Ami™;J%;rm'}  Editorial.  623 
Quackery  in  the  Garb  of  Piety. — We  have  received  several  letters  asking  for 
information  about  a  nostrum  which  is  extensively  advertised  in  a  style  somewhat 
similar  to  that  adopted  by  a  quack,  "  whose  sands  of  life  had  nearly  run  out"  a 
number  of  years  ago,  but  who  seems  to  be  at  the  bottom  of  the  present  enterprise, 
or  else  has  been  successfully  copied  by  another.  The  latter  pretends  to  be  a  min- 
ister of  the  gospel  and  a  former  missionary  at  Para,  where  he  asserts  to  havfe 
become  acquainted  with  the  wonderful  restorative  properties  of  this  compound, 
which  consists  of  extract  of  corassa  apimis  eight  drachms,  extract  of  selarmo  um- 
beiifera  four  drachms,  powdered  alkermes  latifolia  three  drachms  and  extract  of 
tarsadoc  herbalis  six  drachms.  In  his  compassion  for  unfortunate  sufferers,  this  good 
and  pious  quack  offers  to  send  this  wonderful  remedy,  securely  sealed  and  accom- 
panied by  directions  and  some  excellent  advice,  for  the  modest  sum  of  $3.30  by 
express  or  $3.50  by  mail,  which  price  includes  the  government  stamp,  and  is  just 
what  it  costs  him  he  seeks  no  other  reward  than  the  satisfaction  of  doing  good 
and  the  blessing  of  an  approving  conscience.  His  means  make  him  independent, 
and  he  goes  to  all  this  trouble  merely  because  the  drug  stores  cannot  be  relied  upon 
to  procure  new  remedies  of  pure  quality. 
To  inquirers  we  have  simply  to  state  that  there  are  no  plants  in  the  Amazon 
valley,  or  anywhere  else,  bearing  the  above  names,  and  this  alone  should  be  suffi- 
cient to  stamp  the  enterprise  as  an  imposition,  merely  undertaken  for  the  purpose 
of  catching  the  dollars  of  dupes. 
A  quack  of  the  same  stamp,  simulating  piety  and  frankness  with  the  view  of 
the  more  readily  drawing  the  money  of  the  credulous,  was  exposed  by  the  "Phila- 
delphia Times"  of  November  14.  His  prescription  for  the  sure  and  speedy  cure  of 
consumption,  etc.,  which  he  offered  to  put  up  at  $3,  was  as  follows : 
Extract  Asiatic  cannabis  sativa,  two  ounces  ;  extract  Asiatic  halish  sativa,  three 
ounces;  verbena  hastata,  two  drachms;  extract  diasma,  three  drachms;  pulverized 
cinchona  bark,  two  ounces;  extract  cashgar  leaves  (blood  root),  three  ounces: 
Inulin,  one  drachm;  loaf  sugar,  one  pound;  rum  or  gin,  half  pint;  cold  water, 
one  pint. 
Forged  Diplomas. — Under  date  of  October  27,  the  following  note  was  received 
by  one  of  the  faculty : 
"  Disreputable  persons  are  trading  in  diplomas  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy.  They  were  given  to  graduates  who  are  now  deceased.  The  proposi- 
tion is  to  erase  the  name  of  the  dead  graduate  and  insert  any  name  to  suit  the  case. 
The  price  of  the  black  sheepskin  is  $100 — cash  in  confidence." 
The  note  was  signed  "An  alumnus  of  P.  C.  P."  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
state  that  such  a  communication  is  not  suited  for  any  action.  If  such  a  forgery  has 
been  committed,  we  should  think  that  every  alumnus  having  such  knowledge  would 
put  the  officers  of  the  college  into  a  position  to  act  intelligently  in  the  matter,  by 
furnishing  proof  or  pointing  out  the  direction  where  to  obtain  it. 
The  Tenth  Dilution — No.  39  of  the  "  Pharm.  Centralhalle,"  relates  that  a  phar- 
macist, having  received  a  prescription  of  a  homoeopathic  physician  of.  Vienna  for  a 
certain  quantity  of  belladonna,  X  dilution,  dispensed  distilled  water,  and  was  a  short 
