ADULTERATED DRIKJS AND CHEMICALS. 



I INFERIOR DRIT.S AM) INSIDIOUS METHODS OF 



DECEPTION. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The adulteration of medicinal remedies is brought to our attention 

 from time to time, and it will probably not be denied by many that 

 the basic facts as given to the public are, in the main, correct; but 

 frequently the worst possible interpretation is given them. There are, 

 undoubtedly, members of the pharmaceutical profession whose sense 

 of honor is so distorted by rapacity and greed that they unconsciously, 

 if not deliberately, drift into mendaciousness. These are the men 

 who usually bring the craft into ill repute. Some of the excuses 

 given by these dealers, when informed concerning the shortcomings 

 of their goods, are both interesting and instructive. For example, 

 they contend that it would not be safe to supply their customers with 

 laudanum of full pharmacopoeia I strength, having in former days used 

 a weaker preparation. Then again, some articles must be modified to 

 suit the tastes of the public, for example, by imparting a certain color 

 to a given preparation. Most of these excuses must be taken cum 

 grano salis, but there are undoubtedly adulterations of long standing, 

 such as " limed nutmegs," "bleached ginger," etc., that should be 

 leniently dealt with at present, for it is well known that according to 

 certain ancient methods of curing still practiced the kernels of nut- 

 megs and the rhizomes of ginger are treated with lime to ward off the 

 ravages of insects. Every possible effort should be made to have 

 goods of this character labeled so as not to mislead the consumer. The 

 great difficulty in making any concession whatever is that it might be 

 construed as excusing the dealer's actions and thus embolden him in 

 his insidious sophistry. 



When the physician is called to guide a patient through an illness 

 his therapeutic knowledge is generally called into pla} T , and he pre- 

 scribes for the sufferer on the basis of pure drugs. If he is deceived 

 in the quality of the agents delivered and administered, abnormal 

 symptoms may arise for which the doctor is unable to account, and 

 consequently he is placed in a very embarrassing position. As can 

 readily be seen, most disastrous results may ensue, for which the 



