Am.  Jour.  Pharra.  \ 
November,  1908.  J 
N,  W.  D.  A.  Convention. 
517 
never  been  repealed  and  was  still  in  force  on  importations.  This 
law  prohibits  the  entry  into  the  country  of  all  drugs  inferior  in 
strength  or  purity  to  the  standards  established  by  the  United  States, 
Edinburgh,  London,  French  and  German  Pharmacopoeias  and  Dis- 
pensatories, and  if  its  terms  were  strictly  abided  by  there  would  be 
a  wholesale  rejection  of  drugs  at  all  our  ports.  The  authorities, 
however,  have  interpreted  the  law  with  leniency,  and  importations 
of  drugs  below  standard  have  been  allowed,  particularly  where 
it  could  be  established  that  no  drugs  could  be  had  of  proper  strength. 
It  is  well  known  that  vegetable  drugs,  like  other  vegetable  prod- 
ucts, differ  in  strength  and  quality  from  year  to  year,  depending 
on  conditions  of  soil  and  climate,  and  seasons  have  come,  and  will 
come  again  when  it  will  be  impossible  to  obtain  drugs  of  standard 
strength,  on  reasonable  terms.  The  Committee  on  Standards  and 
Tests,  therefore,  made  the  following  recommendations :  "  That  the 
present  law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  allow  the  importation 
of  drugs  that  differ  from  U.  S.  P.  standards,  when  they  are  plainly 
marked  to  show  their  differences  from  such  standards,  and  under 
a  suitable  guarantee;  that  they  be  used  and  sold  only  for  manufac- 
turing purposes." 
In  passing  this  resolution,  the  committee  had  in  mind  that,  whereas 
it  is  desirable  to  keep  this  country  from  being  a  dumping  ground  of 
drugs  of  inferior  strength,  it  is  an  unnecessary  hardship  that  the 
manufacturer  should  be  prevented  from  using  low-strength-drugs 
for  manufacturing  purposes,  particularly  at  an  off  season  when  the 
cost  of  those  of  full  strength  is  prohibitive.  It  is  also  to  the  advan- 
tage of  the  consumer  that  the  honest  manufacturer  be  allowed  to 
utilize  such  drugs,  since  the  result  is  a  less  expensive  article  to  the 
public. 
Another  point  of  interest  which  the  writer  wishes  to  interject  into 
this  paper,  and  which  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  meeting  in  Atlantic 
City,  but  which,  he  thinks  may  be  of  some  interest  is  this  :  that  the 
government  has  under  favorable  consideration  the  adoption  of  a 
plan  of  inspection  whereby  the  importer  shall  be  allowed  to  accept 
the  shipment  without  awaiting  the  results  of  the  analysis  performed 
by  the  inspecting  officials,  and  that  if  the  article  is  found  to  be 
adulterated  or  below  strength,  further  importations  of  the  same  lot 
are  to  be  prevented.  It  will,  however,  in  this  case,  be  impossible 
to  return  the  shipment  which  in  itself  has  failed  to  pass  the 
requirements. 
