Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1889-01-04
MEDICINES GETTING CHEAT u; A
druggists Say There Is Loss Adult
Now Than There Used Ito 30. I

Druggists Say There Is Loss Au traitor
Now Than There Usedsto 30.
II nav be consoling to tho genera
~ Lie 10 know that at the 4tionaJ
of druggists, held n In.
dianapolis, committee 70 WIS bm the
subject had been rclGrreu ported
that adulteraud6 n in
drugs is decidedly OH the deeilnej They
think that in the present state ol chem.
;nol science adulteration is only possi.
he in a few preparations, AM then
moi TO any very great extent:
In other days, the conlmittel e saws
nb u, uS dealt principally with !,
extracts, tinctures, oiis, oSlsams,
iuices, gums and the like; toq ay the
9SIaces of these are, for the most part
occupied by clearly rag!terized
chemical combinations.
In times past medicines wele com.
pounded from SUBSTANCES vi ,hriable
constitution ana coiiu'Iioh, Use eX-
animation, test, assay or gnalysis
must needs be matter OF exseetline
difficulty and often OF lmposibility;
While now we have exactly conyI tituted
Sails composite ethers and alsaloids
of definite chemical COZ lRosition
whose identity may mostly Y shown
by one or two simple preclp.tions or
color reactions, ana whose pIrity can
often be determined by a m Ire melt
ING, boiling, combustion orsolution
tasi. hut at all events. by anaysis.,
Even number of the md inae6-
mite and heterogeneous sscesso f
the he ancient maleria md ns sEch as
extracts, have recently !ggea., forced TO
yield .iiiteir ''incognito" to searching
test methods, as, for instance, the de-
termination of alkaloidal strength, SO
that falsilications have become readily
recognizable.
Some of the ethereal oils, however,
and essences, bulsans, etc., which adj
NIT of no identity, reaction
tive assay, except that exercised on or
by the sense of smell, are today, per-
haps, quite or nearly as susceptible to
adulteration as they ever were.
The medicinal compounds of the
Seventeenth century were chiefly em-
pirical nostrums or mixtures of sub
stances. some of which neutralized
others. and compromising pruscrip-
tons and manufacturing medicines
were carried on without any reference
to scientific principles.
The dissatisfaction Of the compounds
of medicines, no doubt, gave rise to
this new departure, for the continued
complaints of the physicians made
them aware that for anything other
than crude or garblcd drugs, but little
reliance could be placed in the whole
sale druggist of that day And the
dispenser had to produce his powders
by pestle and mortar, if the physi-
clans prescriptions were to be reliably
dispensed.
Now, in those days, it was the prac-
tice of tile wholesale druggist to send
his drugs to a drug miller, WHO, it is
to he regretted, was not SO scrupulous
Of the purity of his products as are the
firms who carry on similar businesses
today; and it is certain, moreover,
that the wholesale druggist set bad
example to the miller, forit was not
an uncommon practice 10 send conf
paratively inert substances to the mill
to be ground and mixed with potent
drugs.
Tricks were resorted TO in the adult
tcration of simple chemical substances,
which leaves but little doubt that,
Notwithstanding there was want Of
chemical knowledge, there was no
lack OF deliberate intention to de
fraud.
Early in this century guaranteed
powdered drugs were introduced in
trade by Thomas Heming, who
claimed that his SOFT. impalpable,
bright looking vegetable powders
were as pure as the unsightly pow
dcrs that compoundcrs were produc-
ing for themselves by pestle and NOR
tar.
Tho success attendant upon tile pro-
duction of pure powdered Drugs was
an incentive to some houses; and it
came about that not only were chenli-
cal substances prepared with due re-
gard to their medicinal purity, but the
organic novelties, such as quinine,
morphine and strychnine, which were
then finding uses in medicine, were
produced on a manufacturing scale Of
purity, which, considering the cheni-
cal knowledge OF the manipulators,
was highly creditable.
Perhaps the most important factor
in the gradual Improvement in the
quality OF the commercial powders
las been tile extremely low market
rates which have prevailed of late
years in the prices OF the vast MAORI
ty of crude drugs. Most of the incen-
tive to adulteration was removed.
The pharmacy laws passed by var
ious states, as we'll as the enactments
relating to the adul.eration of food
products. are also beginning to exert
their influence in the direction of
greater purity.-New York News.