Harry Haven,
Oriskany
Falls, N.
Adams-Great-American-Fraud
Bacteriolcgistsemployedbyustomakeasimilartestfailed, because of the surprising fact that "the dose as prescribed by Mr.
Schoeii promptly killed the first guinea-pig to which it was administered.
'A series of guinea-pig tests was then arranged (the guinea-pig is the animal which responds to germ infection most nearly as the human organism responds
)
at which Dr. Gradwohl, representing the Liquozone Company, was present, and in. which he took part. The report follows:
,
? ? 30
'
LEDERLE LABORATORIES.
Sa7viiary, Chemical and Bacteriologic Investigations.
518 FIFTH AVENUE. NEW YORK CITY,
October Zl, 1905. Anthrax Test. Twenty-four guinea-pigs were inoculated with anttirax bacilli, under the same conditions, the same amount being given to each. The representa- tive of the Liquozone people selected the twelve pigs for treatment. These animals were given Liquozone in 5 c. c. doses for three hours. In twenty-four
hours all pigs were dead--the treated and the untreated ones.
Second Anthraw Test. Bight guinea-pigs were inoculated under the same conditions with a culture of anthrax sent by the Liquozone people. Four of these animals were treated for three hours with Liquozone as in the last experiments. These died also in from thirty-six to forty-eight hours, as did the
remaining four.
Diphtheria Test. Six guinea-pigs were inoculated with diphtheria bacilli and
treated with Liquozone. They all died in from forty-eight to seventy-two hours. Two out of three controls (i. e. , untreated guinea-pigs) remained alive after receiving the same amount of culture.
Tuherculosis Test. Eight guinea-pigs were inoculated with tubercle bacilli. Four of these animals were treated for eight hours with 5 c. c. of a 20 per cent, solution of Liquozone. Four received no Liquozone. At the end of twenty- four days all the animals were killed.
Fairly developed tuberculosis was present in all.
To summarize, we would say that the Liquozone had absolutely no curative effect, but did. when given in pure form, lower the resistance of the animals, so that they died a little earlier than those not treated.
Lederle Laboratories. By Ernst J. LederJe.
Dr. Gradwohl, representing the Liquozone Company, stated that he was satisfied of the fairness of the tests. He further declared that in his cpin- ion the tests had proved satisfactorily the total ineffectiveness of Liquozone as an internal germicide.
But these experiments show more than that. They show that in so far as Liquozone has any effect, it tends to lower the resistance of the body to an invading disease. That is, in the very germ diseases for which it is advocated, Liquozone may decrease the chances of the patient's recovery tC'ith every dose that is swalloiced, hut certainly loould not increase them.
In its own field Liquozone is sui generis. On the ethical side, however, there are a few "internal germicides," and one of these comes in for men- tion here, not that it is the least like Liquozone in its composition, but because by its monstrous claims it challenges comparison.
Since the announcement of this article, and before, Collier's has been in receipt of much virtuous indignation from a manufacturer of remedies which, he claims, Liquozone copies, Charles Marchp,nd has been the most active enemy of the oJouglas Smith product. He has attacked the makers in print, organized a society, and established a publication mainly de- voted to their destruction, and circulated far and wide injurious literature
(most of it true) about their product. Of the relative merits of Hydro- zone, Glycozone (Marchand's products), and Liquozone, I know nothing; but I know that the Liquozone Company has never in its history put forth so shameful an advertisement as the one produced on page 28, signed by Marchand, and printed in the New Orleans States when the yellow- fever scare was at its height.
? 31
And Hydrozone is an "ethical" remedy; its advertisements are to be found in reputable medical journals.
The Same Old Fake.
Partly by reason of Marchand's energy, no nostrum in the country has
been so widely attacked as the Chicago product. Occasional deaths, at- tributed (in some cases unjustly) to its use, have been made the most of, and scores of analyses have been printed, so that in all parts of the country the true nature of the nostrum is beginning to be understood. The promi- nence of its advertising and the reckless breadth of its claims have made it a shining mark. ^North Dakota has forbidden its sale. San Francisco has decreed against it; so has Lexington, Ky. , and there are signs that it will have a fight for its life soon in other cities. It is this looming danger that impelled Liquozone to an attempted reform last summer. Yet, in spite of the censorship of its legal lignts, in spite of the revision of its literature by its scientific experts, in soite of its ingenious avoidance of specifically false claims in the advertising -svhich is being seattereu broad- cast to-day, Liquozone is now what it was beiore its rehabilitation, a fraud which owes its continued existence to tne laxity of our public health meth-
ods and the cynical tolerance of the national conscience.
? Reprinted from Collier's Weekly, Dec? 2, 1905.
IV. --THE SUBTLE POISONS.
Ignorance and credulous hope make the market for most proprietary remedies. Intelligent people are not given largely to the use of the glar- ingly advertised cure-alls such as Liquozone and Peruna. Nostrums there are, however, which reach the thinking classes as well as the readily gulled. Depending, as they do, for their success on the lure of some subtle drug concealed under a trademark name, or some opiate not readily obtainable under its own label, these are the most dangerous of all quack medicines, not only in their immediate effect, but because they create enslaving appe- tites, sometimes obscure and difficult of treatment, most often tragically obvious. Of these concealed drugs the headache powders are the most widely used, and of the headache powders Orangeine is the most con- spicuous.
