0455. Adulteration and  misbranding1  of henbane  herb.     V.   S.     *     *     *     v. 
J.   L».   Hopkins   Co.,   a   Corporation.     Plea   of   guilty.    Fine,   JplOO.
(F. & D. No. 12374.    I. S. No. 16379-r.)
On July 2, 1920, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New 
York, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed in the District 
Court of the United States for said district an information against the J. L. 
Hopkins Co., a corporation, New York, N. Y., alleging shipment by said com- 
pany, in violation of the Food and Drugs Act, on or about April 1, 1919, from
the- State of New York into the State of South Carolina, of a quantity of hen- 
bane herb which was adulterated and misbranded.
Analysis of a sample of the article by the Bureau of Chemistry of this de- 
partment showed that it was deficient in alkaloids and contained an excessive 
amount of ash.
Adulteration of the article was alleged in the information for the reason that 
it was sold under and by a name recognized in the United States Pharma- 
copoeia, and differed from the standard of strength, quality, and purity as de- 
termined by tests laid down in said Pharmacopoeia, official at the time of the 
investigation, in that the said Pharmacopoeia provided that henbane herb should 
yield not less than 0.065 per cent of alkaloids of hyoscyamus and should yield 
not more than 30 per cent of ash, whereas the said article yielded 0.032 per 
cent of alkaloids of hyoscyamus and 39.71 per cent of ash, and the standard 
of the strength, quality, and purity of the said article was not declared on the 
container thereof.
Misbranding was alleged for the reason that the statements, to wit, " Hen- 
bane Herb U. S. P. 27.7% Ash * * * 0.0735 per cent of mydriatic alkaloids," 
borne on the label attached to the box containing the said article, regarding the 
article and the ingredients and substances contained therein, were false and 
misleading in that they represented that the said article was henbane herb 
which conformed to the standard as laid down in the United States Pharma- 
copoeia, that it contained not more than 27.7 per cent of ash and not less than 
0.0735 per cent of mydriatic alkaloids, and for the further reason that the 
strength and purity of the said article fell below the professed standard and 
quality under which it was sold in that it was sold as henbane herb which 
conformed to the standard as laid down in the United States Pharmacopoeia 
and as an article which contained 27.7 per cent of ash and 0.0735 per cent of 
mydriatic alkaloids, whereas, in truth and in fact, it did not conform to the 
standard as laid down in the United States Pharmacopoeia and contained more 
than 27.7 per cent of ash and less than 0.0735 per cent of mydriatic alkaloids.
On January 17, 1921, a plea of guilty to the information was entered on behalf 
of the defendant company, and the court imposed a fine of $100.
G. W. PUGSLEY, 
Acting Secretary of Agriculture.