AJam;arvPW09m'}  DfUgS  Olid  Food  ActS  of  1848  (Hid  Ipo6.  1 9 
''  Answering  your  esteemed  inquiry  of  yesterday,  subject,  Sarsaparilla 
Rhizomes,  we  have  been  using  these  rhizomes,  as  you  perhaps  know,  for 
quite  a  number  of  years.  My  personal  observation  leads  me  to  believe  that 
the  rhizomes  contain  quite  as  large  a  proportion  of  the  peculiar  extractive 
which  is  supposed  to  represent  the  medicinal  virtues  of  sarsaparilla  root,  as 
the  ordinary  form  of  root  with  the  usual  proportion  of  rootlets." 
The  package  before  you  is  a  specimen  of  inferior  asafetida,  a 
product  for  the  importation  of  which  all  forms  of  schemes  have  been 
resorted  to.  When  the  Act  governing  the  importation  of  drug 
products  was  first  enforced,  much  leniency  was  extended  to  the 
importation  of  asafetida,  even  though  the  strength  was  found  to  be 
below  the  standard  prescribed  by  the  Pharmacopoeia.  It  was  soon 
found,  however,  that  the  quality  of  successive  importations  was 
gradually  diminishing.  For  example,  some  of  the  first  consignments 
examined  contained  40  per  cent,  and  over  of  alcohol  soluble  material. 
Subsequent  importations  began  to  arrive  containing  35-30-25-20 
per  cent,  of  alcohol  soluble  material  and  one  entry  was  offered  con- 
taining as  low  as  15  per  cent,  of  alcohol  soluble  material,  according 
to  the  markings  upon  the  packages.  One  of  the  claims  made  was 
that  the  asafetida  was  intended  for  the  miller's  use,  who  standardized 
it  before  offering  it  for  consumption.    How  baseless ! 
Senna  sweepings  or  siftings,  of  which  this  is  a  sample,  frequently 
contain  from  25  to  35  per  cent,  of  sand.  An  importer,  while  pleading 
for  the  release  of  such  a  consignment,  stated  that  it  was  largely  used 
by  a  number  of  firms,  whose  names  he  mentioned,  but  when  asked 
whether  he  would  be  willing  to  give  his  children  compound  licorice 
powder  in  the  preparation  of  which  such  a  sand-laden  senna  was 
used,  he  demurred. 
I  now  hold  in  my  hand  a  sample  of  worthless  digitalis  leaves,  the 
use  of  which,  or  preparations  made  from  it,  would  not  only  be  useless 
but  might  prove  fatal  to  a  patient  urgently  in  need  of  a  heart 
stimulant. 
Here  I  have  a  sample  of  belladonna  root  containing  a  large  per- 
centage admixture  of  poke  root.  Poke  root,  itself,  is  of  service  as  a 
medicinal  agent,  but  when  mixed  with  belladonna  root  it  may  be 
absolutely  detrimental  to  the  ultimate  consumer.  I  have  here  also  a 
sample  of  so-called  belladonna  leaves  which  upon  examination  was 
found  to  be  a  mixture  of  belladonna  and  scopola  leaves.  An  admix- 
ture of  this  character  could  be  used  neither  for  the  manufacture  of 
belladonna  nor  scopola  preparations.    If  it  should  be  used  for  the 
