236 
Crude  and  Powdered  Drugs. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1909. 
the  specimens  exhibited,  must  be  considered  in  connection  with  my 
paper  of  last  year,  in  which  I  showed  that  most  of  the  imperfections 
in  products  were  due  to  very  great,  though  not  ultimately  insuper- 
able difficulties  connected  with  collecting  and  preparing  supplies, 
and  to  incompetence  and  carelessness  on  the  part  of  those  engaged 
in  the  distribution  of  our  supplies. 
I  reiterate  the  statement  then  made  that  no  man  should  be  per- 
mitted to  engage  in  the  distribution  of  drugs  in  any  way,  who  has 
not  been  compelled  to  undergo  an  examination  as  to  his  practical 
competence,  and  received  a  license ;  the  same  as  the  pharmacist  is 
obliged  to  do.  His  license  should  furthermore  be  subject  to  revoca- 
tion if  it  can  be  shown  that  he  is  abusing  his  privileges. 
As  to  the  difficulties  regarding  collecting,  there  is  no  escape  from 
the  conviction  that  we  must  gradually  work  toward  the  production 
of  drugs  by  agricultural  methods.  If  an  improvement  in  the  quality 
of  wheat,  potatoes,  plums  and  pumpkins  justifies  vast  outlays  of 
time  and  money,  it  would  be  silly  to  waste  time  over  an  argument 
that  it  is  worth  while  in  the  case  of  powerful  drugs. 
But  I  am  sure  that  the  Association  is  thinking  of  other  things ; 
you  are  asking  not  how  the  existing  conditions  ought  to  be  changed 
but  what  we  can  do  in  the  present  emergency.  How  can  the  laws 
in  force  be  administered,  or  modified  if  necessary,  so  as  to  accom- 
plish their  object?  For  the  most  part,  I  prefer  to  leave  this  subject 
to  my  official  superiors,  but  there  are  several  points  which  I  feel 
like  urging  on  the  present  occasion. 
The  first  is  that  our  States  must  not  take  a  complacent  view 
of  the  relations  of  the  federal  government  to  this  work.  There  is 
the  most  urgent  need  of  strenuous  work  in  and  by  every  State  in 
the  Union.  Even  if  no  mistakes  were  made,  our  market  would  still 
be  flooded  with  adulterated  goods.  The  federal  government  may 
catch  these  articles  in  interstate  transit,  though  various  conditions 
render  this  extremely  difficult.  But  suppose  that  the  adulteration  is 
practiced  within  a  State  and  the  articles  are  consumed  there.  The 
federal  government  is  then  quite  powerless.  In  fact,  a  regular 
interstate  business  is  done  in  the  materials  for  adulteration,  to  be 
used  in  just  this  way.  This  statement  refers  more  to  foods  than  to 
drugs,  but  the  fact  of  its  being  possible  under  the  circumstances  is 
sufficient  to  call  for  some  method  of  control.  The  only  basis  of  such 
control  is  careful  organization  within  the  State.   Fortunately,  neglect 
