428  Editorial.  j  Am  .lour^Pharm. 
i      Aug.,  1881. 
Laws  on  the  Adulteration  of  Food  and  Drugs. — For  a  number 
of  years  past  the  adulteration  of  drugs  and  medicines  was  the  favorite 
theme  of  mnny  essays  and  reports  communicated  to  pharmaceutical  and 
medical  societies  and  published  in  their  proceedings  or  in  the  journals. 
While  it  may  be  conceded  that  the  statements  made  in  those  papers  were 
all  correct,  it  is  evident  that  the  actual  condition  of  our  drug  niarliet  was 
not  represented  thereby.  During  the  last  thirty  years  or  more  a  great 
deal  has  been  accomplished  in  the  United  States  in  the  way  of  diffusing 
pharmaceutical  knowledge,  and  we  believe  it  will  be  generally  conceded 
that,  with  the  spread  of  this  knowledge,  the  quality  of  the  drugs  has  stead- 
ily improved  ;  that  is  to  say,  drugs  are  less  in  demand  because  they  are 
cheap,  but  qualify  is  now  looked  upon  as  the  first  consideration  in  the 
selection  of  drugs. 
The  drug  law  of  June  26,  1848,  has  uiidoubtedl,y  had  the  effect  of  exclud- 
ing a  large  number  of  damaged  and  inferior  drugs  from  the  American 
market,  and  of  preparations  that  were  formerly  manufactured  in  Europe 
for  sale  in  this  country.  It  is  not  our  purpose  to  inquire  whether  the  pro- 
visions of  this  law  have  been  as  effectually  carried  out  as  their  importance 
seemed  to  warrant;  it  is,  however,  notorious  that  the  "  Special  Examiners 
of  Drugs  "  have  not  always  been  men  whose  judgment  as  to  the  condition 
and  quality  of  drugs  could  be  relied  ujoon. 
With  the  at  least  partial  exclusion  of  inferior  and  adulterated  drugs  of 
foreign  origin  the  business  of  the  home  adulterator  was  not  reached  ;  but 
It  was  in  this  connection  that  the  essays  and  reports  referred  to  above  have 
accomplished  much  good,  in  exposing  the  nefarious  practice  and  thus 
materially  reducing  or  stopping  altogether  the  sale  of  the  adulterated  arti- 
cles. In  most  cases  the  adulterator  is  amenable  to  the  law  only  for  the 
damage  done  or  for  the  amount  paid  for  the  goods  ;  in  exceptional  cases, 
perhaps,  criminal  proceedings  for  obtaining  money  under  false  pretences 
might  be  maintained  ;  but,  on  the  whole,  little  has  been  done  by  legal 
enactments  to  stamp  adulterations  as  frauds  in-actised  upon  the  public  and 
to  enforce  a  tine  commensurate  with  the  fraud. 
That  there  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of  framing  a  law  which  would 
protect  the  public,  and  at  the  same  time  not  throw  unnecessary  impedi- 
ments in  the  way  of  legitimate  pursuits,  cannot  be  denied;  whether  the 
law  proposed  last  year  by  the  National  Board  of  Trade  will  accomplish 
these  objects  remains  to  be  seen.  It  has  been  passed  and  approved  in  the 
States  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  we  may  soon  expect  to  hear 
more  of  it  and  the  manner  in  which  it  will  be  enforced. 
The  law  forbids  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  adulterated  "food  and 
drugs,"  the  former  to  include  every  article  used  for  food  or  drink  by  man, 
the  latter  to  embrace  all  medicines  for  internal  or  external  use.  Articles 
are  deemed  to  be  adulterated 
"  «.  In  the  case  of  drugs. 
1.  If,  when  sold  under  or  by  a  name  recognized  in  the  United  States 
Pharmacopoeia,  it  differs  from  the  standard  of  strength,  quality  or  purity 
laid  down  therein. 
"2.  If,  when  sold  under  or  by  a  name  not  recognized  in  the  United 
States  Pharmacopoeia,  but  which  is  found  in  some  other  pharmacopoeia  or 
