17464. Adulteration   and  Misbranding of   ether.    U.   S.   v.   500  Half-Found 
Tins   of  Ether.     Default   decree   of   destruction   entered.     (F.   &  D.
No. 24072.    I. S. Nos. 019606, 019607.    S. No. 2309.)
Samples of ether from the herein-described interstate shipment having been 
found to contain peroxide, a decomposition product, the Secretary of Agricul- 
ture reported the facts to the United States attorney for the District of 
Minnesota.
On September 21, 1929, the United States attorney filed in the District Court 
of the United States for said district a libel praying seizure and condemnation 
of 500 half-pound tins of ether, remaining in the original unbroken packages 
at Minneapolis, Minn., alleging that the article had been shipped by the Ohio 
Chemical & Manufacturing Co., from Cleveland, Ohio, on or about July 19, 
1929, and had been transported in interstate commerce from the State of 
Ohio into the State of Minnesota, and charging adulteration and misbranding 
in violation of the food and drugs act. The article was labeled in part: " For 
Ether Anesthesia."
Analysis of a sample of the article by this department showed that the ether 
contained peroxide.
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 differed 
from the standard of purity as determined by the tests laid down in said 
pharmacopoeia, official at the time of investigation, in that it contained perox- 
ide. Adulteration was alleged for the further reason that its purity fell below 
the professed standard under which it was sold, namely: (Label) "The Ex- 
ceptional Purity of this Ether * * * The Exclusion of Air by Carbon 
Dioxide Prevents the Oxidation of Ether to Peroxides by Atmospheric Oxygen."
Misbranding was alleged for the reason that the statements appearing on 
the label, "The Exceptional Purity of this Ether * * * The Exclusion of 
Air by Carbon Dioxide Prevents the Oxidation of Ether to Peroxides by At- 
mospheric Oxygen," were false and misleading.
On April 10, 1930, no claimant having appeared for the property, judgment 
was entered by the court ordering that the product be destroyed by the United 
States marshal.
ARTHUR M. HYDE, Secretary of Agriculture.