538  Vending  of  Nostrums. 
lively  deleterious,  if  not  absolutely  poisonous,  properties,  and  yet, 
because  the  public,  so  called — a  name  which  in  this  case  is  almost  a 
synonym  for  the  non-educated  portion  of  the  community — seek  them, 
the  druggist  finds  a  convenient  excuse  for  indulging  in  a  traffic  that  is 
pecuniarily  profitable." 
The  insinuation  of  the  remark  quoted,  to  the  effect  that  the  pharma- 
cist regards  the  sale  of  patent  medicines  as  an  indulgence,  and  is  glad 
ot  the  excuse  of  popular  demand,  behind  which  to  screen  himself,  is 
most  unkind  and  unjust  to  the  respectable  minority  in  the  profession, 
who  regard  this  feature  as  a  nuisance,  and  would  gladly  aid  in  its  dis- 
continuance. 
But,  as  yet,  the  fact  remains,  that  patent  medicines  of  all  sorts  flood 
the  market,  and  the  public  buy  them,  and  buy  them,  too,  of  the  apoth- 
ecary because,  by  long  usage,  his  shop  is  the  most  natural  place  to  look 
for  anything  in  the  medicinal  line.  The  nostrum-buying  public  would 
feel  flattered  at  being  told  by  their  physicians  that  they  comprised  the 
non-educated  portion  of  the  community."  Such  statements,  however, 
would  not  be  true  in  fact,  as  it  is  within  the  writei's  knowledge  that 
among  the  patrons  of  certain  nostrums  are  numbered  many  of  the  best- 
educated  people,  notably  the  clergy,  who  have  an  unaccountable  pro- 
pensity for  endorsing  nostrums,  by  which  they  incur  a  great  responsi- 
bility. 
It  may  be  well  to  consider  some  phases  of  the  over-sensitiveness 
of  the  pocket  nerve,"  which  the  Record "  concedes  as  generally 
prevalent. 
It  prompts  the  patient  to  buy  patent  medicines,  because,  if  they  cure 
him,  it  will  probably  be  at  less  cost  than  regular  treatment  by  a  physi- 
cian ;  and  as  he  in  most  cases  imagines  they  will  cure,  they  often  do. 
The  same  affection  prompts  the  pharmacist  to  sell  patent  medicines  : 
because  the  public  demand  them,  there  is  little  trouble  attending  their 
sale,  and  the  profit  helps  eke  out  his  ofttimes  scanty  income.  It  also 
prompts  the  physician  to  object  to  the  sale  of  nostrums,  as  thereby  his 
business  is  more  or  less  affected,  and  consequently  his  bank  account. 
Admitting,  then,  the  existence  of  the  state  of  things  described,  and 
recognizing  its  injurious  influence  upon  the  public  health,  what  is  the 
remedy  ?  In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  it  is  not  the  measure  proposed 
by  the  "  Record,"  viz.,  a  peremptory  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  phar- 
macist to  sell  these  nostrums.  As  the  growth  of  the  evil  has  been 
gradual,  so  its  diminution  must  be  accomplished  by  mild,  but  constant 
