18399. Adulteration and Misbranding of ether.    U. S. v. 38 Cans of Ether.
Default decree of condemnation, forfeiture, and destruction.     (F.
& D." No. 25910.    I. S. No. 26923.    S. No. 4167.)
Samples of ether from the shipment herein described having been found to 
contain peroxide, a decomposition product, the Secretary of Agriculture reported 
the matter to the United States attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
On or about February 27,1931, the United States attorney filed in the District 
Court of the United States for the district aforesaid a libel praying seizure and 
condemnation of 38 cans of ether, remaining in the original packages at Dallas, 
Tex., alleging that the article had been shipped by the Mallinckrodt Chemical 
Works, St. Louis, Mo., on or about May 1, 1930, and had been transported from 
the State of Missouri into the State-of Texas, and charging adulteration and 
misbranding in violation of the food and drugs act. The article was labeled in 
part: " Ether for Anesthesia."
It was alleged in the libel that the article was adulterated in that it was 
sold under a name recognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia, and dif- 
fered from the standard of purity as determined by the test for ether laid down 
in the said pharmacopoeia at the time of investigation, since it contained 
peroxide.
Misbranding was alleged for the reason that the article was labeled, " Ether 
for Anesthesia," which label was false and misleading in that it led the public 
to believe that the article was ether which conformed to the standard of 
purity laid down in the United States Pharmacopoeia, whereas it did not, since 
it contained peroxide.
On May 15, 1931, no claimant having appeared for the property, judgment 
of condemnation and forfeiture was entered, and it was ordered by the court 
that the product be destroyed by the United States marshal.
ABTHTTE M. HYDE, Secretary of Agriculture.