550  Pure  Drugs  and  the  Public  Health.  {^JS^r^it' 
4.  Since  the  use  of  the  term  "papain"  has  given  rise  to  the  con- 
ditions pointed  out  in  this  paper,  we  are  inclined  to  the  view  that 
papain  products  ought  to  be  marketed  as  "dried  pawpaw  juice," 
and  that  only  a  lower  limit  of  digestive  strength  should  be  stated  in 
defining  a  standard  for  it.  A  definition  proposed  upon  this  basis 
might  be  stated  as  follows  :  Dried  pawpaw  juice  is  the  dried  albumin- 
ous exudate  of  the  fruit  of  Carica  Papaya.  L.  (Fam.  Papayacese), 
free  from  starch,  sugars,  and  diluents,  and  contains  a  proteolytic 
enzyme  or  enzymes.  When  assayed  by  the  method  above 12  it 
has  the  power  of  digesting  at  8o°  to  ioo°  C.  not  less  than  40  per  cent, 
of  the  unaltered  egg-white  protein. 
5.  Of  twenty-six  samples  studied,  seven  represented  the  un- 
diluted dried  latex,  fifteen  contained  starch  in  amounts  varying 
from  15  per  cent,  to  58  per  cent.,  while  three  were  diluted  with 
sugar  and  one  with  dextrin.  Four  samples  showed  a  high  digestive 
strength  under  conditions  favorable  for  pepsin  digestion.  On  the 
basis  of  the  standard  proposed  above,  twelve  samples,  or  44  per 
cent.,  have  been  diluted  to  such  an  extent  that  their  digestive  strength 
is  below  a  very  reasonable  requirement. 
Chemical  Research  Laboratory  of  the  Upjohn  Company, 
Kalamazoo,  Mich. 
PURE  DRUGS  AND  THE  PUBLIC  HEALTH.* 
By  Martin  I.  Wilbert. 
Assistant  in  Pharmacology,  Hygienic  Laboratory,  United  States  Public 
Health  Service. 
Food  and  drug  laws  are  generally  recognized  as  being  economic 
measures  designed  to  prevent  dishonest  practices  or  gross  adultera- 
tion and  thereby  secure  to  the  purchaser  an  equitable  return  and  the 
assurance  that  the  food  or  drug  product  purchased  will  be  true  to 
name  or  nature  as  represented  by  the  seller.  The  pure  drug  features 
of  these  laws,  however,  combined  with  the  laws  designed  to  restrict 
the  practice  of  pharmacy  to  specially  trained  and  capable  individuals, 
also  have,  or  should  have,  an  evident  bearing  on  public  health  in  that 
the  purchaser  is  led  to  assume  that  the  licensed  druggist  is  directly 
responsible  for  the  character  and  purity  of  the  drugs  sold. 
12  See  page  545- 
*  Reprinted  from  the  Public  Health  Reports,  vol.  29,  No.  19,  May  8,  1914. 
