 He was a member of the Playfair committee on British and foreign spirits, and served as president of the Institute of Chemistry from 1888 to 1891.Bell's researches into grape and malt ferments were published in the "Excise Officers' Manual" (1865) and in the "Journal of the Chemical Society" in 1870.Many of his results were written up in "The Analysis and Adulteration of Foods" (3 pts.