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What  is  Rice  Powder? 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1915. 
Bismuth  subnitrate  is  a  chemical  compound  of  a  rather  uncom- 
mon metal  known  as  bismuth.  It  is  frequently  used  in  medicine,  and 
was  formerly  largely  used  as  a  cosmetic  under  the  name  of  pearl 
white,  but  its  use  for  cosmetic  purposes  has  practically  disappeared, 
because  it  turns  black  in  the  presence  of  sulphur  compounds. 
Corn  starch  is  the  well-known  household  article  of  that  name. 
Rice  powder  or  rice  starch  is  really  rice  flour  made  by  grinding 
rice  very  fine  and  sifting  it  through  bolting  cloth.  All  of  these  sub- 
stances are  not  always  present;  some  manufacturers  use  one  for- 
mula and  some  another,  but  I  have  found,  out  of  sixteen  samples 
examined,  all  claiming  to  be  rice  powder,  but  two  which  consisted 
entirely  of  the  genuine  article. 
But  why  does  not  the  Government  or  the  State  take  cognizance 
of  this  condition  of  affairs  under  one  of  the  many  laws  which  pro- 
hibit adulteration?  Because  there  are  no  laws  prohibiting  adultera- 
tion except  in  foods  and  in  drugs.  Rice  powder  sold  for  cosmetic 
purposes  is  not  a  food,  and  unless  some  specific  claims  of  remedial 
properties  are  made  upon  the  label  it  is  not  legally  a  drug — therefore 
it  does  not  fall  within  scope  of  the  enforcement  of  any  of  the  "  Food 
and  Drug  Acts,"  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  neither  do  most  of  the 
toilet  soaps  and  cosmetic  preparations,  which  is  the  reason  for  more 
deception  being  practised  in  this  line  of  articles  than  in  any  other 
at  the  present  time. 
My  attention  was  first  directed  to  the  rice  powder  frauds — for 
frauds  they  undoubtedly  are — a  few  years  ago,  when  one  of  Phila- 
delphia's most  eminent  physicians  encountered  some  difficulty  in 
connection  with  a  diagnosis  he  was  making,  and  in  which  he  felt 
that  the  difficulty  was  due  to  the  use  of  a  face  powder  containing 
something  other  than  the  rice  flour  of  which  the  user  said  it  con- 
sisted. Examination  showed  the  presence  of  zinc  oxide,  talc,  and 
corn  starch,  no  rice  being  present  at  all,  and  further  tests  showed 
the  disturbing  factor  in  the  diagnosis  to  have  been  the  zinc  oxide. 
While  none  of  the  constituents  mentioned  are  ordinarily  harmful, 
the  above  instance  affords  an  example  of  the  disadvantages  some- 
times arising  from  using  a  product  which  is  deceptively  labelled,  as 
this  one  was. 
Some  time  ago  I  read  the  following  paragraph  in  the  Literary 
Digest,  which  had  been  copied  from  School  Science  and  Mathe- 
matics (Chicago,  October)  : 
"  For  several  years  occasional  cases  have  come  under  the  obser- 
