New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-02
DISHONEST DRUG GLSIS.

Tho druggist Ike the surgeon Is n man To De-
trusted There Is no other way 10 deal with him
We do not know whether or not our wounds are
being sewcd up Alright. but we take 1t for granted
the man who - treating us knows what 10 90
Most people exercise more faith in matters OK
medicine than In matters Of religion. very
small quantity Of brains is sufficient for some
sort ~ speculation on the nature of an immortal
soul So long man Is self-satisiiei with MS
logical or illogical deductions concerning the orl-
Gin II the universe he Is able to get fairly
with a minimum amount OF faith in things spirit
uaI When, however he gets dyspeptc he Is apt
In throw himself upon his physician. even his
uurveyor OF patent nostrums. with a childlike
trust He is in the hands of superior being
and he knows It, When he goes to buy pills and
p0wders he takes what IS given him and II does
not do him any good To ask questions. 1t re
ouircs an expert knowledge to judge drugs. and
the average customer cannot test the quality Of
his purchases as II they were apples or drygoods.
For him the drugs are whatever they said
to be- The druggist lives on his reputation for
honesty and he does not need great deal Of
that: for his fair dealing is so essential 10 the
general welfare that Il Is assumed AS a matter
II course Men may watch out for horse thieves,
but they are not cynics enough to be afraid OF
tn'f DdlD'IH OI ~ upuDN iut iH'ulNlu' HltH III
whose power they place themselves.
Consequently the arrest OF nine druggists in
Cincinnati IA few days ago charged with selling
spurious and adultcrated drugs IL somewhat dis
qucting to the general sense Of comfortable Sc
curitv The Ohio state Dairy and Food Commits
sion has been carrying on an investigation OF the
adutcration OF foods and medicines. 1t began
with the grocers Goods were bought and sub
t,cte1 ia ana and when proved N h,a a1uI-
tcratcd the dealers were prosecuted. Vinegar
was found which was chemical composition
and not the result of fcrmented cider or wine
For spices jecs. coffee and almost everything
else OF the kind manufactured substitutes were
sold Frauds among grocers were shown to be
excessively common About six weeks ago the
CommissiO turned its attention to the druggists
Drug stores in all parts Of the city visited
and about two hundred samples obtained for the
Analysing chemist His work Is far from COM
plcte but 1t has already resulted in nine arrests
and about one-third Of the articles examined have
been found To be adulerated. liquid advertised
y distilled water and sold at "A high price to
fiji prescriptions requiring purity was shown 10
contain enough foreign salts seriously TO affect
the character Of medicines into which It entered
4 predigested food which IL sold all over the
country proves TO contain no food at ALL but, on
the contrary. to be well calculated to produce
digestive disorders. The thoroughgoing work OF
the Commission has caused panic among many
OF the druggists, but the movement has the sup
port Of the better men in the business and OF the
community In general 1t promises a great re-
form in Cincinnati. which might well be extended
to other cities.
Not only in the adulteration OF medicines but
also In the substitution Of drugs dealers through
out the country do IA great wrong 1t Is no UNI
common thing for prescriptions to be put up with
ingredients different from those called for In
some cases the store Is out OF the particular
chemical and uses some one which acts In about
the same way. Then an inexpensive drug IL
made to do duty for one OF greater cost The
druggist Is sure that 1t is just as good and sees