27233. Misbranding of   double-distilled  witch  hazel.     U.   S.   v.   573  Bottles  of
Double  Distilled   Witch  Hazel.     Default  decree   of condemnation  and 
destruction.     (F. & D. no. 38777.    Sample no. 11592-C.)
The label of this article bore false and fraudulent representations regarding 
its curative or therapeutic effects.
On December 8, 1936, the United States attorney for the District of Massa- 
chusetts, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agriculture, filed in the dis- 
trict court a libel praying seizure and condemnation of 573 bottles of witch 
hazel at Boston, Mass., alleging that it had been shipped in interstate commerce 
on or about October 2, 1936, by the Gotham Sales Co., from New York, N. Y., 
and that it was misbranded in violation of the Food and Drugs Act as amended.
Analysis of the article showed that it consisted essentially of witch-hazel 
water.
It was alleged to be misbranded in that the following statements regarding 
its curative or therapeutic effects, borne on the bottle labels, were false and 
fraudulent: "For the relief of * * * burns, scalds, wounds, painful swell- 
ings, lame back, piles, sore throat, neuralgia, rheumatism,    *    *    *. etc."
On March 29, 1937, no claimant having appeared, judgment of condemnation 
was entered and it was ordered that the product be destroyed.
H. A. WALLACE, Secretary of Agriculture.