442 ANNUAL KEPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the food and drugs act in that such common and active synthetics 

 as acetanilid and acetphenetidin must be properly declared on the 

 label, so that it becomes apparent at once to the consumer how much 

 of these drugs he is taking at each dose. During the past fiscal year 

 the Synthetic Products Laboratory has examined 252 interstate and 

 12 unollicial samples; 72 of the former were reported as illegal, 

 and 15 notices of judgment dealing with such materials have been 

 issued. The illegal samples included preparations for the treatment 

 of headache, neuralgia, la grippe, rheumatism, and catarrh, and 

 contained among other constituents various synthetics, such as acet- 

 anilid, acetphenetidin, antipj^rin, salicylic acid, salol, heroin, codein, 

 and novocain. Several products, such as soft drinks and Haarlem 

 oil, were subjected to check analysis in this laboratory for the pur- 

 pose of verifying the amounts of cocain, cafi'ein, and methyl salicylate 

 originally reported. 



The investigations inaugurated in 1908 for the purpose of develop- 

 ing methods for estimating the constituents present in headache 

 mixtures were continued during the past year. Very satisfactory 

 results were obtained with the new method for separating acetanilid 

 from acetphenetidin. Sophistication of the latter product with acet- 

 anilid can now be quite accurately determined, both volumetrically 

 and gravimetrically, by means of the iodin addition product of 

 acetphenetidin. A method has also been elaborated for the purpose 

 of separating and estimating antipyrin and caffein in mixtures. The 

 efficacy of these methods w^as clearly shown in the examination of 

 various check and interstate samples. Further work has been accom- 

 plished in the recovery of caffein from certain animal tissues and 

 secretions, particularly the bile. 



COOPERATION WITH POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 



The Division of Drugs has continued to cooperate with the Post- 

 Office Department in its efforts to obtain fraud orders against medic- 

 inal agents represented as cures for various maladies sent or pre- 

 scribed through the mails in violation of the postal laws. To this 

 end the analysis of the samples of medicines used is supplemented by 

 a study of all of the claims and representations made for the treat- 

 ments. The number of remedies in each treatment varied from one 

 to ten. Twenty of these treatments were investigated, eight of which 

 were so-called " cancer cures." One of these consisted essentially 

 of cloth bags containing a mixture of about 98 per cent of sand and 

 clay and 2 per cent of boneblack. It was represented that these 

 " cancer absorbents " would cure cancer completely and permanently 

 by withdrawing or absorbing the " cancer poison " from the system. 

 " Cancer tablets," to " soften and dissolve the growth from the in- 

 side," and " cancer ointments " were also employed in conjunction 

 with them. The tablets were found to consist of 98.4 per cent of 

 sugar of milk, 1.4 per cent of moisture, and a trace of animal char- 

 coal and an excipient ; the ointment was composed of petroleum mixed 

 with oil of tar and a trace of vegetable matter. Another, compris- 

 ing seven remedies, consisted essentially of potassium iodid, and from 

 the evidence presented at the hearing it was clear that, like many 

 other " cures " of this class, it was in reality directed toward the 



