21660. Adulteration and misbranding of ether. 17. S. v. 180 Cans and 160 
Cans of Ether. Default decrees of condemnation, forfeiture, and 
destruction.     (F. & D. no. 29850.    Sample nos. 24061-A, 24062-A.)
These cases involved shipments of ether represented to be of pharmacopoeial 
standard. Samples of the article were found to contain aldehyde, a substance 
not found in a product which meets the tests of the United States Pharma- 
copoeia for ether.
On February 14 and February 16, 1933, the United States attorney for the 
Eastern District of Missouri, acting upon a report by the Secretary of Agri- 
culture, filed in the district court libels praying seizure and condemnation of 
three hundred and thirty 1-pound cans of ether at St. Louis, Mo., alleging that 
the article had been shipped in interstate commerce on or about January 10, 
1933, and January 27, 1933, by Merck & Co., Inc., from Rahway, N.J., and 
charging adulteration and misbranding in violation of the Food and Drugs Act.
Analyses of samples of the article by this Department showed that aldehyde 
was present in 2 of the 20 cans examined.
It was alleged in the libels that the article was adulterated in that it was 
sold under a name recognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia, and dif- 
fered from the standard of strength, quality, and purity as determined by the 
test laid down in the said pharmacopoeia, and its own standard was not stated 
on the label.
Misbranding was -alleged for the reason that the statement on the label, 
" Ether for Anesthesia, U. S. P.", was false and misleading.
On September 14, 1933, no claimant having appeared for the property, judg- 
ments of condemnation and forfeiture were entered, and it was ordered by 
the court that the product be destroyed by the United States marshal.
M. L. WILSON, Acting Secretary of Agriculture.