The campaign against cottonseed meals adulterated with hulls, and cottonseed meals which are not up to the guaranty of protein and fat and are over the guaranty of fiber given upon the label has been continued. Though many cases have been made and conditions greatly improved, the situation is not yet entirely under control, so that this work will be prosecuted with vigor during the coming year. After a cooperative study with the Bureau of Markets, a "Notice to Shippers of Cotton Seed" was issued, outlining the position taken by the department relative to the illegality of the practice of returning, or deliberately adding, foreign matter to cottonseed.

Descriptive definitions have been announced for hominy feed, corn feed meal, alfalfa meal, ground cottonseed hulls, and cottonseed hull bran. Definitions for linseed meal, oil meal, old process oil meal, new process oil meal, and flaxseed meal have been suggested to, and tentatively adopted by, the Association of Feed Control Officials of the United States. Action has been taken against manufacturers who adulterate linseed meal with screenings oil feed. Tankage containing garbage has been found, and action has been taken against such products sold under a false guaranty of composition or adulterated with considerable amounts of sand and glass.

Investigation of rye milling has shown that there is little chance of the contamination of rye flour with ergot. This passes mostly into the screenings, and is used in poultry feed. Such poultry feeds are under investigation. Vigorous action has been taken against the illegitimate use of rice hulls.

The education of shippers of fruits and vegetables concerning the requirements of the net-weight amendment to the Food and Drugs Act was attempted. Also an extensive investigation of the canned-goods industry, with a view to the control of the practice of "slack filling," has been made. At the present time this practice of underfilling the can or of substituting water or brine for a portion of the food product which it should contain is especially pernicious, not merely because it may deceive and defraud the consumer, but also because it is accompanied by a waste of shipping space and of valuable basic material, such as tin and steel, of which there has been a shortage.

Food Inspection Decision 175, on "Colors in Food," which was issued during the year, amends Food Inspection Decisions 76, 117, 129, and 164 by adding to the permitted list four dyes soluble in alcohol and oil and more or less suitable for coloring butter and fats. No batches of these dyes have as yet been submitted for certification. Certification was, however, asked in all for 30,327 pounds of dyes, as compared with 46,802 pounds in 1916-17. The quantities of amaranth, erythrosine, and indigotine, for which certification was asked, were greater than in the preceding year.

One hundred and forty criminal prosecutions and 30 seizures were inaugurated against "quack" medicines, and increased attention was given these products when offered for import. In cooperation with the Public Health Service the traffic in "quack" medicines for the treatment of venereal diseases was surveyed in the vicinity of the cantonments. No evidence of an increased sale of such products in these localities was obtained.

As a contribution to the department's program to increase pork production a vigorous and successful campaign against fraudulent hog-cholera remedies was conducted.

The campaign to improve the practice of dispensing by retail pharmacists in the District of Columbia, which has been in progress for some years, has been continued. There is still room for some improvement in the practice of the druggists of the District of Columbia and of Porto Rico. Carelessness continues, so that a considerable number of cases have been referred to the courts. Moreover, the retail drug trade seems slow to adjust itself to the requirements of the new Pharmacopoeia and the new National Formulary. Conditions, however, have in general improved. A few years ago the carelessness prevailing was so great that hundreds of prosecutions might have been brought had it not seemed wiser to cite as a warning in the less flagrant cases of carelessness and prosecute only in the more flagrant ones. It is believed that similar conditions have prevailed, perhaps still prevail, in many other sections of the country, and that the practice in the District of Columbia was not far from the average of the country when this campaign was begun. There is need that the drug-control officials of the country give more attention to the suppression of carelessness in pharmaceutical practice.

Carelessness was also found in the practice of physicians' supply houses. The products of more than 20 of these were examined, and many cases of deficiencies of the active ingredients were found, as well as not a few substitutions of a cheaper drug for an expensive one.

COOPERATION WITH STATE AND MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS.

One hundred and fifty-six cases were instituted by officials in 29 States under the Federal Food and Drugs Act, 61 criminal prosecutions, and 95 seizures. Among these there were 64 food cases and 1 drug case, as against but 9 food cases and no drug case last year, conclusive evidence that food-control officials are beginning to use the Federal act for the protection of their people in the manner in which feed-control officials have long availed themselves of it. It is thus evident that effective cooperation between Federal, State, and municipal officials is spreading.

