364       Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association.     { Am  •j£™w$£rm' 
item  was  the  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  Committe'e  on  Adulterations. 
F.  X.  Moerk,  the  chairman,  reported  a  flagrant  substitution  of  sodium  bicar- 
bonate for  borax  ;  the  package  was  a  regular  sodium  bicarbonate  keg,  with  the 
lid  reversed,  on  which  was  marked  100  pounds  powdered  borax,  etc.,  while  on 
the  obverse  side  remained  the  original  brand  of  sodium  bicarbonate.  Two 
samples  of  extract  of  cannabis  indica  showed  8  and  40  per  cent,  of  matter 
insoluble  in  alcohol.  Considerable  of  the  carbolic  acid  of  the  markets  contains 
creosote,  and  the  question  was  asked  by  the  Committee  :  "  Would  it  not  be 
prudent  to  notify  the  jobbers  that  much  of  the  carbolic  acid  on  the  market  does 
not  comply  with  the  U.S. P.  standard,  and  that  the  sale  of  such  acid  is  illegal  ?  " 
The  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Legislation,  Wm.  L.  Cliffe,  had  an  ex- 
tended report  on  the  work  of  the  year.  From  the  experience  gained  in  con- 
nection with  championing  the  celebrated  House  Bill  No.  303,  the  Committee 
is  of  the  opinion  that  all  attempts  to  obtain  a  legislative  enactment  containing 
the  restrictive  features  of  this  bill  would  be  futile,  and  that  if  it  should  receive 
executive  sanction,  it  would  be  reversed  by  courts  of  appeal.  Regarding  the 
phenacetin  question  the  report  stated  :  "  About  the  first  of  the  year  your 
Committee,  influenced  largely  by  the  expressed  opinion  of  the  Association  at 
its  last  meeting,  joined  forces  with  a  committee  engaged  in  raising  funds  for 
the  support  of  the  defence  in  the  case  of  Dickerson  vs.  Maurer,  a  Canadian 
phenacetin  suit  in  Philadelphia.  The  attorneys  engaged  upon  the  case  had 
prepared  a  defence  which  involved  the  continuance  of  the  patent,  and  success- 
ful issue  will  render  it  invalid.  It  devolves  upon  the  defence:  (1)  To  show 
that  the  claim  of  the  patent  is  broad  enough  to  include  many  other  and  differ- 
ent compounds  than  the  phenacetin  furnished  to  the  trade.  (2)  That  in  view 
of  the  prior  publications  antedating  the  patent,  the  process  of  manufacturing 
phenacetin  therein  described,  and  the  product  of  that  process,  do  not  differ 
substantially  from  the  patent  and  patented  product,  the  changes  described 
therein  consisting  merely  in  the  substitution  of  the  well-known  equivalents  in 
one  step  of  the  process.  About  one-half  of  the  necessary  fund  has  been  col- 
lected, and  to  proceed  without  the  necessary  amount  on  hand  or  promised 
would  be  simply  a  waste  of  money  contributed  for  a  specific  purpose.  What 
will  be  done  depends  altogether  upon  the  securing  of  the  needed  funds.  It  is 
apropos  to  state  that  the  strongest  financial  support  of  the  matter  came  from 
those  who  expressed  disapproval  of  the  use  of  Canadian  phenacetin  under 
existing  conditions." 
There  was  considerable  discussion,  particularly  with  the  part  relating  to  the 
phenacetin  legislation.  It  was  moved  that  the  report  relating  to  this  subject 
be  referred  to  a  committee  of  three. 
Other  reports  were  read.  The  report  from  the  Committee  on  Free  Alcohol 
was  received,  and,  in  view  of  present  existing  conditions,  the  committee 
was  discharged.  A  report  was  read  by  Professor  Remington,  representing  the 
American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  relative  to  the  model  pharmacy  law. 
After  considerable  discussion,  the  general  features  of  the  bill,  as  presented 
by  the  Section  on  Pharmaceutical  Education  and  Legislation  of  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association,  were  approved. 
The  delegates  to  the  various  associations  read  their  reports,  viz.:  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association,  by  Jacob  A.  Miller  ;  New  York  State  Pharmaceu- 
tical Association,  by  J.  A.  Redsecker  ;  New  Jersey  Pharmaceutical  Association, 
