OHIO DEPARTMENT.

Druggist Assigns. — The coming campaign, dull trade and sickness of the proprietor were given as the causes for the assignment of Druggist R. F. Ruppiler on July 11. He had recently moved to Vine and Allison Streets. The assets are given at $1200, and the liabilities the same, with a preferred claim of $450 on a chattel mortgage.

Sues Vanilla Firm.-U. S. District Attorney Sherman McPherson, on July 6, filed suit against Edwin A. Steinbock and Proctor D. Patrick, doing business as Steinbock & Patrick at 55 Walnut Street for making and selling an alleged impure food. The company manufactured what was known as Steinbock & Patrick's Marvel Extract of Vanilla.

Steal Cash Register.-Philip White, a druggist at Pleasant Ridge, is mourning the loss of one of his cash registers, which some unknown persons carried away from his store on July 4. The thieves cut the pane of glass in the front window of the pharmacy, found $32 in one register, but were unable to open the other one, so they took it with them. The register contained about $100 in cash.

"Skin Food" Men Fined.-Wm. E. Pilkinton and A. P. Foose, of Dayton, O., doing business as "The Globe Pharmaceutical Co.," were arraigned by U. S. District Attorney Sherman McPherson, on the charge of selling what was alleged to be a skin food, but which was found to contain no medicinal properties affecting the skin. The "food" was analyzed by I. H. C. Fuller, assistant chemist of the United States, and the analysis showed that it was magnesium sulphate. The defendants plead guilty and were fined $10 and costs each.

Wm. T. Dawe, for nearly forty years a pharmaceutical chemist, died at his home, 425 E. Third Street, Cincinnati, July 7. Mr. Dawe had been ill for over three years, which compelled his retirement from business. He was associated with the late L. K. Marty, as prescription clerk and later started in business for himself. At one time he owned three drug stores. He was an active member of Ivanhoe Lodge, Royal Arcanum, Franklin Lodge of Odd Fellows No. 4, Hoffner Lodge of Masons, Scottish Rite and the Shrine. A widow and one son, Dr. Courtland W. Dawe, survive. Burial was in Spring Grove.

Swindles Drug Houses.-A man, who the members of the Cincinnati Central Drug Clerks' Association say is a fraud, swindled Cincinnati druggists and the heads of wholesale drug houses out of several hundred dollars during the week beginning July 12, on a bogus ticket scheme. The man's scheme was not discovered until after he had visited many druggists, and the holders of the tickets are now anxious for the police to lay hands on him. One of the drug-❘ gists who bought tickets, broke the news to President Emil Kraft, of the association, who immediately pro

nounced the man a fraud. The tickets which the man sold are worded as follows:

"Cincinnati Drug Clerks' Picnic and Barbecue, Heidelberg, Garden, Thursday, July 30. President, W. B. Short; Chairman, Thomas A. Gurley; Treasurer. Frank Young."

President Kraft said to your correspondent, "The man is undoubtedly a fraud. We members of the Cincinnati Central Drug Clerks' have been thinking of giving a picnic somewhere, but we have not decided on the date, the place or just what the nature of it will be. We, officers of the association want the drug world to know that the association has been imposed on by the without any fault on our part." Some of the heads of wholesale drug houses bought from $5 to $25 worth of tickets from the man, it is said. The amount he cleaned up is not known, but, judging from a list of names he showed to a druggist, claiming he sold to each person represented, he must have secured at least two or three hundred dollars.

man,

Miss Cora Dow, owner of nine retail drug stores in Cincinnati, is spending two weeks at Hot Spring, Va., accompanied by her venerable mother.

Irving Rice, of the Stein-Gray Wholesale Drug Company, in Fourth Street, left August 5 for Alderson, W. Va., where he will spend his two weeks vacation in the mountains, fishing and hunting.

Carl Plath has sold his Eighth and State Avenue drug store to Charles Saberton. Mr. Plath will devote all his time for the present to his store at 3005 West Sixth Street, Sedansville, a suburb.

