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to purchase perishable drugs in the open market although the Indian Office reports that this practice has long been permissible. These doctors therefore deemed it wise to put in an ample supply of all listed drugs, in case they might need them.

Some agencies do not keep an inventory of their drugs and consequently order without consideration of existing supplies. In the absence of an agency physician, the chief clerk frequently duplicates the order for the previous year, thus overstocking with perishable drugs and others that perhaps only one physician will care to use.

Surplus army and navy supplies have from time to time been offered other federal bureaus. Some of this material is good and some worthless. In the past it has been shipped to agencies without an order and consequently they are overstocked on supplies for which they have little use. This has been true especially of narcotics. In several places large quantities of powdered morphine were found. In this form it is practically useless on a reservation. Within the past year this practice has been remedied. All such supplies are now carefully checked for their potency and suitability before being received by the Service.

The district medical officers with the agency physicians are now going over the agency supply with the view to eliminating deteriorated stock and transferring surplus supplies.

The annual estimate lists the drug supplies that can be ordered without special request, and the physician is supposed to keep within this limitation. If sufficient cause is shown for the purchase of drugs not listed, they can be supplied by special order from the Chief Medical Director. These lists are being revised to give the physician the widest possible range in the selection of his medicaments.

The Service maintains large warehouses in St. Louis and Chicago, from which drugs and supplies are distributed to the various agencies. They are being carefully checked at this time to eliminate surplus and inferior drugs.

In several instances the funds available at present are not sufficient to provide the necessary medication. In some instances the fund amounts to less than ten cents per capita.

The quality of drugs supplied in the past has not always been good. Acetyl-salicylic acid tablets (aspirin) are so friable that they