The character of the "Clearing House Letter." described in this report for last year, has been changed to include not merely lastminute regulatory information but also plans or programs of work intended to be carried out month by month in the immediate future. Under the title of "The Monthly Review of the Bureau of Chemistry "it goes to about 400 officials. The Office of Cooperation of the bureau, with the help of the bureau's library staff, is compiling laws, regulations, definitions, and standards, both domestic and foreign, applicable to foods and drugs, for the use of officials.

Correspondence between the bureau and city and State officials has been far greater than during previous years, an indication that a much larger measure of educational work relating to food and drug control is being done than formerly, thus adding undoubtedly to the efficiency of city and State food and drug control. There have been many specific instances of cooperation between local officials and the bureau's field force.

IMPORTED FOODS AND DRUGS.

Figures indicating the extent of the import work are given in the table on page 4. New products obtained from countries that have not heretofore shipped to the United States and new varieties of the old from new sources continue to be offered. Many products, for example, African ginger and Argentine cheeses, have been arriving not infrequently in a decomposed, moldy, or wormy state, owing to the disturbed shipping conditions, which give rise to serious delays. Because of disorganization of the trade other materials continue to be poor in quality. For example, about 15 per cent of the importations of black pepper offered for entry were found to contain excess of dirt or shells. Among drug substitutes offered for entry may be mentioned: Piptostegia pisonis, offered for jalap (Exogonium purga), and found to contain 20 per cent of an active purgative resin, differing from other purgative convolvulaceous resins hitherto described; Glycyrrhiza uralensis, for licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra var. typica and glandulifera); Digitalis thapsi, shipped from Spain for Digitalis purpurea; the single flowers of wild Roman camomile (Anthemis nobilis), for Matricaria chamomilla; Pteris sp., for sarsaparilla (Smilax spp.); pebbles and Amomum sp., for cardamom seed (Elettaria cardamomum); Artemisia pontica and Artemisia arborescens, for Absinthium; Aethusia cynapium leaves, for Coivum maculatum; Cuprea bark, for Cinchona; and spurious cantharides for the genuine. In cooperation with the United States Public Health Service, all importations of synthetic organic arsenicals were examined, and held to the standards prescribed by the Federal Trade Commission for domestic manufacturers licensed under alien enemy patents.

CONSERVATION OF FOODSTUFFS.

POULTRY AND EGGS.

A number of projects have reached such a stage that the results have been published in the following Department of Agriculture Bulletins: No. 565, "How to Candle Eggs"; No. 663, "The Installation and Equipment of an Egg-Breaking Plant "; No. 664, "The Prevention of Breakage of Eggs in Transit when Shipped in Car Lots"; No. 657, "A Wheatless Ration for the Rapid Increase of Flesh on Young Chickens."

SEA FOODS.

A part of the work on the preservation of fish by freezing has been published as Department Bulletin 635, "The Commercial Freezing and Storage of Fish." Under the title "A Chemical Study of Food Fishes," analytical data on the composition of 20 common species have been recorded. Analyses of 16 varieties of fish ordinarily shipped from Florida or the Gulf of Mexico coast, and of 20 varieties from the coast of California have been made. Some of these data will be used by the California State Council of Defense in a campaign to educate the people to eat more fish and sea foods. Accurate cost data on the best methods of preserving Pacific coast fish were secured. The most promising results were obtained in smoking sardines, kippering shad, and salting mackerel, rock cod, and

barracuda. Although the preservation of sardines by the Scotch cure was very successful, this product seems more suitable for home consumption than for shipment East, since lengthy storage tends to turn the oil rancid. The determination of the constants of the oil showed it to be quite unsaturated. Directions for the preparation of smoked sardines and also kippered shad have been widely distributed, and it seems likely that a fish-curing industry will shortly establish itself on the Pacific coast. Improved methods of drying fresh and salt fish have also been studied at Gloucester, Mass.

