9717. Misbranding of    Zerbst's    congh    sirup.     TJ.    S.     *      *      *     v.    Zerbst
Pharmaceutical Co., a Corporation.     Plea of guilty.     Fine, $10 and 
costs.     (F. & D. No. 13086.    I.  S. No. 8095i-r.)
On December 8, 1920,-the United States.attorney for the Western District of 
Missouri, 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 
Zerbst Pharmaceutical Co., a corporation, St. Joseph, Mo., alleging shipment by 
said company, in violation of the Food and Drugs Act, as amended, on or about 
December 11, 1918, from the State of Missouri into the State of Kansas, of a 
quantity of Zerbst's cough sirup which was misbranded.
Analysis of a sample of the article by the Bureau of Chemistry of this de- 
partment showed that it consisted of a caramel-colored sirupy liquid, containing 
sugar, water, alcohol, chloroform, licorice, and other plant principles, and small 
amounts of tartar emetic, morphine, hyoscyamine, and a magnesium salt.
Misbranding of the article was alleged in substance in the information for 
the reason that certain statements, designs, and devices regarding the thera- 
peutic and curative effects thereof, appearing on the labels and cartons con- 
taining the said article, falsely and fraudulently represented it to be effective 
as a treatment, remedy, and cure for asthma, croup, whooping cough, bron- 
chitis, sore throat, inflammation of the lungs and throat, difficulty of breathing, 
and'all other diseases of the throat and lungs, when, in truth and in fact, it 
was not.
On March 7, 1921, a plea of guilty to the information was entered on behalf 
of the defendant company, and the court imposed a fine of $10 and costs.
C. W. PUGSLEY, Acting Secretary of Agriculture.