222 
Editorial. 
r  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(       April,  1866. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
Alcoholic  Beverages  Disguised  as  Medicines. — In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Medical 
Record  we  find  the  following : — 
"That  popular  abomination  known  as  'Beef,  Iron  and  Wine,'  which  is  now 
sold  so  extensively,  not  only  by  druggists,  but  by  tradesmen  of  various  kinds, 
deserves  a  little  special  attention  from  the  medical  profession.  It  is  an  agree- 
able mixture  to  the  sight  and  taste;  its  name  is  a  triple  combination  of  seduc- 
tive mononyms  ;  while,  taken  into  the  stomach,  it  acts  as  a  gentle  '  pick-up  '  to 
the  worn  and  over-sensitive  nerves  of  the  ladies.  It  has,  in  consequence,  be- 
come a  popular  if  not  a  fashionable  tipple,  and  is  indiscriminately  used  to  an 
extent  that  is,  we  believe,  not  entirely  free  from  danger.  Every  medical  man 
knows  that  the  amount  of  actual  beef  or  food  in  these  various  preparations  is 
insignificant,  and  that  it  is  the  wine,  after  all,  that  makes  them  liked,  and  that 
leads  so  many  persons  to  purchase  their  second  bottle." 
The  abuse  introduced  many  years  ago  with  whisky  pleasantly  flavored  with 
bitters  and  aromatics,  and  with  gin  recommended  under  various  names  as 
popular  medicines,  has  been  often  the  subject  of  reflection  by  those  who  feel 
more  than  a  superficial  interest  in  the  progress  of  pharmacy  and  medicine. 
When  the  sale  of  these  liquor-!,  thinly  disguised  as  medicines  began  to  be  trans- 
ferred, to  a  considerable  extent,  from  the  counter  of  the  pharmacist  and  drug- 
gist to  the  store  of  the  grocer  and  liquor  dealer,  it  marked  only  their  natural 
flow  towards  more  congenial  channels.  The  advent  of  so-called  elegant  phar- 
macy, with  its  pleasant  elixirs  and  allied  preparations,  introduced  another 
form  of  alcoholic  beverages  thinly  veiled  as  tonic  medicines,  and  physicians 
and  pharmacists  hastened  to  spread  their  use,  the  former  by  prescribing  and 
the  latter  by  purchasing  and  dispensing  them.  It  was  but  the  natural  course 
of  affairs  that  the  sale  of  such  pleasant  drinks,  after  their  medicinal  repu  ation 
had  been  established,  should  be  largely  transferred  to  the  patent  medicine 
dealer,  the  grocer  and  others  having  no  interest  in  pharmacy,  and  that  in  this 
way  the  pecuniary  interest  of  both  physician  and  pharmacist  should  be  made 
to  suffer,  in  addition  to  the  evils  that  obviously  are  likely  to  follow  the  unre- 
strained use  of  such  allurements. 
While  it  would  have  been  easier  in  the  beginning  to  combat  their  spread 
of  popularity,  it  seems  to  us  that  the  ground  lost  may,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
be  recovered  by  the  physician  avoiding  to  prescribe  ready-made  medicines, 
and  instead  thereof,  formulating  himself  such  combinations  as  may  be  adapted 
to  his  patients,  and  by  the  pharmacist  in  making  an  honest  effort  to  supply  the 
products  of  his  own  skill  and  labor,  and  to  uphold  to  the  fullest  intent  and 
purpose  the  formulas  of  the  pharmacopoeia,  and  where  this  authority  is  silent, 
the  formulas  elaborated  and  recognized  by  pharmaceutical  associations.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  national  formulary  of  unofficinal  preparations  con- 
templated by  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  may  and  should  be- 
come a  powerful  aid  towards  mitigating  some  of  the  apparent  evils  if  physi- 
cians and  pharmacists  will  not  neglect  their  professional  duties. 
Pharmaceuticsd  Legislation  in  Virginia. — By  an  Act,  approved  March  3d,  the 
Virginia  Pharmaceutical  Association  has  been  incorporated  and  is  empowered 
to  nominate  a  number  of  its  members  from  whom  the  governor  is  to  select  the 
Board  of  Pharmacy.    The  law  provides  for  the  registration  of  qualified  phar- 
