A  octXr,Pi9oa6'm-}        Ihe  Duty  of  the  Pharmacist.  469 
and  his  practical  experience  in  analytical  work,  is  well  qualified  to 
aid  in  the  separation  of  the  wheat  from  the  chaff  in  the  numberless 
preparations  which  will  have  to  be  tried  by  this  rule.  The  claims 
of  manufacturers  are  often  so  ingeniously  worded,  that  one  who  is 
not  familiar  with  the  manner  in  which  organic  chemical  names  are 
capable  of  being  juggled  or  transposed,  may  be  easily  deceived. 
Rule  4  states  that  "  No  article  will  be  admitted  whose  label, 
package  or  circular  accompanying  the  package  contains  the  names 
of  diseases,  in  the  treatment  of  which  the  article  is  indicated.  The 
therapeutic  indications,  properties  and  doses  may  be  stated.  (This 
rule  does  not  apply  to  vaccines  and  antitoxins,  nor  to  advertising  in 
medical  journals,  nor  to  literature  distributed  solely  to  physicians)." 
As  the  physician  frequently  has  no  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
package  as  it  occurs  in  the  trade,  and,  as  has  happened  occasionally, 
that  the  literature  as  sent  to  physicians  does  not  entirely  agree  with 
that  accompanying  the  package,  the  assistance  of  the  pharmacist  in 
correctly  establishing  conformity  with  this  rule  will  be  found  to  be 
indispensable. 
Rule  5  says  that  "  No  article  will  be  admitted  or  retained  about 
which  the  manufacturer  or  his  agents  make  false  or  misleading  state- 
ments regarding  the  country  of  origin,  raw  material  from  which 
made,  method  of  collection  or  preparation." 
The  pharmacist's  familiarity  with  the  origin  of  the  crude  drugs, 
his  knowledge  of  the  variations  and  changes  in  botanical  nomencla- 
ture and  his  acquaintance  with  the  methods  whereby  combinations 
are  effected,  give  him  a  peculiar  advantage  in  assisting  the  correction 
of  errors  or  misstatements  of  this  kind.  As  an  example  of  what  is 
possible  in  this  respect :  the  botanical  name  of  cimicifuga  has  been 
successively  changed  from  Macrotys  racemosa  to  Actaea  racemosa 
and  that  to  the  present  form  of  Cimicifuga  racemosa.  It  would  be 
quite  possible  to  make  a  palatable  preparation  of  cimicifuga  and  ex- 
ploit  it  under  the  obsolete  title  of  Macrotys,  referring  to  it  as  "  an 
indigenous  drug  of  unusual  value  in  the  treatment  of  certain  nervous 
affections  "  and  thus  impose  upon  a  large  proportion  of  medical 
practitioners  who  are  not  aware  of  the  manipulations  to  which 
botanical  nomenclature  may  be  subjected. 
An  example  of  a  misleading  statement  recently  came  under  my 
personal  observation  in  the  case  of  a  cosmetic  cream  which  was 
claimed  to  be  made  from  the  paste  of  the  seeds  of  a  rare  and  won- 
