Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
December,  1906.  j 
The  Needs  of  the  Council. 
585 
publication  in  pharmaceutical  journals  and  by  papers  presented  to 
pharmaceutical  societies.  But  much,  if  not  all  of  this,  was  of  little 
avail  because  of  the  limited  publicity  given  it  and  by  its  failing,  in 
many  instances,  to  reach  the  class  of  persons  primarily  to  be  bene- 
fited, the  physicians.  There  is  even  a  feeling  among  pharmacists 
and  chemists  that  it  is  beneath  their  dignity,  or  at  least  not  to  their 
credit,  to  aid  in  the  exposure  of  frauds.  I  have  before  me  now  an 
offer  by  an  eminent  chemist  to  assist  the  Council  in  verifying  the 
claims  made  for  a  proprietary  article,  who  stipulates  :  "  Would  like 
to  make  it  a  condition  of  our  doing  this  work  that  the  matter  end 
with  our  report  to  you."  At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association  chemical  analyses  of  effervescing  salts 
were  submitted  showing  that  many  were  not  true  to  their  claimed 
composition.  But  while  the  result  of  the  analyses  could  not  be 
questioned,  yet  the  analyst  refers  to  them  by  number.  Had  names 
been  mentioned  the  paper  would  probably  not  have  been  received 
by  the  Association.  All  this,  because  exposure  of  such  dishonesty 
is  not  considered  to  be  commendable  work.  Therefore,  to  "  avoid 
trouble,"  associations  and  individuals  hesitate  to  make  public  the 
truth  and,  by  this,  aid  and  foster  the  many  fraudulent  medicines 
offered  for  sale. 
However,  just  as  the  public  has  become  aware  of  the  extent  to 
which  food  adulteration  has  been  carried  and  now  demands  to  know 
the  truth,  so  it  is  with  medicine.  The  medical  profession  has  come 
to  realize  that  very  many  medicines  on  the  market  are  not  what  it 
was  led  to  believe  them  to  be  and  that  some  are  rank  frauds.  And 
now  the  truth  is  demanded.  And  just  as  the  daily  press  no  longer 
dares  withhold  the  truth  in  regard  to  any  product  because  its  pro- 
moter occupies  space  in  its  advertising  column,  so  the  time  is  near 
when  the  editors  of  medical  journals  will  no  longer  find  it  profitable 
to  conduct  their  journals  to  the  interest  of  their  advertising  patrons 
and  in  entire  disregard  to  the  best  interest  of  their  subscribers. 
That  failure  to  publish  derogatory  as  well  as  commendatory  re- 
ports of  proprietary  remedies  is  rapidly  becoming  obsolete  is  shown 
by  the  publication  of  analysis  of  acetanilid  mixtures1  and  the  report 
on  organic  silver  salts2  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  British  Medical 
1  Br.  Med.  J.,  1906,  Vol.  II,  p.  27. 
2  Br.  Med.  J.,  1906,  Vol.  II,  p.  359. 
