Don't let drinking water stand uncovered. The air of living rooms is full of dirt from human breath and human bodies; therefore, air your rooms daily. Keep your cooking utensils clean and off the floor. Keep the floor clean, especially where little children creep and play. Bugs and mice carry infection; they never stay in clean places. Do not serve food on a dirty table, nor from dirty utensils. Keep the dish-pan clean, and the dish-cloths and towels, and everything else that has to do with food. The cook's hands must be clean. Typhoid fever has been contracted from dirty hands. Keep flies out of your house, especially the kitchen. Grease and dirt attract them. MILK RULES. Tuberculosis kills 5,000,000 people annually. It may be carried through infected milk. Select a milk man who has clean hands, clean clothes, clean wagon, clean cans, clean bottles. Do not select a milk man because he sells cheap milk. Refuse milk that shows a deposit of dirt in the bottom of the bottle. Do not forget that dirt in milk is a menace to health. Do not forget that dirty milk may kill the baby. Always keep Pasteurized milk cool. Use at once. Do not forget that germs multiply more rapidly in Pasteurized milk than in any other. Do not leave milk uncovered anywhere. Do not leave milk in a warm room, or unchilled ice-box. Protect it from flies. Do not leave it out-of-doors in the sun or exposed to cats or dogs. Do not use the milk bottles for anything but milk. Wash and scald milk bottles as soon as emptied. Return clean bottles to the milk man. Buy only bottled milk, if possible. LABELS. The law requires all food manufacturers to label their products truthfully. Do read the labels carefully. They are your protection from fraud. Study them, and learn what is an honest label. The labels must tell what is inside the can or box or bottle. If it is a compound, it must be so stated. Read the small print, as it is often more important than the large. Does the label tell the truth about the weight of the package? Don't buy foods artificially colored. Don't buy foods containing chemical preservatives. A Maiden's Quest For Beauty. By Harry Ellard. The beauty column every day with eagerness she read, And studied illustrations, which would make her young 'twas said, If she followed out instructions for but a single year. It grieved her much to know her nose was lightly retrousse, So with her fingers and her thumb she pulled it down each day, And into all her wrinkles she rubbed this very hard. With vaseline and starch she filled the crow's feet 'round her eyes, No silver threads among the gold should vex her spirit more, And with a dextrous sleight of hand her boot could touch her nose. Alas, alas; she followed all directions that were given, Until she was within her mind to desperation driven, She jumped, she danced, she shouted, yelled, to improve her limbs and voice, Her crooked mouth remained the same, the pimples held their place, The Fight For Pure Food. By Ben La Bree, Jr. When the American Medical Association went on record, as it did, last month in Atlantic City against the use of artificial preservatives in food products, and the same stand is taken by the Homeopaths at their annual session in Detroit, July 24th, it seems, from the standpoint of the consumer, that the last word has been spoken regarding the harmfulness of these drugs. Yet, in spite of this decision of the court of the last appeal, as the medical authorities of the country assuredly should be, the fight for pure food has yet to be waged, and the small consumers-the people-must do it. It is therefore important that the ordinary person, especially the housewife, upon whom the health of the family depends, should be acquainted with the facts and conditions governing the sale of food products. When the National Pure Food Law, after many years of agitation, was finally passed, three years ago, the Bureau of Chemistry was the department selected to take charge of its enforcement, and Dr. Harvey W. Wiley was made Chief. It may be well to explain here to those unacquainted with the workings of our Government that Congress has no power to legislate in any way for the various States as to what shall be sold and labeled, as long as that product is sold only within the State where it is manufactured. Such an article is subject only to the State Pure Food Law, if there be one, and the Federal Government regulations can in no way be enforced. However, as soon as a manufacturer branches out and sells his product outside of the State in which it is produced, it then becomes an article of interstate commerce, and the Federal law becomes operative. On the other hand, a food product may conform to the Federal restrictions and not to those of some particular State, and it therefore cannot be marketed in that State. One of Dr. Wiley's first acts was to rule against drugs in food, especially benzoate of soda, which had been used by the manufacturers to a great extent to preserve decomposed raw material. He pointed out that, when wholesome products are prepared by sanitary methods of manufacture, no preservative need be added. Then came the protest from the "impure" producers, who, with their powerful influence, brought pressure to bear on the powers that be in Washington to have a commission appointed to look. into the facts and report on the harmfulness or harmlessness of these drugs, but principally benzoate of soda. This commission was appointed and was known as the Remsen Board, after its chief, Prof. Ira Remsen, of Johns Hopkins University. This Board, after. several months' test on healthy students' found, as they reported, that a small quantity of benzoate of soda, administered daily, revealed no pathological condition in their subjects. As a result of this finding, the manufacturers of drugged foods continued as before, excepting that they placed upon their labels, in