Am.  Tour.  Pharm. 
July,  15 1 9. 
Advertising. 
441 
tral  Europe,  so  that  the  supply  was  abruptly  and  completely  cut  off. 
So  dependent  had  we  been  on  the  foreign  product  that  we  not  only 
were  producing  no  herb,  but  had  no  seed.  Fortunately  it  was  pos- 
sible to  obtain  a  little  of  the  belladonna  seed  from  Scandinavia,  and 
a  small  amount  of  the  henbane  seed  had  been  saved  at  Mentha, 
from  plants  grown  in  the  experimental  garden.  These  seeds  were 
planted,  and  very  careful  attention  to  the  growing  plants  yielded  an 
excellent  quality  of  herb,  though  at  a  production  cost  that  was  sev- 
eral times  greater  than  the  usual  market  price  before  the  war. 
Scientific  study,  however,  has  enabled  us  to  rapidly  cut  the  cost  of 
production,  in  spite  of  the  steady  increase  in  the  cost  of  labor,  and 
as  the  American  product  is  much  superior  in  quality  to  the  foreign 
herb,  we  are  confident  of  our  ability  to  continue  permanently  to 
meet  foreign  competition  in  this  item.  The  success  with  henbane 
brought  particular  satisfaction,  as  it  is  an  unusually  delicate  plant. 
ADVERTISING.1 
By  Jacob  Diner,  Ph.G.,  M.D., 
NEW  YORK. 
Funk  and  Wagnall's  Dictionary  defines  the  word  "  advertise  "  as 
follows:  To  make  known:  publish  abroad;  commend  to  the  public. 
To  my  mind  the  more  important  part  of  the  above  definition  is  to 
"  commend  to  the  public.*'  For  after  all,  the  essential  object  of  an 
advertisement,  speaking  in  the  commercial  sense,  is  to  sell  goods  or 
services. 
Now  the  mere  publication  of  one's  willingness  to  sell,  barter  or 
trade  does  not  carry  within  itself  any  persuasion  or  argument  to 
create  in  the  reader  of  the  '"'ad"  the  desire  to  purchase  from  or  to 
deal  with  the  advertiser.  There  must  be  something  to  recommend 
this  particular  store,  merchandise  or  service  to  the  would-be  pur- 
chaser in  preference  to  other  similar  offerings.  Therefore  an  ad- 
vertisement must  commend,  i.  e.,  it  must  be  so  designed  as  to  con- 
vince the  beholder  not  only  of  the  desirability  to  purchase  but  to 
the  absolute  advantage  of  purchasing  it  from  that  particular  seller 
or  store. 
1  Read  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  New  Jersey  Phamaceutical  Associa- 
tion. Atlantic  City,  June  11,  1919. 
