AMERICAN  PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATION. 
507 
jured  by  spontaneous  decomposition,  and  a  few  pounds  of  elaterium  and 
lactucarium,  badly  prepared,  we  will  have  the  sum  total  of  all  the  drugs 
rejected. 
Not  having  access  to  the  records  elsewhere,  I  am  unable  to  furnish  any 
comparative  statement  in  regard  to  the  relative  quantity  of  inferior  articles 
offered  here  and  at  other  ports.  To  get  a  fair  statement  of  the  relation  be- 
tween the  drugs  admitted  and  those  rejected,  we  need  the  aggregate  amount 
of  all  that  has  been  brought  into  this  port  since  May,  1853.  Such  state- 
ment, to  be  exactly  accurate,  would  involve  more  labor  than  the  interest 
attached  to  the  question  seems  to  warrant ;  but  I  can  briefly  say,  that  the 
most  important  imports,  not  already  enumerated,  have  been  cream  of  tartar, 
tartaric  acid,  carbonate  and  bi-carbonate  of  soda,  sulphate  and  carbonate 
of  magnesia,  sesqui-carbonate  of  ammonia,  brimstone,  borax,  cape  aloes, 
calcined  magnesia,  cantharidea,  argols  and  liquorice  paste  ;  and  that  the 
aggregate  weight  of  these  and  all  other  drugs  and  medicines,  not  included 
in  the  classes  already  named,  would  be  about  568,624  lbs.,  making  the 
sum  total  imported  1,767,660  lbs.,  and  the  sum  total  rejected,  as  before 
stated,  40,876  lbs. 
There  is  apparently  no  room  for  doubt  in  regard  to  the  necessity  for  the 
Drug  Law,  and  as  little  room  for  doubt  as  to  its  value  in  its  present  form, 
if  properly  and  uniformly  and  universally  applied.  Whether  it  can  be 
made  more  efficient,  or  whether  any  inconvenience  now  imposed  by  it  on 
those  engaged  in  the  drug  business  can  be  remedied,  are  legitimate  sub- 
jects for  discussion.  Only  one  instance  of  apparently  deliberate  evasion  of 
the  law  has  occurred  within  my  knowledge.  This  was  the  work  of  a  mer- 
chant residing  elsewhere,  who  accomplished  his  object  by  sending  his  goods, 
after  being  rejected  here,  to  a  port  in  the  British  Provinces,  from  whence 
they  were  returned  to  one  of  our  Southern  ports,  where  government  has  no 
special  examiner,  and  where  the  party  called  upon  casually  to  do  the  duty 
of  such  examiner  admitted  the  invoice.  This  was  subsequently  identified 
by  a  sample  sent  to  me  to  determine  its  commercial  value,  preliminary  to 
adjusting  the  duties.  In  conclusion,  I  maybe  allowed  to  add,  that  only 
one  case  of  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  government  examiner  has  oc- 
curred here,  and  in  that  case  his  decision  was  confirmed. 
Total  weight  of  Drugs  and  Medicines  imported,  and  of  the  same  rejected  at 
the  Port  of  Baltimore,  from  May,  1853,  to  Sept.,  1856. 
Peruvian  bark,  imported   760,000  lbs.  rejected  38,062  lbs. 
Volatile  oils,  »  3,736  «  "        1,928  « 
Herbs  and  flowers,  "  29,890  "  "  465  « 
Roots  and  seeds,  «         205,410  «  «  367  « 
All  other  articles,  «         568,624  "  "  54  « 
Total  1,767,660  lbs.  40,876  lbs. 
"William  E.  A.  Aiken, 
Special  Examiner  of  Drugs,  etc. 
