18480. Adulteration   and   Misbranding of   etber.     U.   S.   v.   Forty   1-Pound
Cans  of Etber.    Default decree of condemnation and sale.     (F. &
D. No. 25867.    I. S. No. 20552.    S. No. 4104.)
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 Ohio.
On February 6, 1931, the United States attorney filed in the District Court of 
the United States for the district aforesaid a libel praying seizure and condem- 
nation of forty 1-pound cans of ether at Akron, Ohio, alleging that the article 
had been shipped by Merck & Co., Rahway, N. J., on or about May 26, 1930, and
had been transported from the State of New Jersey into the State of Ohio, and 
charging adulteration and misbranding in violation of the food and drugs act. 
The article was labeled in part: " Ether for Anesthesia 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 Unfted States Pharmacopoeia, and differed 
from the standard of strength, quality, and purity as determined by the tests 
laid down in the said pharmacopoeia.
Misbranding was alleged for the reason that the statement on the label, 
"Ether for Anesthesia, U. S. P.," was false and misleading when applied to 
an article differing from the pharmacopoeial requirements, in that it con- 
tained peroxide.
On May 16, 1931, no claimant having appeared for the property, judgment 
was entered finding the product liable to condemnation, and it was ordered by 
the court that the said product be sold by the United States marshal under 
terms and conditions that would not violate the Federal food and drugs act.
AETHUB M. HYDE, Secretary of Agriculture.