Am.  Jour.  Pliarm. 
Mar.,  1879 
Adulterations. 
123. 
diluted,  and,  with  sample  No.  1,  the  suspected  article,  a  deep-blue 
color  was  immediately  produced,  proving  the  presence  of  starch,  the 
amount  present  being,  approximately,  25  per  cent.  Five  other  sam- 
ples, judging  from  their  appearance,  solubility  and  behavior  to  the 
test,  I  would  pronounce  very  good  specimens  of  gum  acacia.  A 
seventh  sample  was  much  darker  in  color  than  the  others,  and,  since 
the  reagent  produced  a  reddish-purple  color,  the  presence  of  dextrin 
would  seem  to  be  indicated. 
It  is  high  time  that  some  means  should  be  resorted  to  for  preventing 
the  fraudulent  mixing  and  reducing  of  drugs,  and  I  hope  that  the 
State  Pharmaceutical  Association  will  take  this  matter  in  charge  and 
endeavor  to  have  a  law  passed  prohibiting,  under  severe  penalties,  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  all  adulterated  articles.  In  some  localities,  a 
conscientious  pharmacist  is  hardly  able  to  earn  a  livelihood,  owing  to 
the  mean  and  dishonest  competition  which  surrounds  him.  It  is  natu- 
ral for  people  to  seek  the  cheapest  places  to  make  their  purchases,  and 
this  necessarily  places  the  reputable  apothecary  to  a  great  disadvan- 
tage. Pharmacists  should  endeavor  to  make  the  people  understand 
the  difference  in  goods  of  guaranteed  purity  and  the  opposite,  and  that 
the  latter  is  dear  at  any  price. 
A  few  years  ago,  I  was  offered  a  lot  of  India  senna  leaves  for  5  cts. 
a  pound  ;  at  the  time,  in  small  lots,  it  was  selling  for  25  cts.  The 
price  being  extremely  low,  my  suspicions  were  aroused  and,  upon  close 
examination,  I  found  it  was  considerably  damaged  by  moisture  and  age,, 
and,  in  my  judgment,  unfit  to  be  used  as  a  medicine.  Being  a  little 
inquisitive  as  to  what  became  of  the  large  quantity  which  the  partv 
represented  to  have  on  hand,  I  was  surprised  when  informed  that  not 
only  the  house  which  he  represented,  but  also  another  manufacturer 
were  using  it  in  the  preparation  of  fluid  extract,  and,  as  the  party 
remarked,  "  it  makes  a  very  elegant  extract,"  there  is  no  doubt  but  a 
considerable  quantity  of  old,  damaged  drugs,  instead  of  being  submitted 
to  the  flames  or  thrown  away  as  worthless,  are  consumed  in  the 
manufacture  of  various  galenical  preparations. 
Only  a  short  time  ago,  I  was  informed  by  two  reliable  apothecaries 
that  a  neighboring  druggist  was  dispensing  sulphate  of  quinia,  but 
which  subsequently  turned  out  to  be  cinchonidia,  at  the  rate  of  about 
40  cents  per  drachm.  The  price  of  sulphate  of  quinia  at  the  time 
was  $5.00  per  ounce,  and  that  of  cinchonidia,  80  cents.     For  fifty 
