of its production, deprived not infrequently of two-thirds of its active principle, that proportion of its medicinal property having been extracted for the manufacture of morphine. Opium is found to be adulterated with Spanish licorice paste, combined with a small quantity of some bitter extract, and when but moderately deteriorated in this way the fraud is not easily detected at first view; but it has been passed from Smyrna by the way of some of the European markets so freely adulterated that the fraud was readily detected merely by the smell, no analysis being necessary. The so-called opium of this description is often found infested with living worms. Of course this decaying mass is not sold to the retailer or jobber in this condition, but is previously worked over and combined with a better quality of opium.

Your committee embrace with pleasure this opportunity to present the name and services of Dr. M. J. Bailey, examiner of drugs, etc., at the New York custom-house, as one to whom the country, and especially the medical profession, are deeply indebted for the firm and faithful stand he has taken in exposing these frauds. Enjoying the advantage of a thorough medical education, together with a ready and able pen, he has been industrious and successful through the various journals of medicine and pharmacy in calling the attention of both physicians and importers to these nefarious impositions. His communications with us have been frequent and important. Without awaiting a regular summons, Mr. Bailey repaired, at our suggestion, to meet us, and we will subjoin the result of his examination before the committee.

The activity and frankness of this gentleman deserves the highest commendation. We give an extract of a letter received from him, dated April 29, in which he says:

"I am sure such action (referring to a memorial of the National Medical Convention) will have great weight with the members of Congress generally, and cause them to act with more promptness than they otherwise would, while at the same time it will be exceedingly gratifying to me, as I have from the first, in aiding the college of pharmacy and my profession in their appeal, used the knowledge acquired in my present position with a single desire to advance the general good. Motives of self or pecuniary interest (had I listened to the prayers of those interested) would have prompted me to withhold from the public the facts I have willingly disseminated, in order that permanent benefit might result therefrom. Many an argument have I held with those who professed to think it no moral wrong, while it was more profitable to themselves to impose such worthless and dangerous trash upon the community as we complain of,

"For many years a considerable proportion of the foreign chemical preparations, medicinal extracts, etc., have come to us more or less adulterated, but the base fraud is no longer confined to that class of medicines. Opium is now adulterated to a most fearful extent, and so adroitly as to almost defy detection by the unsuspecting and confiding purchaser. I have lately passed three invoices of opium from London which, on opening the cases, seemed to all external appearance to be as it should, but a closer examination proved it a base compound of that drug with various vegetable extracts-the mass not affording more than about one-third part of pure opium. When I questioned the consignee (and to the credit of our regular importers, most of these adulterated and deteriorated drugs and medicines are consignments from speculators abroad), they admitted their private advices gave them to understand that the article was not quite pure,' yet as the law now is, I must pass all such dangerous and rascally imitations if they are found to be charged at their full value, and, in commercial language, to be the articles specified in the invoice. In fact, I have no authority to examine into the purity, etc., of any article further than to enable me to judge as to the correctness of the value expressed in the invoice." We subjoin also a quotation from the Boston Traveller of last week entitled "Frauds in opium.".

"About twenty cases of opium were sold at auction yesterday by John Tyler. It was imported from Smyrna and Liverpool in various vessels, and to all appearances was of equally good quality. Notwithstanding this, however, its price varied from $3.45 to $1.35-6 cents to 3 cents per pound. the fraud was made at the sale. It is said to consist in the morphine, or vital principle of the drug, before exportation. opium was invoiced at a lower price than that of the first greatly above its real value."

An exposition of extraction of the This fraudulent quality, but still

Genuine scammony, another important drug, is now but seldom imported. Not a single pound of pure Aleppo scammony has passed the New York custom

house during the last twelve months. The so-called scammony now imported contains generally only about one-half the active principle of the genuine article, it being a combination of that drug and a worthless vegetable extract commingled with clay. Pure scammony is an expensive drug; hence the object of its adulteration.

Many of the medicinal gums and gum resins imported are so deteriorated or combined with earthy or other matters that they are not only unsafe, but worthless for medicinal purposes.

The medicinal extracts, which are very important medical agents when pure, were formerly made with great care and of one uniform strength, but they now come to us not only prepared of the refuse of inferior drugs, but also greatly adulterated, etc. These worthless extracts in external appearance are well calculated to deceive, the parcels being as neatly put up, labeled, etc., as those of the genuine. They are sold by the foreign manufacturer, on an average, at about one-half the price of the pure article.

In this business, as well as in the manufacture of chemical preparations as used in medicine, there has been for years past a regular system of fraud carried on by many of the foreign manufacturers. They have not only expressed their willingness to prepare and send out to order any article in their line, adulterated to any extent desired, with a corresponding price to suit, but they now, it seems, keep constantly on hand a supply of the adulterated, as well as of the pure preparations, and when remonstrated with by our honest importers they excuse themselves by saying that they "must accommodate the demands or lose sales, etc., as both qualities are ordered in large quantities from the United States-the genuine article," as they are given to understand, "for the seaboard, and the adulterated for the western trade."

