18316. Adulteration   and   Misbranding of   ether.      IT.    S.   v.    Seventy-five
1-Pound Cans of Ether. Consent decree of condemnation. Prod- 
uct   delivered   to   department   for   analytical   purposes.      (F.   &  D.
No. 25600.    I. S. Nos. 8927, 8928.    S. No. 3903.)
Samples of ether from the shipment herein described having been found to 
contain peroxide, a decomposition product, the Secretary of Agriculture re- 
ported the matter to the United States attorney for the Western District of 
Pennsylvania.
On January 2, 1931, the United States attorney filed in the District Court 
of the United States for the district aforesaid a libel praying seizure and con- 
demnation of seventy-five 1-pound cans of ether at Pittsburgh, Pa., alleging 
that the article had been shipped by Merck & Co., from Newark, N. J., on or 
about November 17, 1930, and had been transported from the State of New 
Jersey into the State of Pennsylvania, and charging adulteration and mis- 
branding in violation of the food and drugs act. The article was labeled in 
part: " Ether U.S.P."
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 strength, quality, and purity as determined by tests laid 
down in said pharmacopoeia, in that it contained peroxide.
Misbranding was alleged for. the reason that the statement on the can label, 
" Ether U.S.P.," was false and misleading.
On May 25, 1931, Merck & Co., Rahway, N. J., having withdrawn claim and 
answer and having consented to the entry of a decree of condemnation, judg- 
ment was entered by the court ordering that the product be destroyed by the 
United States marshal. On July 15, 1931, an amended order was entered 
directing the marshal to turn the product over to this department for analytical 
purposes.
ABTHUB M. HYDE, Secretary of Agriculture.