304         CARELESSNESS  IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  DRUGS. 
CARELESSNESS  IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF  DRUGS. 
By  J.  M.  Maisch. 
Careful  pharmacists  will  always  subject  new  lots  of  drugs  to 
the  process  of  garbling.  When  large  quantities  of  different  drugs 
are  dried  at  the  same  time  in  the  drying  closet  or  room,  or  when 
original  packages  are  kept  open  side  by  side  in  the  warehouse  of 
the  wholesale  dealer,  the  drugs  may  become  mixed  to  a  slight 
extent.  These  chances  alone,  aside  from  all  possibilities  of  in- 
tentional admixtures,  render  it  incumbent  upon  the  pharmacist 
to  subject  each  parcel  to  a  rigid  examination,  and  separate  all 
foreign  admixtures,  as  well  as  all  unofficinal  parts  of  officinal 
plants. 
Of  late  years,  .the  quality  of  certain  drugs  has  constantly 
assumed  a  lower  grade.  Alexandria  senna,  which  was  always 
more  or  less  mixed  with  petioles  and  with  leaves  which,  to  a 
casual  observer,  might  pass  for  senna,  has  gradually  become 
adulterated  with  stalks  to  such  an  extent  that,  by  garbling,  fully 
50  per  cent,  may  be  separated,  thus  enhancing  the  price  of  a 
passable  drug  to  double  the  amount  of  the  commercial  article. 
While  it  is  possible  that  some  careless  or  unscrupulous  persons 
may  use  these  impure  leaves,  the  majority  of  pharmacists  proba- 
bly employ  the  East  Indian  or  Tinevelly  senna,  unless  the 
Alexandria  variety  is  particularly  ordered. 
This  is  only  one  instance  ;  but  every  pharmacist  will  remem- 
ber many  others.  If,  in  the  inspection  of  the  imported  drugs  at 
the  ports  of  importation,  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  is 
taken  as  the  guide,  it  is  to  be  wondered  where  the  drug  inspect- 
ors find  the  authority  for  passing  senna  leaves  containing  half 
of  their  weight  of  leaf  stalks  and  branches,  or  how  they  can 
allow  genuine  Russian  rhubarb  manufactured  in  western  Europe 
to  enter  our  ports,  after  the  true  drug  has  been  used  up  for 
years. 
To  a  considerable  extent,  these  evils  arise  from  the  fact  that 
importers  will  limit  the  price  of  drugs  when  ordering  them  by 
letter  from  foreign  countries,  and  dispensing  pharmacists  will 
continue  to  buy  cheap  drugs.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  in  foreign 
drug  markets  drugs  are  frequently  considered  good  enough  for 
the  American  market,  when  no  apothecary  would  dare  to  keep 