Fred Shanzle Jr., druggist at Main and Walnut Streets, Elmwood Place, who is spending his vacation in Michigan, sent home a thirty pound muskallange which he caught. His friends enjoyed a fine fish fry.

Milton J. Ullman, who has been with his father in the firm of Ullman, Dreifus & Company, wholesale cigar and spice house, will open a magnificent new retail drug store at Albany and Burnet Avenues, Avondale, about the first of the year.

A New Drug Store has been opened at Montgomery and Maple Avenues, Norwood, by Dr. Frank Perry and Frank Workman, of that city. With the addition of the new store, there are now seven drug stores in that busy little city, and all are doing well.

The Ohio Valley Druggists Association held its annual picnic and outing July 23, at Highland Grove, a beautiful woodland spot near Cincinnati. Over three hundred druggists and their wives, families and lady friends enjoyed the day's fun, the chief feature of the afternoon being a base ball game between the wholesalers and retailers. The wholesalers, confident of victory because of past experiences with the retailers, were given the surprise of their lives, the retailers beating them to the tune of 8 to 2. A number of amusements were provided for the women and children, which they enjoyed immensely. Dinner was eaten on the green grass in the shade of the old forest trees, as was the evening meal. The druggists returned to the city late at night, tired but happy. The day was voted a big success.

EXPRESSED OIL OF ALMOND.

A Brief Commentary Not a Criticism.

BY F. H. GALBRAITH, ST. LOUIS.

The following article appeared in the June issue of the National Druggist:

An opportunity for the pharmacist to utilize his knowledge. The results obtained by the New York Board of Pharmacy from the examination of a large number of samples of expressed oil of almond, offered for sale by the pharmacists of New York City, lead to considerations of paramount importance to retail druggists. Since the first of January of the present year, the New York Board of Pharmacy has collected nearly 200 samples of expressed oil of almond, sold by the pharmacists of New York City. A large percentage of the samples proved, upon examination, not to be oil of almonds at all, but oil of peach and apricot kernels. The percentage ran as high as 50% at the beginning of the examination, but when it became known that the board was collecting samples, the druggists took pains to see that the wholsalers furnished them with genuine oil, and so great was the improvement in the state of affairs, that in the latter part of the period of the investigation fully 90% of the samples of the oil collected were genuine. In the majority of the cases the retailers were able to prove their innocence of any intention to deceive and their ignorance of the true nature of the oil that they had dispensed. They had purchased the oil from the wholesaler as genuine expressed oil of almonds, paying the price for almond oil and receiving peach kernel and apricot kernel oil, which they did not take the trouble to examine as to their genuineness. The wholesale dealers were likewise able to show that they had not wilfully intended to deceive the retailers, but that their action in sending out peach kernel oil, when almond oil had been ordered, was ba-ed purely upon a commercial usage. And thereby hangs a somewhat interesting tale. An English firm of importers had brought the oil upon the market for a long time, believing it to be the genuine oil expressed from almonds. Later, however, they discovered its true nature, and recogizing at the same time its value for many purposes, proceeded to manufacture it, and sold it, not under the name of expressed oil of almond, but under the name of the source from which it was supposed to be derived, namely "Amygdalus Persica," and they added, the adjective "sweet," in order to distinguish it from the volatile or, as it is ordinarily called, "oil of bitter almonds." Their labels bore the abbreviated title "Ol. Amygd. Persic. Dulc," a name which was erroneously translated by a number of the users of it, who assumed it to be an oil expressed from almonds grown in Persia. Thus commercial usage has sanctioned, through an error, it is true, the application of the term "almond oil" to the oil of peach and apricot kernels, and the wholesalers could consequently plead, with a clear conscience, that they were guilty of no intention to defraud when they sent out the latter in response to a demand for sweet almond oil.

The board of pharmacy, however, insisted that the oil sold as sweet oil of almond must conform to the tests of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, which many of the samples collected by them failed to do.

That the genuine oil is not difficult to procure is proved by the large percentage of genuine samples collected after the druggists found out what was going on; but the question arises, how is the druggist to know whether the wholesaler gives him a genuine article or not?

