10 
NATIONAL  PHARMACEUTICAL  CONVENTION. 
be  done  cheaply  and  profitably,  and  which  was  largely  sold  as  an 
officinal  preparation — that  many  of  the  persons  who  came  to  our 
cities  to  buy  drugs,  were  not  able  to  judge  of  their  purity,  and 
bought  them  without  asking  any  questions,  save  as  regarded 
price, — and  so  convinced  was  he  of  the  application  of  these  false 
barks  to  these  false  purposes,  that  as  a  protective  measure,  in  his 
opinion,  they  should  be  excluded.  And  also  in  regard  to  English 
and  other  European  rhubarb,  that  the  argument  of  Professor 
Carson  would  not  hold  good,  while  the  markets  were  so  well 
supplied  with  the  Russian  and  Chinese  varieties,  to  which  the 
Banbury,  regarded  as  the  best  of  the  European,  was  so  very  infe- 
rior. Entirely  independent  of  this  argument,  however,  Mr.  Cog- 
geshall  considered  that  European  rhubarb  should  be  excluded,  be- 
cause of  its  peculiar  adaptation  and  general  use  as  an  adulteration, 
owing  to  its  fine  color,  which  enables  the  adulterator  to  improve 
the  appearance  of  the  inferior  Chinese  variety,  and  to  mix  it  with 
the  Russian  article  in  powder  without  depreciating  its  appearance, 
or  as  it  is  done  to  a  great  extent,  substituted  entirely  for  the  true 
article. 
Mr.  Colcord,  of  Boston,  advocated  the  latter  view,  and  hoped 
that  the  resolution  would  not  pass. 
Other  members  of  the  Convention  joined  in  the  debate,  after 
which  the  question  was  taken  on  the  resolution  of  Dr.  Stewart, 
and  it  was  lost. 
As  the  importance  of  the  subject  introduced  by  Dr.  Stewart  was 
fully  appreciated  by  the  Convention,  at  the  same  time  that  no  di- 
rect course  of  action  seemed  proper  for  it  to  pursue,  the  following 
resolution  was  offered  by  Mr.  Smith,  of  Cincinnati,  viz  : 
"  Resolved,  that  the  whole  subject  of  the  inspection  of  drugs 
shall  be  referred  to  a  Committee,  who  shall  be  instructed  to  confer 
with  the  Examiners,  and  endeavor  to  arrive  at  some  practicable 
means  of  fixing  standards  for  imported  drugs." 
The  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  Mr.  Taylor  of 
Philadelphia,  Mr.  Meakim,  of  New  York,  and  Mr.  Burnett, of  Bos- 
ton, were  appointed  by  the  President  to  carry  it  into  effect. 
On  motion  of  Mr.  Procter,  Dr.  Stewart  of  Baltimore  was  added 
to  the  Committee. 
The  Business  Committee  having  signified  their  readiness  to  make 
