470  American  Pharmaceutical  Association^    { ^ptember^Sa?' ' 
ciently  exact,  I  would  like  to  ask,  how  many  pharmacists  test  their  liquor  purchases  to  see  if 
they  answer  the  requirements  of  the  Pharmacopoeia?  Furthermore,  of  what  benefit  is  the 
Standard  to  us,  when  the  price  we  have  to  pay  for  it  is  the  levelling  of  the  profession  of  phar- 
macy, in  the  eyes  of  the  Government  and  of  the  public,  to  that  of  the  saloon-keeper  ?  The 
price  is  too  great  to  compensate  for  any  imaginary  or  even  possible  or  probable  advantage. 
I  have  only  touched  upon  one  phase  of  the  question.  The  therapeutical  aspect  is  one  out- 
side of  our  province. 
Another  important  question  which  we  should  take  up  is  that  of  patented  medicinal  com- 
pounds. During  the  past  ten  or  twelve  years  a  number  of  organic  compounds,  principally  of 
German  origin,  have  been  patented  and  introduced  into  this  country.  One  peculiarity  of 
these  goods  is  the  very  high  price  charged  here  in  comparison  with  that  ruling  elsewhere.  I 
give  a  comparative  statement  of  prices  which  obtain  in  the  United  States  and  Canada: 
U.  S.  A.  Canada. 
Phenacetiue  $i.oc  $°-35 
Sulphonal  1.35  .30 
Trional  1.50  1.00 
Chloralamid  90  .35 
Antipyrine   1.40  1.10 
Now,  why  should  the  people  of  the  United  States  be  compelled  to  pay  such  exorbitant 
rates  as  are  shown  here  ?  It  is  simply  due  to  the  patent  laws  of  this  country,  which  allow 
a  patentee  to  cover  everything  within  his  reach.  Patent  laws  are  avowedly  designed  for  the 
encouragement  of  inventive  genius,  by  guaranteeing  to  an  inventor  an  adequate  return  for  the 
trouble  and  study  required  for  the  invention  of  new  appliances,  new  methods,  etc.,  and  it  is 
as  much  to  the  United  States  patent  laws  as  to  any  other  cause  that  this  country  owes  its 
proud  pre-eminence  in  the  manufacturing  world. 
In  the  matter  now  under  consideration,  I  venture  to  say  that  such  a  contingency  was  never 
foreseen  by  the  framers  of  the  law.  Nor  do  I  think  it  was  ever  intended  that  the  law  should  have 
any  such  results  as  have  come  from  its  application  to  the  invention  or  discovery  of  new  remedial 
agents.  One  of  the  objects  of  the  law  was  the  encouragement  of  inventive  genius.  Has  it 
operated  in  this  case  ?  No.  For  not  a  single  new  synthetic  compound  has  been  discovered 
and  brought  to  completion  in  this  country  since  the  flood  of  synthetics  first  began  to  pour  into 
the  United  States.  The  only  result  has  been  the  enriching  of  the  few  at  the  cost  of  the  whole 
country,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  American  people  have  been  paying  foreigners  millions 
annually  for  taking  advantage  of  the  privileges  granted  by  the  Uuited  States  patent  laws. 
IyOoked  at  in  any  light,  except  in  that  of  the  German  patentee  and  his  American  represen- 
tative, this  position  of  affairs  is  intolerable  ;  audit  is  for  us  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  legisla- 
tors of  this  country  to  the  gross  iniquity  perpetrated  upon  the  sick.  Germany  is  the  home  of 
these  preparations,  but  an  examination  of  the  German  patent  laws  shows  that  such  prepara- 
tions as  those  we  speak  of  cannot  be  patented.    The  patent  law  of  April  7,  1891,  says  : 
"  Discoveries  of  food-stuff  or  medicinal  preparations,  or  bodies  which  maybe  prepared  by  a 
chemical  method,  cannot  be  patented,  but  that  the  method  of  preparation  of  these  objects 
may  be." 
Now,  if  German  manufacturers  cannot  patent  their  products  in  their  own  country,  why 
should  they  be  allowed  to  do  so  in  this  ? 
Turning  to  France,  we  find  the  law  of  July  5,  1844,  which  is  still  in  force,  says  : 
"  May  not  be  patented  :  first,  pharmaceutical  compounds  or  remedies  of  every  sort,  these 
articles  remaining  subject  to  the  special  laws  and  regulations  on  this  subject,  and  particularly 
to  the  law  of  August  18,  1810,  relative  to  secret  remedies." 
Again  we  find  in  a  recent  report  of  the  commission  appointed  by  the  French  Minister  of 
Public  Instruction,  to  prepare  a  new  Pharmacy  Act,  that  they  propose  the  following  clause  to 
be  added  to  Article  9,  which  sets  out  that  none  but  pharmacists  shall  sell  remedies,  either  com- 
pound or  simple,  used  in  human  or  veterinary  medicines. 
"  These  remedies  and  their  method  of  preparation  cannot  be  made  the  subjects  of  a  patent. 
Their  scientific  or  commercial  names  fall  into  the  public  domain,  and  cannot  become  private 
property,  nor  constitute  in  themselves  a  trade-mark.    Secret  remedies  remain  prohibited." 
These  quotations  require  no  comment. 
If  the  patentees  of  these  remedies  were  satisfied  with  a  reasonable  profit,  we  might  not 
complain.  It  may  be  claimed  that  the  great  expense  of  advertising  and  introducing  these 
preparations  necessitates  high  prices  ;  but  does  it  cost  more  to  advertise  these  goods  in  this 
country  than  it  does  in  Germany  or  England  or  Canada,  where  the  prices  are  so  much  lower  ? 