It appears to us that the answer is to be found in the lesson that the investigation has taught. The pure food and drug laws of the various states throw a new responsibility upon the pharmacist as far as the genuineness of drugs sold by him is concerned, and it will become necessary for him to apply the knowledge that he has gained to qualify himself for his business, in passing upon the quality of many articles that he offers

for sale.

The claim is often made that the pharmacist has neither the time nor the ability to determine whether the goods that he buys-and many of which he makes himself-are up to the standard or not, and that he is compelled to rely upon the word of the manufacturer or wholesaler from whom he has purchased them, that they are what they purport to be. It is true that the pharmacist is not usually in the position to make the more com. plex tests, especially those of a quantitative nature, and that time, apparatus and special training are required to give results that are trustworthy; it is not true, however, that any elaborate chemical apparatus, any special scientific skill, or an inordinate amount of time is 1equired to carry out the ordinary identity tests and many of the purity tests of the Pharmacopoeia. If the pharmacist is really earnest in his desire to recover for himself that professional standing which he confesses he has lost, and to make it equal to that which he has gained in business standing, he will here find the opportunity of making a beginning. It is not the desire for professional standing alone, however, which should determine him to make himself better acquainted with the articles that he keeps in stock. He must bear in mind that the laws hold him personally responsible for the purity and genuineness of the drugs he handles, and his failure to take the proper safeguards to secure this result may lead to embarassing litigation with the possibility of severe punishment.

When the New York druggists were forced to admit that they did not know that they were not selling almond oil and that they had depended altogether upon the label on the bottle, they were making a sad confession, and one not tending to raise them in the estimation of the public, either as professional pharmacists or as good business men.

Commenting on the article, as a buyer of essential oils, it occurs to the writer that the enactment of the Food and Drugs Act abrogated all commercial usages in the purchase, labeling and supply of drugs, the intent and object of that law, stated briefly, being, "the label must truthfully represent the contents of the package." In this connection, a letter recently received from a New York representative of a prominent European manufacturer of both these oils is quite interesting and the following excerpt is much to the point:

"It is an important item of news that the New York Board of Pharmacy has found oils of peach and of apricot kernels dispensed as oil of almond.

"Since January 1 some two hundred samples were collected in New York City and it was found that over half of these, though sold and dispensed as oil of almond were actually the other cheaper oils.

"This is a violation, not only of the pure food law, but of the ethics of the drug trade as well. The wholesaler who leads his customers to such misdeeds is most reprehensible.

"In their own interest we advise all buyers to subject the oil sold to them as oil of almond to an exhaustive chemical test that they protect themselves and their customers from fraud."

In buying these oils there is a difference in value of from 33 to 50%-the true oil of almond being the higher priced article. (See lists of representative essential oil importers and drug brokers of New York.)

In common with certain other importers and wholesale dealers in essential oils, the M. B. D. Co. were not obliged to change the names of its labels of the packages containing oil of peach kernels, the policy of this house for many years having been in line with the provisions of the Food and Drugs Act, and the article has always been correctly labeled. The M. B. D. Co's. label for oil of peach kernels reads as follows

OIL OF

PEACH KERNELS

OL. NUC. PERSICORUM
Oil Sweet Almond (so-called)

The oil of peach kernels is a valuable substitute for expressed oil of almond in the preparation of special cold creams and facial creams, and has long been used for this purpose, but discriminating pharmacists have never used it in the manufacture of those preparations official in the U. S. P. or N. F. in which expressed oil of almond is named as an ingredient.

Exhaustive tests are, however, not readily undertaken by dispensing pharmacists and in this connection I refer to the U. S. D., nineteenth edition, on page 832 under the caption, "Oleum Amygdala Expressum" on the subject of adulteration, which reads as follows:

"Peach and apricot kernel oils are very extensively used in the adulteration of almond oils and sometimes entirely replace the true almond oil in commercial samples. The close relationship of these oils makes it impossible to detect them by the quantitative reactions."'

