United States v. Hillier's Son Co.

14 Ct. Cust. 216, 1926 WL 27834, 1926 CCPA LEXIS 318
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedMay 29, 1926
DocketNo. 2728
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 14 Ct. Cust. 216 (United States v. Hillier's Son Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Hillier's Son Co., 14 Ct. Cust. 216, 1926 WL 27834, 1926 CCPA LEXIS 318 (ccpa 1926).

Opinion

Hatfield, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

The merchandise involved in this appeal is scammony resin. It was assessed for duty by the collector under paragraph 5 of the Tariff Act of 1922, which reads as follows:

Par. 6. All chemical elements, all.chemieal salts and compounds, all medicinal preparations, and all combinations and mixtures of any of the foregoing, all the foregoing obtained naturally or artificially and not specially provided for,. 25 per centum ad valorem.

It was claimed in the protest and held by the Board of General Appraisers to be free of duty under the provision for “resins, not specially provided for,” contained in paragraph 1584 of the Tariff Act of 1922, which reads as follows:

Par. 1584. Gums and resins: Damar, kauri, copal, dragon’s blood, kadaya, sandarac, tragacanth, tragasol, and other gums, gum resins, and resins, not specially provided for.

It is conceded that, if the merchandise is dutiable under paragraph 5, it must come within the provision contained therein for “all medicinal preparations, * * * not specially provided for.”

From the record in the case it appears that scammony resin is obtained from shredded scammony root by percolating it with alcohol: The resin is then precipitated by means of water. It is in small pieces, and was imported in tins containing approximately 100 pounds each. There was only one witness called by the importer. He testified that the merchandise is used as a cathartic, and as a remedy for “external skin disease,” when mixed with other things and.that it is never used in its imported condition for such purposes.

One witness testified for the Government. He stated that he was in the Government service as a pharmacognosist in the Bureau of Chemistry; that he was familiar with the processes used in producing scammony resin, and the uses to which such resin is put; that it is used as a cathartic or purgative. With reference to its preparation for such use, he said:

Q. Is it used alone or is it mixed with something else? — A. It is mixed with other things, mostly fillers.
[218]*218Q. Do you know what the other things are? — A. In the event it is made in the form of a pill to be administered, it is usually mixed with starch and glucose, the glucose acting as an excipient.
Q. As what? — A. Excipient, to make it bind; or it may be administered in connection with other correctives and prepared in the form of a tablet.
Q. Well, are these other things that are put with it used merely to take the taste away, or are they to make a chemical combination or some other purpose?— A. They may be used either way.
Q. Well, do you know, in those pills or tablets which you speak of, what the use of the scammony resin is in it? — A. The use of scammony resin, wherever it is prescribed, is for its cathartic value.
Q. That is, the pills are given for their cathartic value? — A. Yes.
Q. And is the cathartic value, is that from the scammony resin? — -A. Yes, that is the active principle.

The trial court found from the evidence that the merchandise is not used as a medicine in its imported condition; but that it is “used in the making up and manufacture of medicines and without the addition of other things is not ready for administering as a medicine.”

The Government contends that the merchandise is a medicinal preparation in its imported condition; that, while it is necessary to mix it with other materials before it can be administered as a medicine, such materials do' not change the character of the resin, and are used only for the purpose of providing an inert “carrier” or “vehicle” for introducing the resin into the stomach; that the provision for medicinal preparations contained in paragraph 5 more aptly describes the merchandise than the provision for resins contained in paragraph 1584.

The appellee contends that the resin in its imported condition is not a medicinal preparation; that, if it should be held to be a medicinal preparation, it is, nevertheless, more specifically provided for under the provision for “resins” contained in paragraph 1584.

In McKesson & Robbins v. United States, 3 Ct. Cust. Appls. 515, T. D. 33167, decided February 1, 1913, menthol was held a medicinal preparation. It was shown to be produced by freezing the oil collected from a distillate of the peppermint plant, and to be used only as a medicine—sometimes alone, but usually in combination with an inert carrier. We quote from the opinion:

Does the fact that in its customary use it is to be put in form for such use by the use of a carrier or that it is to be dissolved, so long as it requires no chemical change and no compounding with other medical ingredients to make it useful as a medicine, result in taking it out of the category of medicinal preparations? We think not.

■ Counsel for the Government argues that the merchandise in question comes squarely within the decision in the above case. In order to determine that question we must turn to the evidence in this case. The witness for the importer testified that, in order to use scammony resin for medicinal purposes, it was necessary to mix it with other [219]*219“materials.” He frankly admitted that, not being a “pharmacist,” he did not know what such “materials” were.

The witness for the Government, who was apparently qualified to testify in that regard, said that, when the resin is prepared to be administered as medicine in the form of a pill, it is usually mixed with starch and glucose, the glucose acting as an excipient; and that the resin might be administered in the form of a tablet with other correctives; that the use of the resin, in whatever manner prescribed, is for its cathartic value. He stated that, in addition to these uses, the resin could be used with other agencies to make a chemical combination.

It seems clear from the evidence that the resin in question is used exclusively as a medicine; that it is not administered in its imported condition; that it may be and is used for medicinal purposes when combined with inert carriers; that no chemical change is required, nor is it necessary to compound it with other medicinal properties in order to make it useful as a medicine. It would seem, therefore, that, in view of the decision of this court in the McKesson case, supra, it has been established that the merchandise is a medicinal preparation.

Counsel for the appellee contends that it was held in the case of United States v. Martin, 155 Fed. 264, that scammony resin was not a medicinal preparation, but a drug advanced in value. The court did so hold. The record in that case was evidently quite different from the record in the case at bar. The opinion of Somerville, G. A., was approved by the Circuit Court without comment. In the opinion of the board, Judge Somerville said:

1 One of the witnesses, a druggist of experience, testified that, before it can be used at all, it has to be dried in a kiln and then powdered; that, before it is fit to be used medicinally, it must be compounded with other drugs; and that it is principally employed in the production of calisaya compounds. (Italics ours.)

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14 Ct. Cust. 216, 1926 WL 27834, 1926 CCPA LEXIS 318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-hilliers-son-co-ccpa-1926.