^October^g™'  ^       Pharmacologic  Superstitions.  457 
neither  strychnine  nor  iron  should  ever  be  combined  with  the  hypo- 
phosphites.  Nevertheless  an  English  pharmacist  by  the  name  of 
James  I.  Fellows,  about  1870,  put  on  the  market  a  syrup  of  com- 
position similar  to  that  which  is  present  in  the  United  States  Phar- 
macopeia. The. origin  of  this  compound,  according  to  Fellows'  claim, 
was  his  own  personal  experience.  He  had  a  chronic  bronchitis 
which  by  some  of  his  medical  friends  was  pronounced  tuberculous, 
atlhough  there  seems  to  have  been  great  difference  of  opinion  among 
the  various  physicians  who  examined  him  as  to  the  nature  of  his 
malady.  He  began  to  experiment  on  himself  with  various  combina- 
tions of  drugs  which  he  imagined  might  be  beneficial.  After  four 
years  of  such  self -dosing  he  completely  regained  his  health  and  at- 
tributed the  result  to  the  concoction  which  is  now  known  as  Fellows' 
Compound  Syrup  of  Hypophosphites. 
Fellows'  explanation  of  the  modus  operandi  of  the  remedy  is 
even  more  remarkable  than  that  of  Dr.  Churchill.  Thus  he  begins 
his  brochure  in  1882  with  the  words,  "  This  is  a  combination  of  salts 
allied  to  blood  salts,  and  consequently  true  hematics,  with  the  blood 
building  iron  and  the  two  powerful  vegetable  tonics  strychnine  and 
quinine."6  Sodium  chlorid  is  just  as  nearly  "allied  to  the  blood 
salts  "  as  any  salt  in  his  syrup,  but  one  would  hardly  attribute  to  or- 
dinary salt  any  specific  virtues  in  tuberculosis. 
On  page  8  of  the  same  brochure  he  says :  "  The  hypophosphorus 
acid  seems'1  to  furnish  the  phosphorus  for  the  construction  of  lecithin 
more  readily  than  the  stable  form  phosphoric  acid.  Consequently 
.  .  .  the  less  stable  form  of  hypophosphites  can  be  broken  up  for 
the  production  of  free  phosphorus  for  the  production  of  lecithin." 
In  support  of  this  hypothesis  he  gives  not  the  slightest  scintilla  of 
evidence,  but  goes  on  the  common  principle  of  nostrum  venders  that 
any  assertion  made  with  sufficient  dogmatism  will  be  accepted  by 
the  medical  profession.  To  the  contrary,  the  investigations  of  Bod- 
daert,8  of  Mossol  and  Gamel,9  and  of  Panzer10  have  shown  definitely 
6  As  a  further  example  of  the  pseudoscientific  jargon  indulged  in  by  the 
hypophosphitist's,  I  may  quote  the  following  from  a  paper  by  Alcindor  (Prac- 
titioner, London,  1913,  xc,  123)  :  "  Prosphorus  initiates  and  promotes  among 
the  bioplasmic  elements,  oxidation  of  the  tissues,  which  is  the  primordial 
phenomenon  of  vitality,  with  consequent  integration  and  disintegration  and 
elimination  of  effete  products." 
7  Italics  ours. 
8Boddaert:  Arch,  de  pharmacod.,  1895,  ii,  195. 
9  Mossol  and  Gamel :  Jour,  de  pharm.  et  de  chim.,  1901,  xiv,  337. 
10  Panzer :  Ztschr.  f.  Untersuch.  d.  Nahrungs-u.  Genussmittel,  1902,  v,  ii- 