The blue pill mass, a vastly important and useful pharmaceutical preparation, comes to us greatly and dangerously adulterated. This article, when pure, contains 33 per cent of mercury, combined with conserve of roses, etc. The adulterated article, of which large quantities are imported and sold, is, according to the very correct analysis of Professor Reid, of the New York College of Pharmacy, as follows:

Thus it will be seen this spurious article contains less than one-quarter of the active principle of the genuine, to say nothing of the indigestible earthy matter, etc.

Sulphate of quinine, or the salts of the Peruvian bark, a medicine now considered indispensable and of universal use, particularly where intermittent fever prevails, comes to us adulterated in various ways. The usual method is to combine it with silicine (the salts of the willow bark), chalk, plaster of paris, etc. The silicine possesses similar medicinal qualities, and resembles quinine very much in appearance, but it is afforded at less than one-fourth the price, and is very far inferior in strength. This spurious article is largely imported, neatly put up in French style, with the label of the celebrated Pelletier, of Paris (the original and always one of the most honorable foreign manufacturers), on each article.

This trash is made at an extensive establishment in Belgium, the whole business of which, your committee are informed, is to manufacture and dispose of base imitations of all the important foreign chemical and medicinal preparations. An agent of this establishment has been in this country for the last ten months. His business is to effect sales and obtain orders. No wonder that those suffering the affliction of fever and ague in the western country take quinine by the teaspoonful at a dose, rather than a few grains, which is all-sufficient when the article is pure.

Calomel is imported not only crudely prepared, but more or less adulterated with a white argillaceous earth or clay and other articles, while it is put up after the manner and bears the name of some well-known and deservedly popular manufacturing chemist. The whole is a base imitation and fraud.

Large quantities of an imperfectly manufactured iodine are imported in kegs and put in the usual small bottles and parcels here. It is very impure, black, and damp, and totally unfit for medicinal purposes.

Much of the iodide, or hydriodate of potassium, a valuable medicine when pure, is greatly adulterated by the admixture of nitrate of potassium (saltpeter), thereby changing its nature and rendering it comparatively worthless. Many chemical preparations are not infrequently misnamed, imposing by that means upon the purchaser some inferior article, bearing a similitude to the genuine, but different in medicinal qualities and value, the label and the mode of package affording no security to the honest purchaser.

Thus might your committee continue through the whole catalogue, as most of the fine medicinal chemicals are prepared of unequal strength and purity for the purpose of cheapening their cost, thereby rendering them less effective and more uncertain in the treatment of disease, and in some cases actually dangerous to the patient, as well as obviously unjust and greatly embarrassing to the physician. We will here, however, proceed no further, believing the facts already set forth, respecting very many of our most important medicines and those in daily use, will, if fully understood, satisfy your honorable body of the imperative necessity of the passage of a law calculated effectually to put a stop to this reckless and murderous trifling with human life for the sake of filthy lucre. Every feeling of humanity, as well as regard to justice, toward those who are intrusted with the lives of the people demands this at your hands.

In reply to numerous questions asked by the select committee on the importation of drugs, Doctor Bailey, examiner of drugs, medicines, and chemical preparations in the department of customs, situated in New York, gave the following information: There were imported through the custom-house of New York during the year 1847 about $1,500,000 worth of the above goods. Of this amount more than half was adulterated or had deteriorated in value so that it was rendered not only worthless for medicinal use but often dangerous. In addition to the fraudulent dealings enumerated above, he said:

Very little, if any, of the pure Russian castor finds its way to this country. An imitation compound of dried blood, gum ammoniac, and a little real castor, put up in artificial bags, is the article generally met with. Gum asafetida is most extensively adulterated with inferior mucilaginous gums, chalk, clay, etc. Thousands of pounds of worthless rhubarb root are sent out annually to this country for a market by foreign speculators, principally from England. London being the greatest drug market in the world, it is but reasonable to suppose that large quantities of crude drugs of a greatly deteriorated and inferior quality must necessarily be constantly accumulating in their warehouses, which, on account of the long-existing laws of that country, can not find a home market, and in consequence must either be destroyed or exported to some place where there is no law to prevent their introduction.

It was further stated that many camples of Peruvian bark were shipped to this country after having had the active portion extracted; that more than one-half of the cinnamon bark imported was nearly tasteless because its virtue had been extracted by distillation in the manufacture of the essential oil, and that the traffic in adulterated drugs and medicines was increasing, although these fraudulent goods were handled only occasionally by recognized dealers of standing, these transactions being chiefly confined to commission houses where "good, bad, and indifferent" drugs were kept "in quantities to suit the purchasers."

