20  Drugs  and  Food  Acts  of  184.8  and  1906.  {A^n^ ^gj™- 
manufacture  of  one  or  the  other  the  resulting  product  would  cer- 
tainly not  possess  the  therapeutic  properties  of  either  and  would 
therefore  be  unsafe.  Recently  an  importation  of  couch  grass  was 
offered  which  aroused  suspicion.  No  one  in  the  Drug  Division  was 
able  to  recognize  it,  but  inasmuch  as  it  belonged  to  the  grass  family, 
the  sample  was  referred  to  an  expert  in  grasses  of  the  Bureau  of 
Plant  Industry  who  promptly  identified  it  as  Bermuda  grass.  In  this 
connection,  mention  should  be  made  of  the  fact  that  the  services  of 
specialists  are  freely  utilized.  Recently  a  so-called  "  cancer  cure," 
a  liquid,  advertised  as  being  radium  impregnated,  was  submitted  to 
a  specialist  on  the  subject,  for  examination.  Arrangements  have 
been  about  completed  whereby  the  services  of  specialists  of  foreign 
lands  can  be  utilized. 
The  claim  is  frequently  made  that  nature  does  not  always  grow 
drugs  of  the  strength  prescribed  by  the  Pharmacopoeia.  Our  expe- 
rience is  not  in  accord  with  this  view  and  there  is  no  agreement 
among  dealers ;  some  hold  that  an  ample  supply  of  a  certain  drug 
of  prime  quality  is  available,  while  others  contend  that  such  is  not 
the  case.  Our  experience  is  that  a  few  cents  difference  in  price  is 
the  basic  factor. 
Strenuous  efforts  are  made  from  time  to  time  to  import  debased 
and  deleterious  drugs  under  Section  7,  often  with  the  aid  of  legal 
talent.  In  many  cases  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  determine 
who  the  ultimate  consignee  is,  because  the  importation  is  consigned 
to  an  express  company,  a  freight  agency,  a  broker  or  some  other 
intermediary. 
It  would  seem  that  the  above  few  cases  are  sufficient  to  show  to 
any  one  interested  in  the  welfare  of  mankind  and  the  purity  and 
high  quality  of  drug  products  that  the  importation  of  such  goods 
would  be  a  great  step  backwards  from  the  ultimate  goal  of  uniform 
and  pure  drugs  to  be  used  by  the  pharmacist  in  the  manufacture  of 
his  agents  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  physician.  Much  has  been  said 
about  drug  nihilism  in  the  last  few  years  and  to  my  mind  nothing 
would  tend  more  to  such  nihilism  than  the  use  of  drugs  of  the  char- 
acter set  forth  above.  The  only  surprise  to  me  is,  that  faith  in  drugs 
has  not  been  more  seriously  impaired. 
The  prospects  for  excluding  debased  and  dangerous  drugs  of 
the  above  character  did  not  look  very  encouraging  for  some  time, 
but  this  audience  and  upright  dealers  can  rest  assured  that  those 
delegated  to  administer  .the  law  did  not  believe  that  Congress  would 
