EDITORIAL. 
187 
it  becomes  an  important  duty  and  interest  of  the  medical  profession  to  take 
some  thought  and  action  upon  the  execution  of  that  special  law,  which  in 
1848  was  interposed  by  Congress  for  the  protection  of  the  public  and  the 
profession  against  the  "importation  of  adulterated  and  spurious  drugs 
and  medicines."  During  the  month,  commencing  Nov.  20,  and  ending 
Dec.  20,  foreign  drugs  and  chemicals,  to  the  amount  of  half  a  million  of 
dollars,  passed  through  the  New  York  Oustom-House,  all  of  which  are 
used  in  either  food  or  medicine,  and  about  $200,000  of  this  is  used  in 
medicine  alone,  including  some  $80,000  w^orth  of  opium  and  cinchona 
barks,  the  remaining  value  being  made  up  in  some  two  hundred  different 
articles.  All  these  are,  or  should  be,  in  accordance  with  the  law,  sub- 
jected to  a  critical  examination — not  all  by  analysis  or  assay,  because 
that  would  be  impossible  for  any  five  persons  to  accomplish,  whilst  one 
man  only  is  supplied  by  the  law,  and  that  with  neither  office  nor  appara- 
tus— but  by  the  judicious  application  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  drugs 
and  chemicals,  of  their  mode  of  preparation  and  adulteration,  and  of  the 
application  of  the  proper  tests  of  quality  in  equivocal  and  suspected 
cases.  These  facts  are  all  that  will  be  necessary  to  show  the  primary 
and  vital  importance  of  this  law  to  the  medical  profession  and  the  public. 
Yet  it  is  liable  to  become  almost  a  dead  letter  when  the  offices  of  inspec- 
tor are  held  by  incompetent  or  careless  persons  ;  and  still  more  as  the 
commercial  interests  of  importers  generally  are  in  direct  opposition  to  a 
faithful  execution  of  the  law.  A  few  words  upon  each  of  these  conclu- 
sions may  serve  to  place  the  matter  in  its  true  light.  First,  as  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  law.  If  opium,  cinchona  barks,  rhubarb,  ipecacuanha, 
copaiba,  colchicum,  camphor,  chamomile,  aloes,  nux  vomica,  cannabis, 
and  scammony,  not  one  of  which  is  or  can  be  produced  in  this  country, 
are  indiscriminately  admitted  from  abroad,  without  regard  to  character  or 
quality,  the  universal  effect  of  competition  and  trade  upon  all  open  mark- 
ets would  supply  these  articles  of  all  grades  of  value,  and  the  lower  grades 
in  greatest  abundance,  because  in  trade,  price  and  profit  both  take  pre- 
cedence over  quality.  Hence  a  large  proportion  of  the  profession  and 
the  public  must,  from  this  cause,  be  supplied  with  inefficient,  impure,  and 
often  deleterious  drugs.  As  the  profession  of  medicine  and  the  public 
will  probably  continue  to  use  these  articles,  and  have  not  in  themselves 
the  means  or  knowledge  necessary  to  ascertain  their  true  value,  short  of 
their  application  to  human  life  and  human  suffering,  it  becomes  evident 
that  this  law  is  of  primary  and  vital  importance  in  the  true  sense  of  those 
expressions. 
Second.  A  good  law  is  efficient,  even  when  not  fully  carried  into  exe- 
cution, because  its  existence,  as  such,  makes  it  possible  to  carry  it  into 
effect  at  any  time  and  in  any  case.  Thus  those  who  are  timidly  disposed 
to  do  wrong,  are  held  partially  in  check.  But  even  such  persons  have  a 
gradual  tendency,  little  by  little,  to  try  its  force,  until  its  provisions  are 
insidiously  disregarded  and  annulled.  Hence,  although  the  simple  exist- 
ence of  a 'law  of  this  kind  upon  the  statute  books  does  efficient  service  for 
a  time,  it  soon  becomes  almost  a  dead  letter  ;  whilst  through  venality, 
incompetency,  or  carelessness,  it  is  very  liable  to  become  far  worse  than 
useless,  since  it  not  only  does  not  accomplish  the  object  in  either  case, 
but  must  stand  mischievously  in  the  way  of  legitimate  trade  and  com- 
merce. That  the  natural  effect  of  such  a  law  is  adverse  to  the  exclusive- 
ly pecuniary  interests  of  importers,  is  evident  from  the  facts,  that,  unlike 
most  other  classes  of  merchandise,  the  sensible  properties  of  drugs  and 
chemicals  afford  but  little  reliable  information  as  to  their  intrinsic  value  ; 
and  that  hence  inferior  articles  may,with  comparative  ease,  be  either  falsely 
