REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 



Bureau of Chemistry, 

 WasJiington, D. C, September 1, 1911. 



Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith the annual report of 

 the Bureau of Chemistry for the year ending June 30, 1911, together 

 with the plans for the work proposed for the next fiscal year. 

 Respectfully, 



H. W. Wiley, 

 Chief of Bureau. 

 Hon. James Wilson, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



FOOD AND DRUG INSPECTION. 

 GENERAL NATURE AND VOLUME OF THE INSPECTORS* WORK. 



As the initial force in the correction of violations of the food and 

 drugs act of June 30, 1906, the inspectors continued their work of 

 locating and reporting instances of the production and shipment of 

 misbranded or adulterated foods or drugs, and procuring samples of 

 the same for examination. References of this nature, when confirmed 

 by the necessary examinations and analyses, form the bases of puni- 

 tive actions directed against the persons, firms, or corporations who 

 may be responsible for the violations, or cause the institution of libel 

 actions agamst the commodities at fault. The department submitted 

 312 of the latter cases to the appropriate United States district attor- 

 neys, who caused the issuance of summary orders by the proper courts 

 to restrain traffic in the goods. After due trial some of these goods 

 were destroyed and others returned to the claimants upon the sub- 

 mission of satisfactory evidence that they would not be disposed of 

 contrary to law. The scope of inspection work as far as libel actions 

 are concerned was very materially enlarged by a decision of the 

 Supreme Court within the past year. It was held that an interstate 

 shipment made in violation of the law was subject to seizure as long 

 as the product remained in the original, unbroken package, regardless 

 of the extent to which the shipment had entered the commerce of the 

 State by means of intrastate sales subsequent to its deUvery to the 

 original interstate consignee. 



The number of official samples collected during the past fiscal year 

 was approximately 9,500. These were representative of products 

 which had actually been shipped into interstate commerce for distri- 

 bution to the consuming public and were subjected to examination for 



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