58  Patent  Medicines  and  Private  Formulas.  {AMFeb.ni,'m3aw* 
day,  in  the  December  number  of  the  "Journal  of  Pharmacy."  But, 
while  "the  American  people  are  fond  of  being  humbugged,"  as  Bar- 
num  most  happily  said,  and  are  readily  gulled  by  any  and  every  va- 
riety of  miserably  trashy  and  forged  certificates  to  swallow  the  abom- 
inable mixtures,  syrups  and  pills  concocted  by  an  ignorant  and  heart- 
less set  of  villains,  who  traffic  in  human  life  as  though  it  be  as  mer- 
chantable as  a  piece  of  pork  or  a  head  of  cabbage,  the  sister  profes- 
sions medicine  and  pharmacy  have  no  right,  on  the  one  hand,  to  man- 
ifest indifference  to  this  great  and  growing  evil,  or  encourage  it,  on 
the  other. 
The  medical  profession  display  too  much  lethargy,  and  treat  con- 
sumption of  those  vile  nostrums  by  society  as  a  matter  which  concerns 
them  not. 
It  would  also  seem  that  interest,  which  is  a  powerful  lever  in  human 
affairs,  lies  on  the  side  of  their  consumption.  The  injuries  they  inflict 
oft  give  splendid  opportunities  for  big,  fat  doctors'  bills ;  although  I 
am  sure  that  the  number  who  view  the  subject  from  that  standpoint  is 
very  small. 
Still  the  apathy  they  manifest  is  almost  criminal,  and  permits  the 
evil  which  a  more  vigorous  action  on  their  part  might  modify  and 
lessen  if  it  did  not  suppress. 
With  the  druggist  it  is  different ;  he  regards  the  sale  of  those  health- 
destroying  agents  as  a  part  of  his  legitimate  business.  While  he 
would  not  sell  a  glass  of  whiskey  where  he  supposed  there  was  chance 
of  intoxication  from  it,  he  will  unhesitatingly  hand  a  bottle  of  a  poi- 
sonous syrup  to  a  young  mother  which  may  soothe  her  babe  into  eter- 
nal rest,  or  a  bottle  of  almost  as  dangerous  "  expectorant  "  to  the  vic- 
tim of  pulmonary  consumption,  which  will  prove  an  effectual  ally  to 
this  sure  destroyer  of  human  life.  The  victim  of  this  fatal  disease 
requires  sustaining  treatment ;  the  impaired  digestion,  assimilation 
and  sanguification  needs  aid  and  support.  But  do  they  receive  it 
from  the  squill,  senega  and  tartar  emetic  which  compose  the  most  pop- 
ular quack  expectorant  of  the  day,  and  which  is  advertised  as  almost  a 
specific  for  this  disease  ?  Alas  !  no  ;  a  combination  more  fatal  cannot 
be  found ;  they  sap  the  very  foundation  of  these  functions,  antago- 
nize with  the  vital  forces,  and  hasten  the  development  of  tubercles. 
Recently  I  heard  an  experienced  physician  say,  "  that  the  evil  from 
this  *  expectorant '  counterbalanced  all  the  good  from  cod-liver  oil, 
that  it  annually  hastened  thousands  into  an  untimely  grave,  and  by 
