558 
Recognition  of  Synthetic  Chemicals. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\   November,  1902. 
manufacturer  of  the  remedy  he  is  extolling  ?  What  is  true,  how- 
ever, is  that  physicians  are  much  more  willing  to  report  their  suc- 
cesses than  their  failures  with  new  remedies.  This  is  evidenced  in 
the  ultimate  failure  of  hundreds  of  remedies,  despite  the  fact  that 
nothing  but  favorable  reports  on  them  can  be  found  in  the  current 
medical  journals. 
It  will,  of  course,  be  difficult  to  demonstrate  to  every  one  that 
but  few,  if  any,  of  these  patented  chemicals  have  had  anything  but 
an  artificial  popularity;  this,  in  turn,  having  been  created  by  liberal 
advertising  and  the  publication  of  premature  or  doubtful  observa- 
tions. 
There  is,  however,  one  serious  objection  to  the  recognition  of  any 
of  these  patented  remedies,  and  that  is  the  proprietary  right  that  is 
vested  in  the  trade-marked  name. 
The  nature  and  possibilities  of  a  protection  of  this  kind  are  illus- 
trated in  the  reports  that  are  being  published  in  the  German  phar- 
maceutical journals.  As  is  well  known,  the  last  edition  of  the 
German  Pharmacopoeia  included  a  number  of  the  newer  remedies, 
either  under  their  chemical  titles  or  by  some  new  non  trade-marked 
name;  it  did,  however,  include  the  trade -marked  name  as  a 
synonym.  The  patents  on  one  or  more  of  these  preparations  hav- 
ing expired,  several  firms  began  their  manufacture,  marketing  them 
by  their  official  title,  and  at  less  than  half  the  price  of  the  trade- 
marked  article. 
The  apothecary  buying  this  new  product  and  dispensing  it  on  all 
prescriptions  that  called  for  the  chemical,  irrespective  of  the  name, 
soon  found  that  he  had  made  himself  liable  to  all  the  dire  conse- 
quences ot  transgressing  the  law.  The  practical  lesson  that  the 
German  pharmacist  learned  by  his  little  experiment  was  that  he 
could  substitute  the  synonym  for  the  official  title,  but  that  the  offi- 
cial title  and  all  it  called  for  did  not  protect  him  in  case  the  particu- 
lar drug  had  been  called  for  by  the  synonym. 
This  is,  of  course,  but  an  evident  question  of  common  law,  the 
principle  of  which  has  been  repeatedly  demonstrated. 
The  proper  solution  ot  this  particular  problem  would  appear  to 
be  that  if  it  is  considered  desirable  to  include  the  trade-marked 
chemicals  the  trade-mark  itself  should  be  entirely  ignored,  and  the 
substance  be  designated  solely  by  its  chemical  title,  or  by  some  new 
name,  or  modification  of  the  chemical  title,  with  the  latter  as  a 
