From the result of the analysis we feel confident that the preparation is to all intents and purposes a mixture of boric acid and sulphate of zinc.
The carbolic acid, thyme, eucalyptus, wintergreen, etc., if present, are present only in sufficient amount to give the compound a satisfactory odor.
In view of the fact that J. S. Tyree has given wide publicity to a formula which the preceding report has shown to be a deliberate misrepresentation of facts, it is recommended that the article be refused recognition by the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry, and that this report be published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The recommendation of the subcommittee was adopted by the Council in accordance with which the report is published.
W. A. Puckner, Secretary.
Mr. Tyree, in a letter to Dr. Simmons (which he states he writes at the request of Dr. Kebler of the Drug Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture, though he is under no moral or financial obligation to do so), says that it has been his intention to inform the medical profession of his reasons for changing the formula of Tyree’s Antiseptic Powder from an alum and borax base to a boracic acid and zinc base. He states that this change was made at the suggestion of prominent physicians connected with hospital clinics on nose and throat, venereal and other conditions and that he has had in contemplation the omission from the label of the various conditions to which the preparation is applicable.
Mr. Tyree, it will be seen, assumes the right to sell to physicians a preparation with a descriptive formula which he acknowledges is false, and he presumes to use his own pleasure as to the time when he will inform them of its true composition.
Mr. Tyree does not state when he changed the formula. We do not know whether it was a year ago, five years ago or ten years ago, but we do know that the package which was used in making the first analysis was purchased as early as last February, and the first chemist’s report was submitted to the Council March 5, 1906. On April 4 Mr. Tyree was notified by the Council that the composition of Tyree’s Antiseptic Powder did not correspond to the formula published by him.
Whether or not Mr. Tyree is justified in offering our profession a preparation as composed chiefly of borax and alum when in reality it is chiefly composed of boric acid and zinc sulphate, we leave physicians to judge.