THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 151 



large scale. No ice is used in this method and during the manipula- 

 tion the temperature rises so that the mixture at times becomes hot 

 enough to produce steam. The operation is carried on in large 

 wooden vats which hold as much as one thousand gallons each in 

 the larger plants. By this process the manufacturer can turn out 

 a product costing ahout twenty-five cents per gallon which is quite 

 satisfactory. Even at this low cost of production the profits accruing 

 to the producer are extremely meagre. One can readily see that 

 when a gross of one-quarter pound hottles are sold as low as $5.50 

 per gross, there is very little left for the manufacturer after the 

 cost of the material, bottles, corks, labels, wrappers, packing case, 

 finishing labor and selling expense are deducted. Afore peroxide 

 manufacturers have entered into and gone out of this business during 

 the last ten years than are now in existence. 



CONSUMPTION OF MEDICINAL PEROXIi >K. 



The actual amount of peroxide consumed in America each year is 

 enormous, and is hard to appreciate until we recall the fact that there 

 are in the United States over one hundred factories which manufacture 

 this article. The output of each one of these factories varies from 

 fifty to a thousand gallons a day and in several instances even more. 

 The increase in the sale of peroxide during the last ten vears has 

 been phenomenal. It is said that one department store alone in 

 Xew York City sells nearly three-quarters of a ton each day during 

 the summer season ; there are other department stores selling in 

 proportion to their size in all the large cities of the United States 

 Add to this the still greater output of the combined druggists of the 

 United States, the five and ten cent stores, general stores, etc., and 

 we have a tremendous quantity, the exact amount of which would 

 be difficult to even estimate, as manufacturers will not give out truth- 

 ful statements regarding their yearly production. The manner in 

 which this tremendous business has been created, the part which the 

 druggist, the chemist, the physician, the surgeon and the manufacturer 

 lias played in educating the public to see and to recognize the value 

 of this really wonderful preparation would occupy many hours in the 

 description and fill many volumes in type. Suffice it to sav that the 

 intelligent person of to-day rushes for the peroxide bottle for every 

 minor ailment or accident, and it is needless to add that Peroxide of 

 Hydrogen deserves the popularity it has attained by reason of its 

 ready activity, its harmless action on healthy tissue and its "Teat 

 prophylactic power. 



