Drugs  and  Food  Products.  189 
patent  medicines  are  one  of  the  greatest  evils  this  country  is  afflicted 
with.  They  demoralize  the  people  by  engendering  a  constant  dread 
of  disease,  so-called,  pathophobia.  They  are  responsible  for  the 
pernicious  system  of  self-medication  for  imaginary  or  real  ills  ;  they 
frequently  ruin  health  and  jeopardize  life ;  they  divide  the  people  at 
large  into  two  classes :  a  larger  one,  composed  of  fools,  and  a  smaller, 
made  up  of  sharps  who  live  by  their  wits  at  the  expense  of  the  fools 
— in  short,  the  patent-medicine  vender  is  nothing  but  a  parasite  of 
the  worst  kind,  and  the  welfare  of  the  social  organism  depends 
solely  on  the  absence  or  presence  of  parasitic  growths.  Here  are  a 
few  facts  which  could  be  multiplied  ad  infinitum  did  time  permit :  A 
package  of  "  kaskine,"  a  much-vaunted  remedy,  sold  at  $1  an  ounce, 
was  found  by  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Health  to  consist  of 
nothing  more  or  less  than  granulated  sugar.  A  package  of  malt 
tablets,  for  the  cure  of  dyspepsia,  was  found  to  be  simply  sugar 
lozenges  colored  by  ferric  oxide.  A  sample  of  "  go  to  sleep  "  was 
found  to  consist  essentially  of  sulphonal,  a  drug  to  be  used  only  by 
the  recommendation  and  under  the  supervision  of  a  physician. 
Besides  being  poisonous,  its  continuous  use  defeats  the  very  purpose 
for  which  it  is  intended.  Hypnotics,  as  a  rule,  are  dangerous  when 
used  indiscriminately  by  the  laity.  A  sample  of  so-called  "  Boston 
drug,"  for  the  cure  of  drunkenness,  consisted  essentially  of  milk 
sugar,  9  parts,  and  ammonium  chloride,  1  part.  "  Quince  lotion  " 
was  found  to  contain  borax  and  oil  of  bergamot  (borax,  as  you  well 
know,  is  the  synonym  for  quince  seed).  Many  of  the  patent  medi- 
cines, however,  are  not  harmless  frauds  but  dangerous  missiles.  It 
is  as  though  a  highway  robber  extorted  your  money  and  then  sent  a 
bullet  into  your  head  as  an  expression  of  gratitude.  Thus  a  "  skin 
success  ointment "  was  found  to  be  composed  of  red  oxide  of  mer- 
cury. Most  of  the  face  lotions  contain  enormous  quantities  of 
corrosive  sublimate,  8  gra.  per  ounce  having  been  found  in  one 
sample  and  147  grs.  per  ounce  in  another  (Mrs.  McCorrison's 
Famous  Diamond  Face  Lotion).  All  of  the  vaunted  sarsaparillas, 
the  innocent  purifiers  of  the  simpleton's  blood,  contain  iodide  of 
potash  in  large  proportions.  Church's  was  found  to  contain  2-25 
per  cent.;  Leavitt's,  2-17  per  cent. ;  Myrick's,  212  per  cent. ;  Matti- 
son's,  2  per  cent.;  Dana's,  1-17  per  cent.,  and  so  on  through  the 
entire  list,  down  to  0  32  per  cent.  (Hood's  contains  0  75  per  cent.). 
"The  sale  of  such  an  article,"  says  the  Report  of  the  Massachusetts 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1902. 
