REPOET OF THE SECRETARY. 105 



cure for consumption and other diseases. Goods of this nature, put 

 up attractively as a confection and recommended for children's dis- 

 eases, can be indiscriminately sold and be productive of great harm. 

 Vigorous efforts are made to apprehend such products and prohibit 

 their entry as dangerous to health. 



DOMESTIC DRUGS. 



The general character of adulteration is the same in the domestic 

 as in the imported drug products. Especial attention has been 

 given, both in connection with the operations of the Post-Office in 

 obtaining fraud orders and by independent work under the food and 

 drug law, to the proper control of the proprietar}^ and patent medi- 

 cines advertised as cancer, consumption, and epilepsy cures, and the 

 proper labeling of headache remedies, cough sirups, etc., which con- 

 tain habit-forming drugs and are indiscriminately taken by the 

 general public without knowledge of their dangerous properties. 

 Infant remedies containing morphine or codein are a peculiarly 

 flagrant instance of this abuse, while in other cases the materials 

 offered are harmless but ineffective and are sold for much more than 

 their value, constituting merely a fraud. The work on medicated 

 soft drinks has been continued and of the 15 new brands examined 

 this year all were found to contain caffein and 6 showed small amounts 

 of cocain. The indiscriminate use of the latter drug is one of the 

 most insidious of the threatening evils in this line, its illicit sale even 

 among children having been discovered in some localities. 



The educational feature of the work pertaining to the use of rem- 

 edies or beverages containing habit-forming drugs was felt to be so 

 essential in safeguarding the public health that a popular bulletin 

 was issued on the subject and given a wide distribution, awakening 

 the keenest interest in the press and among physicians, as well as 

 among the general public. 



DRUG RESEARCHES. 



Research work on the improvement of methods for the determi- 

 nation of synthetic products such as acetanilid, salicylic acid, anti- 

 pyrin, codein, etc., constitutes an important part of the work, inas- 

 much as it is necessary to verify accurately the amounts declared on 

 the labels of the many remedies in which they appear as the most 

 important constituent. The origin and sophistication of essential 

 oils, such as peppermint and wintergreen, are subjects of an extensive 

 investigation to determine wliothcr different varieties of plants grown 

 under different conditions yield oils varying from the pharmacopoeial 

 standards, and to establish methods for the satisfactory discrimina- 

 tion between the mixtures of substitutes and the genuine articles. 



An extensive investigation of the character of the various glacial 

 phosphoric acids on the market was made, the results showing plainly 