The enforcement of the Federal law of 1848 relative to the importation of inferior and fraudulent drugs, medicines, and chemicals did not appear to satisfy the leading members of the pharmaceutical profession. The lack of standards and methods for their determination made it difficult for the customs officials to enforce the law judiciously and satisfactorily. To assist in removing these difficulties a convention of the colleges of pharmacy was called by the New York College of Pharmacy in 1851. It was the sense of this convention that the existing law made ample general provisions for regulating the admission of drugs and medicinal preparations, and it was therefore unnecessary to petition Congress to make changes. The delegates, however, discussed ways and means for arriving at standards, with the result that standards for ten different preparations were drawn up and forwarded to the Secretary of the Treasury, with the recommendation that they be used by the drug inspectors at the different ports, so that their actions would be rendered more uniform and satisfactory. The results of this meeting appeared to be so satisfactory that it led to the organization of the American Pharmaceutical Association the following year. The first object of this association, as stated in the constitution, is "To improve and regulate the drug market, by preventing the importation of inferior, adulterated, or deteriorated drugs, and by detecting and exposing home adulterations."

INSPECTION OF IMPORTED DRUGS, ETC.

2933. Examination of imported medicinal remedies. All drugs, medicines, medicinal preparations, including medicinal essential oils and chemical preparations, used wholly or in part as medicine, imported from abroad, shall, before passing the custom-house, be examined and appraised, as well in reference to their quality, purity, and fitness for medicinal purposes, as to their value and identity specified in the invoice.

2934. Name of manufacturer to be affixed to medicines. All medicinal preparations, whether chemical or otherwise, usually imported with the name of the manufacturer, shall have the true name of the manufacturer and the place where they are prepared, permanently and legibly affixed to each parcel by stamp, label, or otherwise; and all medicinal preparations imported without such names so affixed shall be adjudged to be forfeited.

2935. Return upon examination. If, on examination, any drugs, medicines, medicinal preparations, whether chemical or otherwise, including medicinal essential oils, are found, in the opinion of the examiner, to be so far adulterated, or in any manner deteriorated, as to render them inferior in strength and purity to the standard established by the United States, Edinburgh, London, French, and German pharmacopoeias and dispensatories, and thereby improper, unsafe, or dangerous to be used for medicinal purposes, a return to that effect shall be made upon the invoice, and the articles so noted shall not pass the customhouse, unless, on a re-examination of a strictly analytical character, called for by the owner or consignee, the return of the examiner shall be found erroneous, and it is declared as the result of such analysis, that the articles may properly, safely, and without danger, be used for medicinal purposes.

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2936. Appeal from examination. The owner or consignee shall at all times, when dissatisfied with the examiner's return, have the privilege of calling, at his own expense, for a re-examination; and the collector, upon receiving a deposit of such sum as he may deem sufficient to defray such expense, shall prosome competent analytical chemist possessing the confidence of the medical profession, as well as of the colleges of medicine and pharmacy, if any such institutions exist in the State in which the collection-district is situated, to make a careful analysis of the articles included in the return, and a report upɔn the same under oath. In case this report, which shall be final, shall declare the return of the examiner to be erroneous, and the articles to be of the requisite strength and purity, according to the standards referred to in the next preceding section, the entire invoice shall be passed without reservation, on payment of the customary duties.

2937. Exportation of rejected articles. If the examiner's return, however, shall be sustained by the analysis and report, the articles shall remain in charge of the collector, and the owner or consignee, on payment of the charges of storage and other expenses necessarily incurred by the United States, and on giving a bond with sureties satisfactory to the collector to land the articles out of the limits of the United States, shall have the privilege of re-exporting them at any time within the period of six months after the report of the analysis; but if the articles shall not be sent out of the United States within the time specified, the collector, at the expiration of that time, shall cause the same to be destroyed, and hold the owner or consignee rseponsible to the United States for the payment of all charges, in the same manner as if the articles had been re-exported. 2938. Appraiser as special examiner. One of the assistant appraisers at the port of New York, to be appointed with special reference to his qualifications for such duties, shall, in addition to the duties that may be required of him by the appraiser, perform the duties of a special examiner of drugs, medicines, chemicals, and so forth.

2939. Appraisement at New York. The collector of the port of New York shall not, under any circumstances, direct to be sent for examination and appraisement less than one package of every invoice, and one package at least out of every ten packages of merchandise, and a greater number should he, or the appraiser, or any assistant appraiser, deeem it necessary. When the Secretary of the Treasury, however, from the character and description of the merchandise, may be of the opinion that the examination of a less proportion of packages will amply protect the revenue, he may, by special regulation, direct a less number of packages to be examined.

Approved, June 26, 1848, U. S. Statutes at Large, vol. 9, p. 237; U. S.
Compiled Statutes, 1901, vol. 2, p. 1936 et seq.

DRUG ADULTERATION TO BE INVESTIGATED.

In the appropriation bill for the fiscal year 1906–7, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized

To investigate the composition, adulteration, false labeling, or false branding of foods, drugs, beverages, condiments, and ingredients of such articles, when deemed by the Secretary of Agriculture advisable.

Approved, June 30, 1906. Public Document No. 282.