Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act, all drugs, medicines, medicinal preparations, including medicinal essential oils, and chemical preparations used wholly or in part as medicine, imported into the United States from abroad, shall, before passing the custom-house, be examined and

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appraised, as well in reference to their quality, purity, and fitness for medical purposes, as to their value and identity specified in the invoice.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all medicinal preparations, whether chemical or otherwise, usually imported with the name of the manufacturer, shall have the true name of the manufacturer, and the place where they are prepared, permanently and legibly affixed to each parcel, by stamp, label, or otherwise; and all medicinal preparations imported without such names affixed as aforesaid, shall be adjudged to be forfeited.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That if, on examination, any drugs, medicines, medicinal preparations, whether chemical or otherwise, including medicinal essential oils, are found, in the opinion of the examiner, to be so far adulterated, or in any manner deteriorated, as to render them inferior in strength and purity to the standard established by the United States, Edinburgh, London, French, and German pharmacopoeias and dispensatories, and thereby improper, unsafe, or dangerous to be used for medicinal purposes, a return to that effect shall be made upon the invoice, and the articles so noted shall not pass the custom-house, unless, on a reexamination of a strictly analytical character, called for by the owner or consignee, the return of the examiner shall be found erroneous, and it shall be declared as the result of such analysis, that the said articles may properly, safely, and without danger, be used for medicinal purposes.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the owner or consignee shall at all times, when dissatisfied with the examiner's return, have the privilege of calling, at his own expense, for a reexamination; and, on depositing with the collector such sum as the latter may deem sufficient to defray such expense, it shall be the duty of that officer to procure some competent analytical chemist possessing the confidence of the medical profession, as well as that of the colleges of medicine and pharmacy, if any such institutions exist in the State in which the collection district is situated, a careful analysis of the articles included in said return, and a report upon the same under oath; and in case the report, which shall be final, shall declare the return of the examiner to be erroneous, and the said articles to be of the requisite strength and purity, according to the standards referred to in the next preceding section of this act, the entire invoice shall be passed without reservation, on payment of the customary duties; but, in case the examiner's return shall be sustained by the analysis and report, the said articles shall remain in charge of the collector, and the owner or consignee, on payment of the charges of storage, and other expenses necessarily incurred by the United States, and on giving a bond with sureties satisfactory to the collector to land said articles out of the limits of the United States, shall have the privilege of reëxporting them at any time within the period of six months after the report of the analysis; but if the said articles shall not be sent out of the United States within the time specified, it shall be the duty of the collector, at the expiration of said time, to cause the same to be destroyed, holding the owner or consignee responsible to the United States for the payment of all charges, in the same manner as if said articles had been reëxported.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That, in order to carry into effect the provisions of this act, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and required to appoint suitably qualified persons as special examiners of drugs, medicines, chemicals, &c., namely: one examiner in each of the ports of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans, with the following salaries, viz. : at New York, sixteen hundred dollars per annum; and at each of the other ports above named, one thousand dollars per annum; which said

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salaries shall be paid each year, quarterly, out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated; and it shall be the duty of the said secretary to give such instructions to the collectors of the customs in the other collection districts, as he may deem necessary to prevent the importation of adulterated and spurious drugs and medicines.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the special examiners to be appointed under this act shall, before entering on the discharge of their duties, take and subscribe the oath or affirmation required by the ninth section of the act of the thirtieth July, eighteen hundred and forty-six, entitled "An Act reducing the duty on imports, and for other purposes."

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the special examiners authorized to be appointed by the fifth section of this act shall, if suitably qualified persons can be found, be taken from the officers now employed in the respective collection districts; and if new appointments shall be necessary for want of such persons, then, as soon as it can be done consistently with the efficiency of the service, the officers in said districts shall be reduced, so that the present number of said officers shall not be permanently increased by reason of such new appointments.

Approved, June 26, 1848.