32  Draft  of  a  Proposed  Importation  Act.  {A";nJ^^™J 
surprising,  however,  that  this  law  with  its  citation  of  obsolete  author- 
ities has  remained  uncorrected  to  the  present  time.  This  citation  of 
recognized  authorities  is,  however,  worthy  of  comment  in  the  light  of 
present-day  information.  While  the  United  States  Dispensatory 
may  be  looked  upon  as  an  authoritative  work,  at  present  we  know 
of  no  authoritative  works  under  the  titles  of  "  Edinburgh,  London, 
French  and  German  Dispensatories,"  yet  the  word  dispensatories  is 
used  in  this  connection  in  the  Act  and  likewise  in  the  recent  Regu- 
lations of  1908,  in  Article  900. 
The  continuance  by  the  government  of  the  Edinburgh  and  London 
Pharmacopoeias  as  legal  authorities  even  to  the  present  time,  in  place 
of  recognizing  the  more  recent  revisions  of  the  British  Pharmaco- 
poeia as  a  legal  standard,  is  likewise  noticeable.  One  is  at  a  loss  to 
understand  why  the  national  Pharmacopoeias  of  these  certain  coun- 
tries should  be  recognized  as  legal  authorities  by  the  United  States 
Government,  and  the  Pharmacopoeias  of  such  countries  as  Austria, 
Russia,  Switzerland,  Sweden,  Italy,  and  Japan  which,  from  a  scien- 
tific standpoint,  are  entitled  to  consideration,  fail  to  receive  legal 
sanction;  and  in  accordance  with  the  Customs  Regulations  of  1908, 
Article  900,  only  the  Pharmacopoeias  mentioned  in  the  Act  receive 
such  legal  recognition,  and  drugs  grown,  manufactured,  or  prepared 
in  other  countries  must  conform  to  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia 
and  Dispensatory.  The  distinctions,  as  made  by  Customs  Regula- 
tions, Article  900,  are  probably  justified  by  the  legal  phraseology  of 
the  Act  but  nevertheless  they  serve  to  emphasize  its  ridiculousness 
and  the  necessity  for  revision. 
The  Food  and  Drugs  Act  of  June  30,  1906,  is  essentially  a  police 
law  for  the  protection  of  the  consumer  and  intended  to  detect  and 
punish  adulteration  and  misbranding.  It  can  hardly  be  construed  as 
a  Treasury  Regulation,  and  its  administration  is  imposed  almost 
entirely  upon  the  Department  of  Agriculture. 
The  contention  that  Section  7  wTas  intended  to  cover  drugs  im- 
ported as  wTell  as  drugs  entering  interstate  commerce  or  manufac- 
tured in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  Territories  is  well  founded. 
This  section  does  not  specifically  apply  to  customs  regulations  and 
imports.  While  Section  1 1  of  this  Act  does  give  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  the  right  to  deliver  samples  of  imported  drugs  to  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  and  have  examination  made  thereof  by 
that  department,  it  is  this  very  section  which  has  demonstrated  the 
confliction  of  book  authorities  as  standards  accepted  by  these  two 
