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Publisher: Bailliere, Tindall & Cox, 1901.
Hard Cover, 125 pages, 6.00 x 8.75.
Item #1427
Here is a book for lovers of the macabre. In the summer of 1900, an epidemic of arsenic poisoning swept through Manchester, England. Beer from several area breweries was quickly identified as the culprit. This rare book was published the following year by the medical investigators who worked the case. The authors chronicle the circumstances of the epidemic, which afflicted thousands and killed many. Though largely a medical book (complete with unappetizing photos of the sick), the volume goes into great detail about the cause of the beer's arsenic contamination. Test results of beer samples and raw ingredients, as well as descriptions of the methodologies of testing, unravel the mystery. The investigators concluded that an inferior glucose laced with arsenic had been used by brewers as a malt adjunct, thus creating the calamity. Talk about quality control!
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