conformity with the law, in as small a type as possible, that their products contained 1-10 of 1 per cent. benzoate of soda. Nothing daunted, however, in the interest of the people, Dr. Wiley stood by his original finding, declaring that it was not so much a question of the harmfulness or harmlessness of the drug itself, though the entire medical profession has proved the former, but that this substance was used for one or both of two reasons-to take the place of cleanliness and care in preparation, or to permit the use of inferior products rotten tomatoes, beans fruits, etc. Against these facts, no tenable opposition has ever been advanced. Thus it was that, with the National Pure Food Law in danger of nullification by these new decisions, the American Medical Association, through its chairman of the Legislative Council, Dr. Chas. A. L. Reed, of Cincinnati, whose agitation during the last twenty years made possible, in large part, the framing of the law, passed strong resolutions of commendation for Dr. Wiley, and called upon Congress unreservedly to prevent the use of artificial preservatives in food. This was done at their annual session this year at Atlantic City, on June 10th, and a delegation was appointed, headed by Dr. Reed, to present these resolutions to the President, and to impress upon him the fact that this was the decision of the organized medical profession of the country. The American Health League-the lay movement for securing better health legislation-was represented by the writer. President Taft said that he was thoroughly and totally in sympathy with what the doctors were trying to accomplish, and thought that the Pure Food Law was the greatest and most vital one on the statute books to-day, and he was determined that it should be enforced as the makers had intended it to be. This meeting had scarcely adjourned before a report became circulated that pressure would be brought to bear upon the American Institute of Homeopathy, which would hold its annual session in Detroit, the latter part of June, to reverse the resolutions of the American Medical Association, and go on record as endorsing the Remsen Board. Whether such an attempt was really made, is not known; but if it was, it had the opposite effect, as the Institute passed two resolutions-even stronger than those of the A. M. A.denouncing the use of drugged food and commending Dr. Wiley. That Congress will heed the advice of the physicians of the country and empower Dr. Wiley to stop the use of all artificially preserved food products, destined for interstate commerce, seems fairly assured; but in the meantime the thrifty housewife, if she would guard the health of her family, may still make use of the protection that the Government does actually afford-the labels. Every label appearing on any prepared food must state the name of the preservative used, if any, and the quantity. If no preservative is contained in the article, there is no mention of a drug on the label, and the purchaser is assured of its purity. Such individual caution on the part of the consumer would do more to eliminate the impure foods and establish a high standard of quality in this country than years of State and National food legislation. But since this utopian condition is not likely to obtain very soon, we must look to legislation for relief. The American Health League is educating the people by the sheer force of members to the enormity of the present conditions, and how, by a decided stand, they can be corrected. It is self-eviContinued on page 21. To the Druggists and Others Concerned: Investigations by this department show that the following subjects demand your attention: Spirits of Ether. Hoffmann's Anodyne. There seems to be some difference of opinion among the trade as to what should be delivered when Hoffmann's Anodyne is called for. In view of the fact that this is the synonym recognized by the United States and National Dispensatories for Compound Spirit of Ether, and was also applied in the same way by the United States Pharmacopoeia as long as that work continued to print the synonym, this meaning of the term will be in future recognized by this department. Druggists are therefore notified that sales under the name or label "Hoffmann's Anodyne," the official Compound Spirit of Ether, should be dispensed. Hoffmann's Drops. The above title is recognized by this department as applying properly to the simple Spirit of Ether of the United States Pharmacopoeia. Sweet Spirit of Nitre. Your attention is again called to the importance of keeping this product. in accordance with the provision laid down in the 8th Edition of the U. S. P., which directs that it will keep in small, well stoppered, dark ambercolored vials, in a cool place, remote from light or fire. Tincture of Ferric Chloride. The Pharmacopoeia directs that this be kept in glass stoppered bottles, protected from light, the chemical action of which occasions reduction from a ferric to a ferrous salt. In many cases the reduction is so marked that the tincture practically contains only ferrous iron. The necessity for the observance of these precautions is more important to-day than it was years ago, as this product remains on hand a much longer period. Tincture of Iodine. For good and sufficient reasons, the Committee on Revision of the Pharmacopoeia, in the 8th Revision, provided that this tincture shall contain 7 per cent. of Iodine and 5 per cent. of Iodide of Potassium. A few druggists continue to sell and dispense a preparation that contains no Iodide of Potassium, or an insufficient amount. From this date the department will regard this omission as a deliberate adulteration, and the guilty will be dealt with according to law. Bay Rum. This is not official in the 8th Edition of the U. S. P., but the standard therefor in Ohio is laid down in the Appendix to the 3rd Edition of the |