32 POWDERED VEGETABLE DRUGS 



from whom the samples were secured, another sample is taken to the 

 station laboratory, and the third sample is shipped to the Washington 

 check laboratory. The firm may have the sample which was left 

 with them analyzed by an analyst of their own choice. If the find- 

 ings of the station laboratory analysts show that the article was 

 adulterated, this information is forwarded to Washington. If the 

 check analysis carried on in the Washington laboratory confirms the 

 findings of the sub-laboratory, then the firm or dealer is given a 

 preliminary hearing at the station laboratory, before the chief of 

 said laboratory. If the firm or dealer cannot explain satisfactorily 

 why an adulterated article should have been in their possession, said 

 firm is fined, or if the charge is contested, the firm must stand trial 

 before a judge or jury, as defendant may elect. If the firm loses the 

 case, said firm must, as a rule, pay a fine and the cost of the trial. 

 The chief of the laboratory at which the sample was analyzed, the 

 analyst or analysts who examined the sample, and the inspector who 

 took the sample, are usually required to appear as witnesses, in behalf 

 of the government. 



The fact that the work of the inspectors was directed from the 

 Washington office proved unsatisfactory. The clerical and adminis- 

 trative work at the Washington office soon became heavily burdened 

 by the many station laboratories, who were not allowed to act without 

 authorization and direction from Washington. 



With the object of harmonizing and unifying the work of the inspec- 

 tors and the several station laboratories, the United States has been 

 since (1914) divided into three inspection districts, the Eastern, the 

 Central and the Western district, each in charge of a district chief who 

 has immediate supervision of the work of the laboratories, as well as 

 that of the inspectors, in his district. Under this plan, the inspectors 

 and laboratories of each district are independent of the other districts 

 and are directly responsible to the central office at Washington. The 

 district chiefs conduct preliminary hearings and carry on much of the 

 business which was formerly assigned to the central office. However, 

 all of the work done by a district chief is subject to review in Washing- 

 ton; nor can a district chief institute a prosecution, nor order a 

 seizure, without authorization from the central office. 



The district boundaries are as follows. Eastern District. All 

 U. S. territory east of a boundary line extending along the western 

 boundary of Pennsylvania, of Virginia, the westerly boundary projec- 

 tion of West Virginia, of North Carolina, of Georgia, and including 

 all of Florida in the eastern district. Western District. All territory 

 (inclusive of the Philippine Islands) lying west of a boundary line 



