88 
EDITORIAL. 
the  Drug  Examiner,  whose  course  he  considers  "  honest,  manly  and  con- 
sistent," and  who  has  long  been  unfriendly  to  the  College.  The  following  is 
the  obnoxious  document : 
"The  undersigned  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  Law  in  reference  to  adul- 
terated drugs,  medicines  and  medicinal  preparations,  was  not  designed  to 
exclude  secret  medicines  of  foreign  manufacture,  provided  they  were  made 
by  the  party  and  at  the  place  specified  on  the  label,  and  that  therefore,  if 
the  inspector  believes  that  such  preparations  are  what  they  purport  to  be, 
and  not  spurious,  he  is  bound  to  pass  them. 
"At  the  same  time  we  would  have  it  expressly  understood  that  our  pri- 
vate opinions  are  decidedly  adverse  to  all  secret  medicines,  whether  of  fo- 
reign or  domestic  origin,  and  in  giving  the  above  opinion  we  do  it  entirely 
in  justice  to  our  sense  of  the  intended  meaning  of  the  law,  and  not  from  a 
desire  to  favor  the  introduction  of  such  medicines." 
Now,  it  is  evident  that  the  writer  of  the  article  in  question  does  not  un- 
derstand the  Drug  Law  itself,  nor  is  he  familiar  with  its  working;  and 
under  the  influence  of  excited  feeling  has  endeavored  to  wound  the  charac- 
ter of  men  who  have  been  and  are  consistent  opponents  of  quackery. 
The  facts  of  the  case  are  succinctly  these  :  Mr.  Chailes  D.  Knight,  well 
known  as  the  agent  for  Tilden  &  Co.'s  Extracts,  accepted  the  agency  for 
this  city  of  a  foreign  secret  medicine — agencies  for  which  had  previously 
been  established  in  New  York  and  Boston.  Mr.  K/s  invoice  being  delayed, 
he  had  been  selling  the  medicines  obtained  from  the  N.  York  agent,  for 
sometime,  when  his  own  consignment  arrived  in  port.  On  application  to 
the  Drug  Examiner,  after  some  delay,  he  was  informed  that  the  medicines 
were  not  safe,  that  their  composition  was  not  known,  and  that  therefore  he 
refused  to  pass  them!  Mr.  Knight  applied  to  the  Collector,  who,  not 
clearly  understanding  the  law,  advised  him  to  get  the  opinion  of  phar- 
maceutists as  to  its  construction  and  intentions.  The  object  of  getting  the 
opinion,  on  the  part  of  the  importer,  was  to  prevent  the  delay  of  reference 
to  the  authorities  at  Washington,  and  it  was  given,  as  a  simple  matter  of 
justice,  without  the  slightest  sympathy  for  quackery  as  the  document  itself 
will  show.  The  signers  were  familiar  with  the  law,  they  knew  that  various 
preparations  made  by  secret  formulas  were  constantly  imported  under  its 
sanction,  some  of  which  were  patronized  by  physicians,  and  that  the  very 
medicines  in  question  had  been  passed  months  before  by  the  Inspector  at 
New  York,  who,  perhaps,  of  all  persons  connected  with  the  Law  is  best 
able  to  judge  of  its  intentions,  having  had  so  prominent  an  influence  in  its 
adoption.  (See  Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.,  vol.  XX.,  page  206.)  It  turned  out 
after  all  that  the  matter  was  referred  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who 
reversed  the  judgment  of  the  Examiner. 
Now,  as  to  the  course  pursued  by  the  Inspector,  we  believe  he  exceeded 
his  duty  as  sworn  to  carry  out  the  Law,  and  his  opinion  that  the  medicines 
were  not  safe,  in  the  absence  of  all  attempts  at  analysis,  is,  to  say  the  least 
rather  arrogant.    The  law  is  too  lengthy  to  quote  in  full,  but  may  be  found 
