258 DRUGS AND PATENT MEDICINES 



The widespread use of patent cough medicines is due 

 largely to the fact that many persons avoid consulting a 

 physician about so trivial an ailment as an ordinary cold, or 

 are reluctant to pay a medical fee for what seems a slight 

 indisposition and hence attempt to doctor themselves. 



Catarrh is a very prevalent disease in America, and conse- 

 quently numerous catarrh remedies have been devised, most 

 of which contain in a disguised form the pernicious drug, 

 cocaine. Laws have been enacted which require on the 

 labels a declaration of the contents of the preparation, both 

 as to the kind of drug used and the amount, and the choice 

 of accepting or refusing such mixtures is left to the indi- 

 vidual. But the great mass of people are ignorant of the 

 harmful nature of drugs in general, and hence do not even 

 read the self-accusing label, or if they do glance at it, fail to 

 comprehend the dangerous nature of the drugs specified there. 

 In order to safeguard the uninformed purchaser and to re- 

 strict the manufacture of harmful patent remedies, some states 

 limit the sale of all preparations containing narcotics and thus 

 give free rein to neither consumer nor producer. 



241. Soothing Sirups; Soft Drinks. The development of 

 a race is limited by the mental and physical growth of its 

 children, and yet thousands of its children are annually stunted 

 and weakened by drugs, because most colic cures, teething con- 

 coctions, and soothing syrups are merely agreeably flavored 

 drug mixtures. Those who have used such preparations 

 freely, know that a child usually becomes fretful and irritable 

 between doses, and can be quieted only by larger and more 

 frequent supplies. A habit formed in this way is difficult to 

 overcome, and many a child when scarcely over its babyhood 

 has a craving which in later years may lead to systematic 

 drug taking. And even though the pernicious drug craving 

 is not created, considerable harm is done to the child, because 



