76 
Drug  Adulteration. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\   Febraary,  1909. 
Association  the  Department  was  criticised  for  not  having  investi- 
gated certain  domestic  drugs.  In  reply  to  this  criticism  the  writer 
stated  that  it  was  thought  more  expedient  to  direct  investigations  to 
imported  products  first  and  to  deal  with  domestic  shipments  later. 
Investigations  of  the  domestic  samples  were,  however,  in  progress 
some  time  before  the  Hot  Springs  meeting,  but  at  that  time  no 
information  was  available  which  could  be  utilized.  Since  then, 
however,  a  number  of  interesting  findings  have  been  made.  Here 
1  have  three  samples  of  colocynth,  each  representing  a  number  of 
different  shipments  of  the  same  manufacturer  to  a  number  of  differ- 
ent sections  of  the  United  States.  One  consists  entirely  of  seeds, 
another  of  pulp  and  seeds,  while  the  third  is  virtually  in  accordance 
with  the  requirements  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  What  the  miller  does 
with  the  colocynth  pulp  must  be  left  to  the  future  to  determine.  It 
is  certain,  however,  that  colocynth  preparations  made  from  colocynth 
seeds  instead  of  colocynth  pulp  are  worthless  so  far  as  any  laxative 
value  is  concerned.  To  my  mind  this  is  one  of  the  worst  frauds 
encountered  so  far. 
During  the  past  few  years  much  has  been  said  relative  to  pink 
root  being  substituted  in  whole  or  in  part  by  ruellia.  There  seems 
to  be  little  excuse  for  placing  an  adulterated  product  of  this  character 
on  the  market.  This  sample,  bought  for  pink  root,  is  ruellia.  It  is 
claimed  that  ruellia  is  as  efficient  an  anthelmintic  as  pink  root,  but 
this  is  an  entirely  different  question.  Ruellia  should  certainly  not 
be  sold  when  pink  root  is  called  for. 
Numerous  difficulties  have  been  encountered  by  importers  during 
the  past  few  years  in  obtaining  ipecac  which  contains  the  required 
2  per  cent,  standard  of  alkaloidal  material.  The  Pharmacopceial 
committee  therefore  reduced  the  standard  to  1.75  per  cent.  The 
sample  before  you,  however,  contains  approximately  one-third  of 
the  alkaloidal  material  prescribed  by  the  lowered  standard.  Whether 
or  not  the  drug  has  deteriorated  in  value  or  is  diluted  with  some 
agent  is  not  known  at  present. 
The  above  cases  serve  to  illustrate  how  the  Government  is  trying 
to  protect  the  interests  of  consumers,  physicians,  many  retail  drug- 
gists and  some  manufacturers.  Most  of  these  parties  are  grati- 
fied by  the  results  accomplished  thus  far.  Some  interests  think  the 
law  is  not  rigidly  enough  enforced,  others  are  of  a  contrary  mind. 