But the qualitative tests are very simple and can readily be applied by the careful pharmacist who desires to test the oil for himself. These tests will be found in the paragraph immediately following that quoted above. (See also National Dispensatory, page 1056.)

The action of the New York board of pharmacy is commendable and like measures to insure purity and goods true to label might well be taken up by other state boards with advantage to all concerned.

PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

The Georgia Ph. A. met at Thomasville May 19 and 20. The Board of Pharmacy held an examination at the same place and date. Twenty-two applicants for registration were examined.

The thirty-third annual meeting was a very enthusiastic one. The N. F. and U. S. P. propaganda was the principal subject discussed. Over 175 new members were added.

The following officers were elected:

B. S. Persons, Macon, President.

John S. Montgomery, Jr., Thomasville, First Vice-President.
Thad B. Rice, Greensboro, Second Vice-President.
H. W. Head, Macon, Third Vice-President.

J. T. Shuptrine, Savannah, Treasurer.
Max Morris, Macon, Secretary.

The next meeting will be held in Macon, but there was no date set. Time will be set by the Executive Committee.

The names of the following five gentlemen were selected to go before the Governor to succeed R. H. Land, Jr., whose term expires in November as member of the State Board of Pharmacy:

R. H. Land, Jr., Joe Walker, M. H. Taylor, T. F. Burbank, L. E. Pellew.

If You Want a Drug Clerk, advertise in the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST.

MATRIMONIAL.

Oswald C. G. Rathert, of St. Louis, was married July 2, and in company with his wife took an extended trip through the North, going to St. Paul from St. Louis by boat. Mr. Rathert's many friends extend their congratulations.

Faser-Wren.-Christopher Faser, Ph. G., and Miss Pearl Wren, of Shaw, Miss., were married recently. Mr. Faser is a graduate of the St. Louis College of pharmacy and manager of the City Drug Co., at Shaw. His classmates and many friends extend their congratulations.

Druehl-Stahl.-L. A. Druehl, of Chicago, and Miss Amanda Stahl, of that city, were married in June and attended the Glenwood Springs meeting of the Colo. Ph. A., as part of an extended wedding trip. The groom is a nephew of F. A. Druehl, of Salt Lake City, Utah, well known in western pharmaceutical affairs. The bride is a graduate in pharmacy and active in the A. Ph. A. We are not surprised to learn that a dozen or more A. Ph. A. members were secured at the Colorado convention by Mr. and Mrs. Druehl who never lose sight of A. Ph. A. interests.

Schall-Preiss.-Chas. E. Schall representing the

Hungerford Smith Co., Rochester, N. Y., manufacturers of true fruit soda supplies, was married on July 25, to Miss Edna Preiss, of St. Louis. Mr. Schall is the only son of Edward Schall, who for twenty-one years has been buyer of the proprietary medicines for the Meyer Brothers Drug Co. Both father and son are native products of St. Louis. Mr. Schall Jr., is now in his twenty-fifth year and is a graduate of the Christian Brothers College, having graduated with high honors in 1901. Mr. Schall's territory embraces Iowa, Nebraska and part of Kansas, and he already enjoys the destinction of a real knight of the grip and has made many warm friends with the retail drug trade, possessing the happy faculty of pleasing and gaining the confidence of his trade. We predict for Mr. Schall a brilliant success and we extend to him and his charming bride our best wishes for a most happy and prosperous future.

C. E. SCHALL.

"Mrs. Ascum-"Have you any 5-cent stamps?' Drug clerk (absentmindedly)-"No, ma'am, but we have something just as good." Mrs. Ascum-"Ha! ha! force of habit. That's where I caught you." Drug clerk"Not at all, madam. I can give you two twos and a one."-[Philadelphia Press.

ing, Emich and Foster, and one first vice-president, Mr. Farrow, besides several other members. following are the officers for the ensuing year:

The

MARYLAND DEPARTMENT.

