BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY. 217 



A great deal of assistance has been given the Post Office Depart- 

 ment in connection with the exclusion from the mails of patent 

 medicines, alleged therapeutic devices, and similar materials, in- 

 volving work on the part of the bureau very similar, so far as lab- 

 oratory operations are concerned, to that carried on in the enforce- 

 ment of the Food and Drugs Act. 



IMPORTED FOODS AND DRUGS. 



During the fall of 1918, and particularly the three or four months 

 following the signing of the armistice, owing in part to embargoes 

 and to the restriction of imports by the War Trade Board, im- 

 ports were rather less in volume than at any other previous period. 

 This was more noticeable in the case of food products than in the 

 case of crude drugs, which have been less restricted and have been 

 shipped from original sources to a greater extent than formerly. 

 Disorganization of trade and of shipping, giving rise to delays, has 

 caused many shipments to arrive in a more or less moldy condi- 

 tion. As a result of this disorganization, goods have been shipped 

 l)efore they were properly cleaned, particularly fennel, anise, cumin, 

 caraway, fenugreek, and ajowan seeds, and thyme, savory, sage, 

 and marjoram leaves, which in most instances have been released 

 after proper cleaning. Goods in part moldy have been released 

 after proper sorting and conditioning when this was practicable. 

 A number of shipments of gmn karaya, a product recently imported 

 in large quantities, have been released after proper cleaning to re- 

 move excess bark or dirt. A chemical method was developed this year 

 for the examination of this gum after grinding and conditioning. 

 Not a few shipments of anise seed have been detained because they 

 were mixed with an appreciable percentage of exhausted seed. In 

 a few instances the poisonous leaves of Conarla myrtifolia have been 

 found in marjoram leaves. Substitution of crude drugs for others 

 better known or for official species has not been uncommon. The 

 following may be noted: Japanese aconite (Aconitum fscheri 

 Reich.) for aconite {Aconitum napeUus L. ; red Jamaica or native 

 Jamaica sarsaparilla (Smilax utilis Hensley) and the common brake 

 (Ptei^is aquiUna L.) for sarsaparilla; IniiJa species and an uniden- 

 tified product from Mexico for arnica flowers {Arnica montana 

 L.); Mexican orizaba root {Ipomoca orizahensis Leden.) for jalap 

 {Exogonium furga Benth.) and for scammony {Convolvulus scam- 

 monia L.) ; Asiatic licorice {Glycyrrhiza uralcnsh Fisch.) for lic- 

 orice; Ballota hirsuta Benth. for horehound {Marrubium vulgare 

 L.) ; Egyptian henbane {Ilyoscyanuis mutlcus L.) for henbane 

 {Hyoscyamus niger L.) ; Arum maculatuin L. for Colchicum avr 

 tiLmnalc L. : Egyptian stramonium {Datura metel L.) for stramon- 

 ium {Datura stramonium L.) ; lonicUum species for ipecac {Ceph- 

 aelis ipecacuanha Rich.). Maracaibo bark was invoiced as cinchona 

 bark, Peruvian bark, and cascarilla bark. 



In other instances official drugs, such as aconite, belladonna, 

 calisaya bark, and hyoscyamus, have been found deficient in alkaloid 

 or active principle. In the case of substitutes or drugs deficient in 

 kctive principle which may have some legitimate use, the bureau has 

 felt that release on relabeling alone would not effectively prevent the 

 goods from filtering into the channels of trade and being sold ulti- 



151352*' 19 15 



