138 
Recent  Drug  Adulterations. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      March,  1902. 
cists  will  well  remember  the  intractable  character  of  the  American 
imitations  of  that  former  day  and  the  vexatious  attempts  to  bring 
it  into  pulverized  accord  with  accompanying  components  of  pre- 
scriptions. With  the  successful  completion  of  Professor  Scheffer's 
labors  and  determining  experiments,  he  gave  to  the  world,  in 
pamphlet  form,  a  clear  and  comprehensive  resume  of  all  the  various 
steps  of  process  of  preparation,  a  minute  description  of  the  proper- 
ties of  pepsin,  its  behavior  to  other  substances,  its  assimilation,  and 
its  antagonistic  associations.  For  this  most  unselfish,  generous,  and 
liberal  spirit  the  victims  of  pain  and  suffering  everywhere,  the 
votaries  of  science,  the  medical  profession,  and  the  exponents  of 
pharmaceutical  research  have  incurred  a  debt  of  unrequitable  grati- 
tude, and  owe  that  fullest  meed  of  honor  and  praise  that  is  ever  the  trib- 
ute of  sincere  appreciation.  By  this  act  Professor  Scheffer  bestowed 
upon  commercial  enterprise,  without  reward,  an  article  of  manufac- 
ture, which  not  only  amply  enriched  those  who  appropriated  it,  but 
which  added  wealth  to  the  material  productions  of  our  country. 
Alas !  there  are  but  few  to  be  found  now  of  that  nobler  mold  of 
mind  and  spirit  which  actuated  this  man.  The  demon  of  individual 
grasp  and  greed,  the  clutch  for  self-gain,  now  suppress  all  higher 
instinct,  and  make  of  the  discoverable  benefactions  to  mankind  a 
secret  of  trade,  to  be  accorded  to  general  use  only  when  some  selfish 
desire  for  pecuniary  benefit  is  amply  recompensed. 
Professor  Scheffer  labored  in  the  ranks  of  pharmacy,  with  which 
pursuit  he  was  immediately  identified.  Let  the  honor  due  his  labors 
be  felt  and  appreciated  by  his  confreres,  and  let  his  name  be  enrolled 
on  the  scroll  of  benefactors  of  mankind. 
SOME  RECENT  DRUG  ADULTERATIONS. 
By  Lyman  F.  Kebi^er. 
According  to  the  First  Annual  Report  of  the  New  York  State 
Board  of  Pharmacy  to  the  Governor,  3,390  medicinal  remedies  were 
examined,  and  of  this  number  2,637  were  adulterated,  or  not  up  to 
the  required  standard.  These  drugs  were  purchased  from  all  sec- 
tions of  New  York  State — Eastern,  Middle  and  Western — and  that 
over  77  per  cent  of  such  a  collection  should  be  of  inferior  quality  is 
hardly  creditable.  The  writer  has  kept  watch  of  the  wholesale 
trade  in  Philadelphia  for  the  past  six  months,  and  finds  that  his 
