Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ But the only grounds recognized by the statute are inferiority to the standard in purity, quality and fitness for consumption, words repeated over and over again in the act. It cannot be made a rule of law that any tea that has an infinitesimal amount of innocuous coloring matter is inferior in those respects to a standard that has a much greater amount of other impurities and is worth only a quarter as much. All extraneous substances are impurities, and the presence of any may be detected in any way found efficient. ”

“ When the tea is entered at the custom house it is compared with the standards by an examiner and if found equal to them in the above particulars it may be released by the custom house; if found inferior it is to be retained. Section 5 (section 8790) . But either side may protest and have the matter referred to a board of three general appraisers such as the appellants are. If upon a final re-examination by the board 'the tea shall be found inferior in purity, quality and fitness for consumption to the said standards' the tea must be removed from the country within six months. ”

“ A regulation has adopted a test for the discovery of artificial coloring matter which in brief consists in rubbing tea leaves reduced to dust upon semi-glazed paper with a spatula and examining the smear with a lens. ”