A report on the sardine industry of Maine, containing recommendations for better and more economical methods of operation, has been prepared. A paper on the formation of ammonia and amines in canned sardines during storage has been published. Special investigations on the proper methods to be followed in drying, salting, and frying sardines for canning have been made. Successful experiments were made on the prompt removal by vacuum of water from sardines after steaming and inverting, and on the various oils and blends of oils as possible substitutes for olive oil, which is now almost unobtainable. The use of traces of essential oils and highly flavored oils to make cottonseed and peanut oil more attractive for packing sardines promises to be of value. A study, with electric thermometers, of the "heating" of sardines on the boats did not confirm this popular idea. Better methods of handling fish before canning were introduced.

The feasibility of canning fish hard frozen immediately after capture has been investigated with a view to determining whether by this means canning operations might be made more continuous, especially in localities with a warm climate, such as the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

DEHYDRATION.

Much work was done to assist in the establishment of an industry for the drying of fruits and vegetables, so that these perishable products may be carried over economically from the period of abundance to the period of the year when production all but ceases. Many methods of drying and many types of drying equipment were employed, and the collection of cost data, apparently at present unavailable, begun. Much attention was given to the preparation of the products for the drying operations, since in many cases the palatability of the final product is greatly influenced by the preliminary treatment. The best methods of storage and of preparation for the table were also investigated. In much of this work the bureau enjoyed the cooperation of the Sanitary Corps of the Army.

DEMONSTRATION.

There is little of the bureau's regulatory or investigational work that is not promptly demonstrated to the industry. This year, however, as food conservation and production measures, the educational work on poultry, eggs, and fish, and on the prevention of explosions and fires in thrashers, mills, and elevators, was prosecuted with especial vigor.

POULTRY AND EGGS.

Work in the Imperial Valley of California resulted in the shipping of a large crop of turkeys dressed instead of alive, with the saving of 10 or 20 per cent shrinkage in weight. Demonstrations of the handling of eggs for market and storage and of the fleshing of broilers, so that the cockerels not only paid for themselves but returned a profit and provided almost twice as much foodstuff as heretofore, contributed in making the hatch in California larger this year than ever before. In Texas similar demonstrations were held in 19 counties. In the Salt River and Yuma Valleys in Arizona and the Pecos River Valley in New Mexico demonstrations to increase the turkey crop have been begun. In cooperation with the State Agricultural College much has been accomplished in Arkansas. Extensive candling demonstrations have been given in Louisiana. Much success has been met with in improving the methods of handling eggs in Mississippi and Alabama.

Demonstrations on the best methods of fleshing poultry have kept practically all of the feeding stations in Tennessee and Kentucky open and filled to capacity, where last year a number were closed because of the high price of feeds and lack of knowledge on the part of the feeder as to how to use to advantage such feeds as were available. It has been estimated that during 1918 more than 1,000,000 pounds of chicken flesh, which otherwise would not have been obtained, will have been produced in these States.

Egg-candling campaigns have been conducted in Kansas, in cooperation with the State Agricultural College and the State Food Administration. Similar work to improve the handling of eggs has been done in Missouri and in Iowa, in cooperation with the State Agricultural College, the State Food and Drug Department, and the State Food Administration. A similar campaign was conducted in Nebraska.

FISH.

In cooperation with the Bureau of Fisheries and the United States Food Administration, a campaign to develop the fisheries on the Gulf of Mexico, especially on the western coast of Florida, and to distribute the catch in the cities of the Middle West, has been very successful. The bureau undertook to arrange for and supervise the shipment of fresh fish, and the Food Administration propaganda in the cities of Nashville, Louisville, and Indianapolis, as well as the fine quality and the moderate price of the fish, caused greater consumption than in previous years. A market for Gulf fish has now been created in these localities, where this year these fish will probably be moved in large quantities during the autumn and winter. As a consequence, the fisheries at Fort Meyer, Punta Gorda, and near-by ports have been active all summer, instead of practically closing down. Plans are being made to establish freezers at suitable places on the Gulf of Mexico, to prevent gluts due to heavy catches and to insure an even distribution of fish as well as its better condition on arrival at the market. One freezer is in process of construction. For another, which includes a well-equipped general plant, bids have been submitted to contractors. A third is under serious consideration. The bureau has also been able to straighten out diffi