354       Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association.  {Amju°iy^S?rm' 
array  of  facts  for  the  judicial  action  of  the  lawyers,  it  was  decided  to  call  in  a 
chemical  expert,  and  Prof.  Samuel  P.  Sadtler  was  selected  on  account  of  his 
familiarity  with  the  subject.  His  report  is  a  clear  and  comprehensive  chronol- 
ogy of  the  nitro-phenols  and  their  derivations  which  yield  phenacetin  and  its 
congeners.  His  report  was  then  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  law  firm  of  Fraley 
&  Paul,  of  Philadelphia,  who  reported  upon  it  to  your  committee.  A  copy  of 
both  reports  in  printed  form  is  hereby  appended.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
cases  involved  in  this  cause  are  still  going  through  the  various  legal  steps  to- 
wards a  definite  judicial  decision,  it  makes  ex  parti  comment  unnecessary  at 
this  juncture. 
"  Revision  of  Trade-Mark  and  Patent  Laws. — At  a  meeting  in  New  York, 
on  November  21,  1898,  of  the  Commission  *  appointed  by  President  McKinley 
for  the  purpose  of  reviewing  the  patent  and  trade-mark  laws  and  reporting  to 
Congress  the  changes  deemed  necessary,  your  Chairman  was  invited  to  be 
present. 
"The  argument  by  him  was  that  the  present  laws  admitted  the  raiding  of  the 
pockets  of  the  people  of  these  United  States  by  foreign  chemical  manufacturers 
of  immense  sums,  and  figures  were  submitted  showing  the  difference  1'n  prices 
of  the  same  substances  of  identical  sources  of  manufacture  in  Canada,  Germany 
and  the  United  States. 
"  The  opposition  to  these  views  was  represented  by  Mr.  Dickerson,  of  New 
York,  whose  argument  clearly  showed  that  he  was  unfamiliar  with  the  broad 
principles  of  equity  and  justice  to  the  people  of  this  country,  upon  which  the 
opposition  by  pharmacists  generally  to  the  existing  order  of  things  is  based. 
A  short  quotation  from  the  printed  brief  shows  clearly  the  spirit  which  per- 
meates every  line  of  it  ;  it  is  the  sum  of  his  argument:  '  The  shallows  murmur 
while  the  deeps  are  dumb.'  '  It  is  not  the  strong  and  responsible  houses  or 
associations  that  are  so  anxious  to  have  the  law  changed,  but  it  is,  as  a  rule, 
the  cut-rate  man,  the  man  who  sells  adulterated  drugs,  the  man  who  cares  not 
for  the  purity  of  his  chemicals.'  The  absurdity  of  this  is  apparent  on  its  face, 
as  the  very  man  described  by  Mr.  Dickerson  is  reaping  a  harvest  from  the  sale 
of  Canadian  or  German  phenacetin  at  United  States  prices,  and  the  '  strong 
and  responsible  houses  and  associations '  hesitate  about  committing  any  act 
which  can  be  construed  as  wrong-doing.  It  is  thus  pretty  clearly  indicated  why 
the  1  strong  and  responsible  houses  and  associations  '  want  to  see  this  question 
settled. 
"  House  Bill  No.  ijj. — On  February  16th,  of  this  year,  there  was  introduced 
into  the  House  of  Representatives  a  bill,  the  title  of  which  was  :  'An  act  to 
regulate  the  sale  and  use  of  opium,  its  derivations  and  all  preparations  of  which 
opium  or  any  of  its  alkaloids  is  a  constituent  part ;  cocaine  or  any  preparation 
thereof,  and  to  prevent  the  injurious  use  of  the  same.'  A  similar  bill  was 
introduced  into  the  Senate  at  the  same  date.  The  bill  was  drawn  by  a  lawyer, 
of  York,  Pa.,  for  a  law  and  order  society  in  that  place.  According  to  their 
story,  a  most  deplorable  condition  of  affairs  existed  in  that  hitherto  virtuous 
town  ;  boys  in  knickerbockers  were  rapidly  becoming  addicted  to  the  hypo- 
dermic injection  of  morphine  and  cocaine  ;  it  was  a  sort  of  mania  that  had 
become  fixed.    Your  committee,  with  the  aid  of  the  officers  of  the  Association, 
*  Francis  Forbes,  A.  P.  Greely,  Judge  Peter  Grosscup. 
