m  J    Retail  Pharmacist  and  Pure  Drugs. 
January,  1913. 
The  power  of  Congress  is  limited  to  the  custom-house  when  it  presents 
us  foreign  products  in  good  condition.  Once  beyond  the  examiner,  they  are 
opened  to  the  mercy  of  American  ingenuity ;  the  skill  which  evidences  itself 
in  the  production  of  genuine  French  brandies,  wines  and  perfumes  is  not 
slow  to  enter  the  domain  of  medicines,  and  by  the  aid  of  modern  alchemy 
transmute  the  bitterness  of  willow  bark,  and  the  glossy  fibre  of  the  cotton 
boll  into  veritable  quinine  of  Pelletier  and  Caventou.  Legislation  to  meet 
this  evil  in  its  home  aspect,  must  originate  and  be  carried  into  effect  by 
the  authorities  of  each  state ;  adulterating  medicines  must  be  made  a  felony, 
punishable  by  statute,  just  as  any  other  crime  against  the  welfare  of  the 
public  health.  But  amid  the  diversified  interests  striving  for  ascendency 
at  our  legislative  centres,  such  wholesome  sanitary  measures  have  little 
chance  for  a  hearing ;  for  while  even  the  reported  approach  of  a  pestilence 
or  epidemic  will  send  forth  stringent  mandates  crippling  commerce  in  their 
unsparing  application  of  the  laws  of  quarantine,  the  perennial,  ever-present 
evils  that  we  have  pictured  flourish  and  extend,  unheeded  by  the  fathers 
of  the  state. 
Since  the  time  to  which  Professor  Procter  referred  there  has 
been  the  realization  of  what  seemed  to  the  apothecary  of  fifty  years 
ago  an  iridescent  dream.  The  Food  and  Drugs  Act  of  June  30, 
1906,  gave  us  for  the  first  time  a  national  control  over  the  inter- 
state as  well  as  foreign  commerce  in  drugs.  During  the  last  five ' 
years  the  act  has  been  enforced  to  such  an  extent  that  Dr.  Wiley  5 
in  his  report  for  191 1  says  of  the  conditions  in  the  New  York  mar- 
ket :  "  Continued  improvement  in  the  crude  drugs  is  shown.  Only 
a  small  number  of  instances  of  entire  substitution  of  foreign  or  in- 
ferior drugs  is  reported."  There  has  also  been  a  wholesome  in- 
fluence exerted  in  improving  the  quality  of  domestic  drugs. 
The  beneficial  effect  of  the  national  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  supple- 
mented as.  it  is  by  the  drug  laws  of  the  several  states  which  have 
been  framed  after  the  national  act,  can  hardly  be  appreciated  ex- 
cept by  those  who  actually  handle  drugs.  While  of  course  there 
will  continue  to  be  a  certain  amount  of  admixture  or  even  substi- 
tution in  foreign  as  well  as  domestic  drugs,  this  being  due  in  a 
measure  to  the  lack  of  professional  knowledge  and  responsibility 
of  those  who  collect  drugs,  yet  the  whole  commerce  is  being  con- 
trolled by  a  strict  inspection  either  at  the  custom-house  or  of  the 
goods  sold  by  the  large  drug  dealers.  With  the  seizures  that  have 
been  made  of  a  number  of  consignments  of  domestic  drugs  on  the 
5  Wiley,  H.  W.  :  Report  of  the  Chemist  for  191 1.  From  Annual  Reports 
of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 
