Four letters of different sizes, bound in depending on size at varying places along the height of the text-block. The first letter, stamped "Inland Revenue May 11 52", is from John Wood to Lindley, asking him to assist the government's investigation. The second letter, stamped on the 18th, is from Wood, discussing the requirements of the investigation. The third letter, dated from Liverpool 2 June 1852, signed Humphreys and addressed to George Phillips, discusses the case of a particular dealer. The final letter, again from Wood (and copied to Hooker), stamped "April 4 53", presents the reports to Lindley.
From 1851 to 1854, the medical journal The Lancet convened an Analytical Sanitary Commission to investigate the problem of adulteration of food. The adulteration of coffee by admixture of chicory was one of the issues addressed; Arthur Hill Hassall, with the assistance of Henry Letheby, conducted analyses of various commercial products, and the results were published in The Lancet. John Lindley, Sir William Jackson Hooker, William Benjamin Carpenter, and others were asked to carry out independent tests, and their reports are bound in this volume of the Botanical Tracts.
Copyright
Letters from John Wood (Inland Revenue): UK Government
Letter from Humphreys: Orphan Work
Credit Line
RHS Lindley Collections
Usage terms
Letters from John Wood (Inland Revenue): Open Government License 3.0
Letter from Humphreys: Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)