ADDRESS. 
203 
Colton. — "  Good  morning,  Mr.  Haswell,  can  I  serve  you  to 
day  ?" 
Haswell  "  A  member  of  my  family  has  been  taken  suddenly 
ill ;  her  physician,  among  other  treatment,  has  prescribed  a 
blister,  and  I  have  come  out  of  my  way,  believing  from  your 
well-earned  reputation  that  we  may  rely  on  your  cerate,  and 
much  depends  on  the  rapid  action  of  the  plaster. 
Qolton. — "  I  have  always  been  careful  in  preparing  this  cerate 
from  good  flies,  and  fortunately,  in  this  instance,  I  have  your 
own  testimony  in  addition,  in  their  favor." 
Haswell,  who  had  till  that  moment  forgotten  the  first  transac- 
tion, quickly  replied,  "  But,  sir  !  are  you  sure  those  flies  were 
active  ?  have  you  tried  them  ?" 
Colton — "  You  said  they  were  when  you  sold  them  to  me." 
Haswell. — "  But,  my  dear  sir,  this  blister  is  for  my  daughter  ! 
Don't  you  understand  me?  for  my  only  daughter  !  Can  I  rely 
upon  it?" 
Colton. — "  For  your  daughter  !  And  so  my  cerate  is  for 
every  other  man's  daughter  who  deals  with  me,  and  who  may 
need  it,  and  who  is  as  dear  to  his  affection  as  yours  is  to  you. 
When  I  purchased  those  flies  from  you,  it  was  your  reiterated 
assurance  of  their  reliability  that  chiefly  induced  me  to  take 
them,  but  now  I  perceive  that  your  language  had  no  real  value, 
and  that  it  was  given  in  the  spirit  of  a  huckster.  I  trust,  sir, 
that  this  incident  will  be  of  use  in  your  future  transactions  ;  and 
for  your  present  comfort  I  may  assure  you  that  your  flies  were 
found  to  be  efficient,  before  they  were  dispensed." 
Haswell  acknowledged  the  justice  of  the  reproof,  and  said, 
that  never  before  had  he  been  properly  impressed  with  the  re- 
sponsibility attached  to  the  wholesale  drug  business. 
I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  say  that  the  drug  market  of  the 
United  States  has  been  favorably  affected  by  the  gradual  opera- 
of  the  drug  law  passed  by  Congress  in  1848,  rendering  all  im- 
ported drugs  and  medicinal  preparations  subject  to  inspection, 
before  passing  the  Custom  house.  At  the  port  of  New  York, 
during  the  period  of  eight  years  that  this  law  was  administered 
by  Dr.  M.  J.  Baily,  the  late  efficient  Examiner,  the  amount  of 
spurious,  adulterated  and  deteriorated  drugs  rejected  and  screened 
out  of  the  market,  was  900,000  lbs.,  which  vast  amount,  but 
for  this  law,  would  have  been  scattered  through  the  country. 
