Am.  jour.  Pharm.  i  Current  Literature.  28  s 
June,  1913.  J 
physician  and  of  the  public,  and  to  keep  their  professional  stand- 
ing, the  Journal  recommends  that  the  American  Pharmaceutical 
Association  appoint  a  council  that  shall  stand  in  the  same  relation 
to  "  patent  medicines  "  that  the  Council  on  Pharmacy  and  Chem- 
istry of  the  American  Medical  Association  stands  in  relation  to 
proprietary  medicines.  As  the  drug  journal  puts  it,  the  work  of 
the  council  whose  creation  it  suggests  should  be  "  to  determine 
first  of  all  whether  there  is  or  can  be  such  a  thing  as  a  legitimate 
proprietary  medicine  ['patent  medicine']  which  a  druggist  can 
conscientiously  recommend  and  sell  to  the  general  public,  and 
whether  on  the  whole  the  public  is  benefited  or  injured  by  the  use 
of  such  ready-made  medicines."  If  the  council  decides  that  there 
are  "  patent  medicines  "  which  the  druggist  may  recommend  and 
whose  sale  will  benefit  the  public,  its  next  work  would  be  "  to 
determine  whether  it  is  possible  to  draw  a  distinct  line  of  de- 
marcation between  legitimate  and  illegitimate  remedies.  .  . 
The  growing  distrust  in  the  whole  "  patent  medicine  "  business  is 
such  that  it  behooves  our  sister  profession  to  rid  itself  of  the 
stigma  which  the  sale  of  worthless,  and  in  many  cases  dangerous, 
preparations  is  bringing  on  an  honorable  profession.  A  council 
such  as  the  editor  of  the  Journal  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical 
Association  recommends  might  do  much  toward  this  end.  If  it  is 
brought  into  existence  and  does  its  work  thoroughly  and  honestly, 
we  can  with  a  certain  degree  of  accuracy  prophesy  what  will 
happen:  Some  of  the  most  vicious  "patent  medicines"  will  be 
driven  off  the  market.  Others  less  vicious  but  worthless  will  have 
their  sales  greatly  curtailed.  As  a  corollary  of  this,  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association  may  expect  organized  opposition  in  the 
form,  possibly,  of  a  League  for  Pharmaceutical  Freedom.  The 
Journal  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  will  be  vilified 
by  many,  if  not  most,  of  the  privately  owned  drug  journals.  And 
last,  but  not  least,  the  editor  of  the  Journal  will  become  the  center 
of  an  attack  in  which  all  the  resources  of  blackguardism  and  bill- 
ingsgate will  be  brought  to  bear  in  an  attempt  to  besmirch  and 
blacken  his  reputation.  But  the  fight  will  be  well  worth  while. — ■ 
Reprinted  from  Jour.  A.  Med.  Assn.,  May  19,  1913,  pp.  1 546-1547. 
HAARLEM  OIL. 
A  misapprehension  in  respect  to  the  nature  and  composition 
of  this  ancient  proprietary  appears  to  have  been  prevalent  in  the 
trade.    The  fact  that  Haarlem  oil  is  essentially  a  sulphurated  lin- 