Maryland Pharmaceutical Association.-The sessions of the twenty-sixth annual meeting which were held in the Atlantic Hotel, Ocean City, Md., June 23, 24, 25 and 26, while not so important in business matters as other meetings have been, were among the most enjoyable occasions the members have ever known. The attendance was good as Ocean City is a favorite resort among Maryland pharmacists and the little city was particularly lively on this occasion, as the Maryland Teachers' Association was in session at the same time. Business sessions were held Wednesday forenoon, Thursday forenoon and afternoon and Friday forenoon. The president's address and the reports of the secretary, the treasurer and various committees were very interesting and furnished a complete review of the work of this year, which has been an important one. The most important of these papers was the report of the legislative committee which

showed that the Association was at all times in close touch with both state and municipal pharmaceutical legislation and influential in framing the Pure Food and Drugs Act introduced in the last assembly. The sentiment of the members, as expressed in the address of President Smith, and in the discussion of the report of this committee, was strongly in favor of the enactment of a Pure Food and Drugs Act by the next Assembly and the beginning of an active campaign to this end at once. The main recommendation in the president's address that a bill to regulate, as far as practicable, counter prescribing by pharmacists and dispensing by physicians, be framed and introduced during the next Assembly was, after approval, placed in the hands of this committee. A resolution was adopted urging the equipment of a room in the State House at Annapolis for the use of the State Board of Pharmacy in holding practical and theoretical examinations of applicants for registration as has already been requested by the board, as the board has heretofore been seriously hampered by the lack of a satisfactory equipment. Several papers on pharmaceutical topics were read and the report of the committee on pharmacy was very comprehensive and was generally discussed. Several amendments to the By-Laws were passed which will greatly facilitate the work of the organization. The treasurer's report showed the finances of the association to be in a most satisfactory condition, more funds being on hand than ever before. A large number of new members have been secured during the year and this amount will be increased considerably before the next meeting. After the business session on Thursday afternoon, an impressive memorial session was held in commemoration of those members who had passed away during the year. The report of the committee on deceased members was read and addresses made by friends of the deceased. This has been a particularly fatal year as the association has lost three ex-presidents, Messrs. Corn

President, W. M. Fouch, of Baltimore; first vice-president, John G. Beck, of Baltimore; second vice-president, Franz Naylor, of Cambridge; third vice-president, H. R. Rudy, of Hagerstown; Secretary, E. F. Kelly, of Baltimore; treasurer, J. W. Westcott, of Baltimore. The executive committee are: H. F. Baker, chairman, J. M. Weisel and O. C. Smith, all of Baltimore. The entertainment committee arranged a social program which pleased everyone. A bowling contest was held on Wednesday afternoon. Mrs. H. F. Baker won the ladies' first prize, Mrs. A. S. DeReeves the second, Mrs. Charles Morgan the third and Mrs. C. L. Henry the "booby." For the gentlemen, the first prize went to B. W. Woolford, the second to Van V. Dorr, the third to O. C. Smith and Geo. A. Sohl secured the "booby " A progressive euchre followed in the evening. Mrs. C. L. Henry carried off the first prize for ladies and W. J. Lowny, Jr., for the gentleThis energetic committee had secured so many prizes however, that everyone "took something,” and there were therefore no "also rans." The ladies, accompanied by Messrs. Sohls and Whittle as chaperones, enjoyed a sail on Sinepuxent Bay on Thursday afternoon. The banquet took place on Thursday evening and it must be said it was a "very dry" affair, since the local option law of Worcester County is so strict, and no one seemed to have found business so dull as to be willing to spend six months in the comfortable house of correction. However, J. E.

men.

Bond, the witty official toastmaster of the association and the other speakers fully made up for the lack of liquid refreshments. Mrs. Henry, Mrs. Baker, Mr. Fouch, Dr. Caspari, Mr. Baker, Mr. Cook, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Hancock, Mr. Muth, Mr. Howard and Mr. Henry were called on for addresses. The weather was all that could be desired, the bathing and fishing were good and the managment of the Hotel Atlantic made one feel at home. The next meeting will most likely be held at the Blue Mountain House or at Port Deposit during June, 1909.