376 
Editorial. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t      July,  1895. 
sentiment  under  the  false  impression  that  chicory  would  benefit  the  poor. 
Owing  to  the  adverse  criticism  of  his  report,  the  same  consul  has  seen  fit  to 
send  another  communication  on  the  same  subject,  entitled  "Chicory  as  a 
Beverage."  (Consular  Report  No.  176,  page  139,  May,  1895).  In  this  report  he 
defends  his  former  remarks,  and  advocates  its  use  as  a  beverage  because  of  its 
harmlessness,  and  because  it  is  used  in  England,  France  and  Belgium,  under 
legal  restrictions. 
We  cannot  see,  however,  that  the  weight  of  his  argument  is  strengthened  in 
the  least.  We  cannot  get  legal  restrictions  in  this  country;  popular  sentiment 
is  stronger  to  keep  an  objectionable  article  out,  and  on  that  we  must  depend. 
Chicory  belongs  in  company  with  prepared  and  roasted  beet  roots,  rye  bread, 
acorns  and  all  the  other  coffee  substitutes  that  are  utterly  devoid  of  the  proper- 
ties for  which  coffee  is  employed. 
It  would  be  an  excellent  substance  for  Congress  to  place  a  high  duty  upon, 
for  it  is  not  demanded  by  the  consumer,  and  can  only  be  sold  under  some  other 
name,  or  in  a  mixture. 
THE  AMERICAN  MEDICAE  ASSOCIATION  AND  PATENT  MEDICINES. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  members  of  the  medical  profession,  as  a  class,  are 
opposed  to  patent  medicines.  The  encouragement  which  these  remedies  occa- 
sionally^receive  from  physicians  is  usually  due  to  carelessness  or  inexcusable 
ignorance. 
The  American  Medical  Association,  at  its  May  meeting  in  Baltimore,  placed 
itself  clearly  on  record  in  regard  to  this  subject,  and  in  a  manner  that  is  highly 
commendable.  It  involves  a  much  needed  reform  in  the  Association's  journal, 
as  shown  by  the  following  extract  from  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  con- 
cerning that  journal  : 
"  During  the  3-ear  no  advertisements  of  secret  remedies  have  been  accepted  that  were  not 
accompanied  by  a  formula,  but  to  still  further  comply  with  what  appears  to  be  the  desire  of  a 
large  number  of  those  interested  in  the  highest  success  of  the  Journal,  the  editor,  with  the 
termination  of  present  contracts,  has  been  instructed  to  accept  no  advertisements  of  medici- 
nal preparations,  the  proprietors  of  which  do  not  give  a  formula  containing  the  official  or 
chemic  name  and  quantity  of  each  composing  ingredient,  to  be  inserted  as  a  part  of  the 
advertisement. ' ' 
This  report  was  adopted  with  considerable  enthusiasm,  and  we  think  the 
Board  need  not  have  used  the  guarded  language  it  did  by  saying  they  proposed 
to  "  comply  with  what  appears  to  be  the  desire  of  a  large  number,"  for  the  sen- 
timent of  those  present  not  only  appeared  to  be,  but  actually  was  unanimous. 
As  many  of  the  advertisements  in  the  above-mentioned  journal,  as  well  as  in 
many  other  medical  journals,  have  long  been  a  standing  disgrace  to  the  profes- 
sion they  represent,  we,  more  than  a  month  after  the  meeting,  made  an  examin- 
ation of  the  advertising  pages  of  the  Association's  journal,  but  were  unable  to 
notice  that  any  decided  change  had  taken  place.  We.  therefore,  concluded  that 
the  advertisers'  contracts  had  not  expired. 
There  were,  however,  a  number  of  advertisements  in  which  the  formulas  were 
given,  and  the  conclusion  was  that  their  contracts  had  expired,  or  else  they 
were  preparing  to  renew. 
Two  of  these  formulas  were  so  unique,  and  at  the  same  time  so  interesting, 
that  we  venture  to  enlighten  our  readers  by  reproducing  them  here,  as  follows  : 
