562 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15 



PATENT MEDICINES. 

 I have been, as 30U may know, sending for 

 and testing different patent medicines adver- 

 tised in the papers, to be sent free of charge. 

 One pri']iaration, very extensively advertised, 

 seemed for a time to produce some effect — at 

 least \o ihe extent of giving relief for the spe- 

 cial symptoms it was recommended for. After 

 fui'tlier trial, however, I could not discover 

 that it made any difference whatever, only 

 that, by taking a full dose, it acted as a phys- 

 ic. This, of course, gave relief to some ex- 

 tent. I requested our Ohio Food Commission- 

 er to make an anal) is of the medicine, and he 

 did so. It contained about 12 per cent alco- 

 hol, and the predominant chemical agent was 

 epsom sails In tsking the medicine I no- 

 ticed a familiar taste, but did not succeed in 

 guessing what it was until he menticned ep- 

 som salts. Then the question arose, " Was it 

 the alcohol and the epsom salts that gave tem- 

 porary relief, or was it the particular root that 

 gave the medicine its name ? " I wrote to the 

 Commissioner, and below is his reply : 



Mr. A. I. Root: — I have been endeavoring to gather 

 some information for you in reply to your letter of 

 May 17th. I find, however, that the subject is so 

 broad, and my time so limited, I have not made much 

 progress. I would say, however, that, as a rule, the 

 patent-medicine people have a common practice of 

 giving a fanciful name to a very common preparation, 

 and advertising it as a wonderful discovery. I doubt 



if " " signifies any thing further than to mis- 



tify, interest, and gull people who imagine there is 

 something wrong with them. I do not know that 



there is any " " at all in this preparation; but 



it is a general term, and there are a thousand different 

 toots that might be called " root." 



The imprefsion is growing on me that a large per 

 cent of patent medicines are fakes, pure a e simple. 

 Whether the one to which you refer is a fake or not, I 

 am unable to .say at this time. 



Joseph E. Blackburn, 

 Dairy and Food Commissioner. 



Columbus, Ohio, June 14. 



I have thought best to suppress the name of 

 the root, because in this case the Commission- 

 er is giving onl}' his opinion ; and my impres- 

 sion, after giving the subject a study for many 

 years, and making caret ul tes s as well as I 

 was able, of prominent medicines, is lb at our 

 Food Commi.-sioner i.« sound and orthodox in 

 what he gives us in his brief statement above. 



The amount of alcohol taken just before 

 meals tbree times a day might prove to be a 

 temporary stimulant to digestion ; and the ep- 

 som salts would, no doubt, in many cases, give 

 relief in a great number of troubles with the 

 digestive apparatus. Then some harmless root 

 tincture might be added simply as a blind, 

 and the whole would give us a fair sample of 

 the patent medicines that are sold for one or 

 two dollars a bottle. A free sample to give 

 away would induce many people to make a 

 purchase, especially if a little "imagination " 

 were thrown in. My impression is that this is 

 a fair sample of the medicine business, and 

 that the much-lauded roots and shrubs have 

 little or no effect one way or the other. 



A NOVEL SUGGESTION IN REGARD TO KEEP- 

 ING IN GOOD HEALTH. 



The editor of the Progressive Bee keeper 

 stiggests that one way of preventing sickness 

 is to keep out of debt. He gets his authority 

 for taking this ground from the fact that so 

 many people get sick just after persuading 

 you to trust them — or, at any rate, they write 

 that the reason they can not pay according to 

 agreement is that they have been sick; and 

 this debt that hangs over the head of the 

 family seems to affect the wife and children. 

 One poor man urges, as an excuse for not pay- 

 ing, that they have all been sick for two 

 months — even to the mother-in-law; therefore 

 the Progressive advises keeping out of debt if 

 you want to enjoy good health. Now, there 

 is a moral to this little story. The class of 

 people who repeat the story so often about 

 sickness in the family whenever they are 

 urged to make good their promises should re- 

 member the thing is getting to be a little 

 threadbare — at least some of the bee-journals 

 think .so. Now, may God forbid that I should 

 cast insinuations on those who are doing their 

 best to be prompt. We are all liable to be 

 sick; but in all business ventures I think it 

 behooves us to remeinber we are none of us 

 sure of being well. 



KIND WORDS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. 



Supplies came to hand, and are satisfactory. Sec- 

 tions are the finest I ever saw; everj'thing shows prog- 

 ress. R. Stehle. 



Marietta, O., June 14. 



I received my foundation from the express office to- 

 day, and am filling frames as fast as I can. It is the 

 finest lot of foundation I ever used. J. D. Givens. 



Lisbon, Texas, April IS. 



MAKIMG THINGS GROW BY GIVING THEM "LOVING 

 CARE." 



One week ago to-dav I planted ten of the tomato 

 .seeds you sent me, in ground fixed as fine as could be 

 done ; put a stick by each seed to mark the place, and 

 watered the ground lightly with a whisk-hroom. 

 Next morning I put a piece of canvas, four double, 

 over them ; every evening I took it off, and dampen- 

 ed the soil a little. To-day every seed is up — not a 

 weak one among them. I gave two seeds to a kind 

 neighbor, and, to his delight, both of his are up. I 

 have shaded, watered, and watched my " Darling," 

 and it has begun to grow. I can't tell you the plea- 

 sure they give me. Mrs. Emma Slaughter. 



Mayfield, Ky., June 7. 



A little spring had lost its way amid the grass and fern; 

 A passing stranger scooped a well, where weary men 



might turn ; 

 He walled it in and hung with care a ladle at the 



brink ; 

 He thought not of the deed he did, but judged that 



toil niighi drink. 

 He passed again, and, lo ! the well bj' summers never 



dried 

 Had cooled ten thousand parching throats, and saved 



a life besides. — Farm Journal. 



CONVENTION NOTICE. 



The annual meeting of the Northern Illinois Bee- 

 keepers' .Association will be held at the court-house 

 in p-reeport. 111., on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 

 lU and 17, ISOS. All interested in bees are invited to 

 attend. B. Kennedy, Sec, 



New Milford, 111. 



