Formulary gives the name "phenolated camphor" to the following:

2. Treat with a solution of potassium cyanide 10 grains, iodine 5 grains, in one fluidounce of water.

3. Moisten with a solution of iodine or potassium iodide, and afterward wash with ammonia.

4. Treat with a strong solution of zinc sulphate, and then touch with a piece of metallic zinc, afterward washing.

5. Treat with a solution of chlorinated lime (either Javelle water or Labarraque's solution).

Alizarine ink stains are said to be removed by treating with a solution of tartaric acid; the older the stain the more concentrated the solution.

Matches.

C. L. K. asks: "What composes the ignition part of matches that is, the top surface or coloring over the head of the match?"

The following is the composition of a match which may be lighted by friction upon any surface whatever, and which is said to possess the advantages of being free from danger and of emitting no unpleasant odor.

The mixture into which the splints are first dipped consists of chlorate of potash, 6 parts; sulphide of antimony, 2 parts; gum, 11⁄2 parts; powdered clay 11⁄2 parts. The inflammable compound consists of chlorate of potash, 2 to 3 parts; amorphous phosphorus, 6 parts; gum, 11⁄2 parts; aniline, 11⁄2 parts.

Directions for making safety matches (lighting only when struck on a specially-prepared surface) were published on page 256 of the BULLETIN for June.

Indelible Ink Stains.

L. C. C. asks: "What will take indelible ink stains out of cloth?"

Indelible inks usually have a silver salt as a base, and for that reason an agent that will remove silver nitrate stains is the proper one to use. We would suggest that you experiment with some of the following:

1. First soak the stained cloth in a solution of common salt, and afterwards wash with ammonia.

The President of Mississippi.

The Mississippi Pharmaceutical Association elected Gus. C. Kendall, of Meridian, president this year. Mr. Kendall is also president of the Meridian Board of Trade.

tilled water contains traces of copper which combines with the sulphuric acid that is sometimes put into cotton to give it a 'cracking,' and so forms copper sulphate from which the bluish color comes. Do you think I am right, or is the coloration due to some other cause?"

It is possible that the color is due to copper from the condenser of the still, but it is very unlikely that it is copper sulphate, as any trace of acid in the cotton would be washed out by the water, and copper sulphate itself would be soluble in water and would not appear on the cotton. It is possible that the copper condenser became corroded and that the traces of copper carbonate or hydrate are being washed off by the water.

We would expect to get the same blue color from filtering the water through paper as through cotton.

Testing Oils.

H. M. H. asks: "Will you please tell me of a simple test that will show whether or not the oils I use are pure and not substitutes or denatured? Could I use a hydrometer, and if so, what kind? Where can I obtain a chart showing the densities of the various oils?"

To supply one simple test that would determine the purity of all oils is hardly possible. However, by following the tests laid down in the United States Pharmacopoeia, Ninth Revision, you will be able to satisfy yourself as to the genuineness of the oils with which you are working. A hydrometer would be of considerable assistance to you in ascertaining the specific gravities of the liquids and, as most oils have gravities of less than 1, a hydrometer for liquids lighter than water is the proper one to use.

Massage Cream.

Y. Bros. Drug Co. writes: "Will you please publish a formula for a massage cream without casein, prepared of alum?"

We are rather at a loss to understand what is meant by a massage cream "without casein, prepared of alum.” In the manufacture of toilet creams alum is used for the purpose of precipitating casein from fresh skimmed milk. Commercial dried casein is not suitable for the preparation of toilet creams, as it imparts to the cream a disagreeable granular feeling.

Perhaps our querist desires a cream of the so-called "greaseless" type, which is ordinarily made from stearic acid. If such is the case, he may find a suitable formula on page 344 of the August issue of the BULLETIN. A formula for a massage cream having a greasy base also appears on the same page.

To Get Rid of Fruit Stains.

J. G. R. writes: "A customer of ours has a white grape stain on her white dress. The stain is lightbrown, and has not yielded to applications of oxalic acid or lemon juice and salt. Can you suggest a simple method for the removal of the stain?"

Try dipping the stained portion of the dress in Javelle water or solution of chlorinated soda, and immediately the stain disappears, wash the dress thoroughly in clear water.