QUALITY AND PURITY OF VEGETABLE DRUGS 35 



chief of the Bureau and to specialists to be appointed by the Bureau 

 from time to time. 



Among the specially appointed experts giving attention to crude 

 drugs were the pharmacognosists, whose duty it was to look after the 

 drugs presented for entry at the main ports (New York, Detroit, San 

 Francisco). These were appointed on the per diem basis, being paid 

 for actual time devoted to drug examination, and were attached to 

 sub-laboratories at port cities. The work done by these experts proved 

 quite unsatisfactory for several reasons. The pay offered was in- 

 sufficient, and being on a per diem basis they could not always be on 

 hand when important work was to be done, nor were they supplied 

 with the equipment to do efficient work. The entire work gradually 

 dwindled and was finally abandoned by resignation of the experts, and 

 such work as is still carried on is now being done by a special pharma- 

 cologist or pharmacognosist, attached to the Washington laboratory. 



In addition to laws governing the quality and purity of foods and 

 drugs, copied after the federal act, many of the states have additional 

 laws, such as cold storage acts, food sanitation acts, etc., all directed 

 toward a better safeguarding of the public health. 



Thus far the Bureau of Chemistry has centered the attention upon 

 food products, and the various state activities authorized to administer 

 the state food and drugs laws have likewise given the major attention 

 to foods. There are several reasons for this. Those who are appointed 

 to direct the work, laboratory, inspectorial and administrative, are, as 

 a rule, comparatively unfamiliar with drugs and medicamenta, and 

 therefore have some hesitation in entering upon the consideration of a 

 subject with which they have little familiarity in the comparative 

 sense. There are indeed inspectors who have much special knowledge 

 of drugs, and also laboratory analysts and other specialists who have 

 special knowledge of methods to be employed in the examination of 

 medicamenta of all kinds, of drug commerce, of drug plant culture, of 

 drug preparation, etc., but these specialists are rarely in a position to 

 direct any of the administrative proceedings in the Bureau. Further- 

 more, foods are undoubtedly of greater importance than drugs and 

 should receive correspondingly more attention and consideration. In 

 some of the states practically no attention is given to drugs, beyond 

 the occasional alcohol percentage determination in a tincture or 

 extract. Very rarely is a drug tested or assayed chemically, and there 

 is no equipment for making physiological assays. Patent and fake 

 remedies are, as a rule, unmolested in every way. For a time the 

 Washington laboratory gave considerable attention to so-called patent 

 and the more important fake remedies. 



