Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
July  1,  1874.  j 
Editorial. 
349 
medicines  are  not  given,  which  places  them  among  nostrums.  On  the  24th  of 
November,  1820,  a  patent  was  granted  to  Lorenzo  Dow  (supposed  to  be  the 
eccentric  preacher  Dow)  for  a  medicine  the  recipe  of  which  is  now  on  file  in 
the  Patent  Office,  as  follows  :  1st.  Take  nine  pounds  of  Epsom  Salts,  dissolve 
in  eight  quarts  of  soft,  boiling  water,  to  which  add  tincture  of  bloodroot  four 
ounces;  2d.  Take  one  pound  of  salts  of  nitre,  dissolve  in  boiling  water,  adding 
eight  ounces  of  pure  sulphuric  acid,  making  four  quarts  of  the  solution  f 
when  cool  mix  with  No.  1,  to  be  called  Dow's  Family  Medicine  Directions  o 
this  mixture  :  Take  from  oz.  ss.  to  oz.  i,  in  a  half  pint  of  cold  water,  every  two 
hours  until  it  operates.  Remarks  :  In  costive  habits  a  corrective,  and  io 
dysentery  a  speedy  relief. 
"The  recipe  is  given  that  you  may  compare  it  with  the  prescriptions  of  the 
present  day,  and  to  let  you  see  what  has  been  protected  by  a  patent  from  our 
Government.  In  December,  1836,  the  United  States  Patent  Office,  with  all 
its  records,  was  destroyed  by  fire,  which  renders  it  difficult  to  give  anything 
like  a  full  list  of  patents  granted  for  medicinal  preparation?.  From  1848  until 
1859  but  few  patents  were  issued.    From  I860  to  L870,  339  were  granted." 
Since  the  trade-mark  law  of  1870  went  into  operation,  moat  nostrums  are 
held  by  virtue  of  a  trade-mark  ;  a  few  figures,  which,  however,  probably  do  not 
apply  to  patent  medicines  only,  will  show  the  importance  attached  by  merchants 
to  this  protection. 
"Since  October,  1864,  over  200  trade-marks  have  been  filed  with  the  Secretary 
of  State  in  California.  In  1871-2,  89  trade-marks  were  filed  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  for  medicinal  preparations.  These  trade-marks  are  distinctive  labels, 
or  some  peculiar  device  to  particularize  the  products  of  an  individual  or  firm. 
There  may  be  found  on  the  revised  catalogue  of  a  single  house  in  New  York 
(John  F.  Henry),  for  the  year  1872,  1,570  different  kinds  of  patent  medicines 
and  nostrums."    (This  includes  the  patent  nostrums.) 
Upon  what  authority  the  following  figures  are  furnished  does  not  appear  : 
"  There  are  14,000  drug  stores  and  4,000  grocery  stores  engaged  in  selling 
patent  medicines  in  the  United  States.  The  number  of  persons  employed  in 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  these  medicines  is  135,000.  Over  ten  million 
dollars  is  paid  annually  for  advertising  alone,  all  of  which  must  be  paid  by  the 
unfortunate  consumers.  And  the  amount  sold  annually  in  the  United  States 
is  about  eighty  million  dollars  worth,  being  two  dollars  for  each  man,  woman 
and  child  in  our  country." 
That  about  two-thirds  of  the  sales  of  some  of  the  leading  (wholesale)  drug- 
gists are  patent  medicines  is  probably  correct ;  but  there  are  others  who  deal  but 
little  in  these  preparations  ;  and  this  is  also  the  case  with  a  number  of  pharma- 
cists, some  even  not  selling  any  patent  medicines. 
After  pointing  out  the  necessity  of  protection  of  the  public  against  the 
evils  resulting  from  this  traffic  as  at  present  carried  on,  the  author  urges  that 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  medical  profession  to  act  in  the  premises,  and,  while  well 
weighing  the  difficulties,  he  suggests  the  following  plan  : 
41  Our  hope  of  success  lies  in  a  concert  of  action  by  the  medical  profession 
throughout  the  United  States,  to  secure  the  enactment  of  a  law  requiring  the 
formula  or  recipe,  printed  in  plain  English,  to  accompany  each  and  every 
package  of  medicine  offered  for  sale  in  the  United  States,  whether  held  by 
virtue  of  a  trade-mark  or  a  patent.  Any  person  or  persons  who  either  manu- 
facture or  sell  such  medicines,  or  cause  the  same  to  be  done,  who  fail  to  comply 
with  the  law,  or  who  shall  knowingly  or  wilfully  print  or  cause  to  be  printed  a 
