REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. 209 



under appropriate desifjnations. Amon<^ the importations of this 

 type which have been noted are chamomile lloAvers and valerian root 

 from Japan, as well as of Uyoscyamus mutlcus for the manufacture 

 of the alkaloid hyoscyamine. So-called Bombay or Indian coriander 

 has almost entirely replaced the ordinary article. This coriander 

 appears to be of the official species, but contains somewhat less vola- 

 tile oil than the European variet}^ and several shipments have been 

 detained for this reason. Among the drug adulterations that have 

 been noted may be mentioned the substitution of Inula hrittanica 

 for arnica flowers {Arnica m07itana) ; Solanum nigrum for bella- 

 donna (Atropa heUadonna) ; Xanthiuin strumarium for stramonium 

 {Datura stramoniuin) ; Lippia herlanderi and Origanum vulgare for 

 marjoram {Majorana hortensis) ; Heteropteris paucijiora^ Ipecacu- 

 anha fihrosa^ and lonidhini species for ipecac {Cephaelis ipecacuan- 

 ha) ; Ballota hirsuta for horehound {Marruhlutn vulgare) ; Foenicu- 

 lum jnperitum for fennel {FoeniculuTn vulgare) ; Rheum rhaponticum 

 for rhubarb {Rheum officinale). As much as 20 per cent of the 

 toxic plant TepJirosia apolUnca was found in a shipment of Tinne- 

 velly senna {Cassia an gusfi folia). A fungus growth closely resem- 

 bling the sclerotium known as " ergot " was found in caraway {Carum 

 carvi) and in cumin {Cyminum cuminu?n) . 



From time to time it has been suggested by importers that the 

 Bureau issue announcements of the action taken on detained shipments 

 of foods and drugs in a manner similar to those now required to be 

 issued by law as notices of judgment concerning the outcome of prose- 

 cutions under the domestic sections of the law. This matter w^as dis- 

 cussed at a hearing. It became apparent in the course of the hearing 

 that the information to be of value should be specific and descriptive 

 and that the issuance of such information could not be effected with- 

 out identifying either directly or by implication the importers con- 

 cerned. For this reason and for the further reason that these de- 

 tentions are not a matter of court record, it w^as decided that since 

 the importers have no opportunity ordinarily for investigating the 

 character of the goods before arrival, the reflection which such pub- 

 lications Avould make would not be warranted and the Bureau would 

 not publish a list of special detentions. 



COLLABORATION. 



Collaboration with the Post Office Department led to some notable 

 results during the j^ear. Through the assistance given by the Drug 

 Division a considerable number of fraud orders w^ere issued. Mem- 

 bers of the Drug Division also assisted the officials of the Post Office 

 Department in the trial of a number of cases. In the case of a drug 

 fraud a fine of $30,000 was imposed. This case has paved the way 

 for prosecuting this collaborative work more vigorously against prod- 

 ucts which are subject to the postal laws rather than to the Food and 

 Drugs Act. All in all 81 samples of medicines and drugs sent through 

 the mails have been analyzed for the Post Office Department. 



The laboratories in Washington analyzed during the year 4,190 



samples for other bureaus of the Department of Agriculture; for 



other executive departments and government establishments, 681 



samples were analyzed, as shown in Table II. This total does not 



33382°— AGE 1917 14 