Orangeine prints its formula. It is, therefore, its proprietors claim, not a secret remedy. But to all intents and purposes, it is secret, because to the uninformed public the vitally important, word "acetanilid" in the formula means little or nothing. Worse than its secrecy is its policy of careful and dangerous deception. Orangeine, like practically all the headache powders, is simply a mixture of acetanilid with less potent drugs. Of course, there is no orange in it, except the orange hue of the boxes and wrappers which is its advertising symbol. But this is an unimportant deception. The wickedness of the fraud lies in this : that whereas the nostrum, by virtue of its acetanilid content, thins the blood, depresses the heart, and finally under- mines the whole system^ it claims to strengthen the heart and to produce hetter Hood. Thus far in the patent medicine field I- have not encountered so direj3t and specific an inversion of the true facts.
Recent years have added to the mortality records of our cities a surpris- ingandalarmingnumberofsuddendeathsfromheartfailure. Intheyear 1902 New York City alone reported a death rate from this cause of 1. 34 per thousand of population; that is about six times as great as the typhoid feverdeathrecord. Itwasaboutthattimethattheheadachepowderswere being widely advertised, and there is every reason to believe that the in- creased mortality, which is still in evidence, is due largely to the secret weakening of the body by acetanilid. Occasionally a death occurs so definitely traceable to this poison that there is no room for doubt, as in the following report by Dr. J. L. Miller, of Chicago, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, on the death of Mrs. Frances' Robson:
"I was first called to see the patient, a young lady, physically sound, who had been taking Orangeine powders for a number of weeks for in- somnia. The rest of the family noticed that she was very blue, and for this reason I was called. When I saw the patient she complained of a sense of faintness and inability to keep warm. At this time she had taken aboxofsixOrangeinepowderswithinabouteighthours. Shewaswarned of the danger of continuing the indiscriminate use of the remedy, but in- sisted that many of her friends had used it, and claimed that it was harm- less. The family promised to see that she did not obtain any more of the remedy. Three days later, however, I was called to the house and found the patientdead. Thefamilysaidthatshehadgonetoherroomtheeveningbe- foreinherusualhealth. Thenextmorning,thepatientnotappearing,they investigatedandfoundherdead. Thecasewasreportedtothecoroner,and the coroner's verdict was: 'Death was from the effect of an overdose of
"
:!
? 33
Orangeine powders administered by her own hand, whether acidentallv or
"'
otherwise, unknown to the jury/
Last July an 18-year-old Philadelphia girl got a box of Orangeine pow-
ders at a drug store, having been told that they would cure headache. There was nothing on the label or in the printed matter inclosed with the preparation warning her of the dangerous character of the nostrum. Fol- lowing the printed advice, she took two powders. In three hours she was dead. CoronerDugan'sverdictfollows:
"Mary A. Bispels came to her death from kidney and heart disease, aggravated by poisoning by acetanilid taken in Orangeine headache pow- ders. "
Prescribing Without Authority.
Yet this poison is being recommended every day by people who know nothing of it and nothing of the susceptibility of the friends to whom they advocate it. For example, here is a testimonial from the Orangeine booklet
"Miss A. A. Phillips, 66 Powers street, Brooklyn, writes: 'I always keep Orangeine in my desk at school, and through its frequent applications to the sick I am called both "doctor and magician. " '
If the school herein referred to is a public school, the matter is one for the Board of Education; if a private school, for the Health Department or the county medical society. That a school teacher should be allowed to continue giving, however well meaning her foolhardiness may be, a harmful and possibly fatal dose to the children intrusted to her care seems rather a significant commentary on the quality of watchfulness in certain insti- tions.
Obscurity as to the real nature of the drug, fostered by careful deception, isthesafeguardoftheacetanilidvender. Wereitsperilousqualityknown, the headache powder would hardly be so widely used. And were the even more important fact that the use of these powders becomes a habit, akin to the opium or cocain habits, understood by the public, the repeated sales which are the basis of Orangeine's prosperity would undoubtedly be greatly cut down. Orangeine fulfills the prime requisite of a patent medicine in being a good "repeater. " Did it not foster its own demand in the form of a persistent craving, it would hardly be profitable. Its advertising invites to the formation of an addiction to the drug. "Get the habit," it might logically advertise, in imitation of a certain prominent exploitation along legitimate lines. Not only is its value as a cure for nervousness and head-, aches insisted on, but its prospective dupes are advised to take this power- ful drug as a hracer.
"When, as often, you reach home tired in body and mind . . . take an Orangeine powder, lie down for thirty minutes' nap--if possible--any- way, relax, then take another. "
"To induce sleep, take an Orangeine powder immediately before retiring. When wakeful, an Orangeine powder will have a normalizing, quieting elTect. "
It is also recommended as a good thing to begin the day's work on in the morning--that is, take Orangeine, night, morning and between meals
These powders pretend to cure asthma, biliousness, headaches, colds, catarrh and grip (dose: powder every four hours during the day for a week! --a pretty fair start on the Orangeine habit), diarrhea, hay fever, insomnia, influenza, neuralgia, seasickness and sciatica.
Of course, they do not cure any of these ; they do practically nothing but give temporary relief by depressing the heart. With the return to normal conditions of blood circulation comes a recurrence of the nervousness,
? 34
headache, or what not, and the incentive to more of the drug, until it becomesanecessity. Inmyownacquaintance,Iknowhalfadozenpersons who have come to depend on one or another of these headache preparations to keep them going. One young woman whom I have in mind told me quite innocently that she had been taking five or six Orangeine powders a day
AN ACETANILID DEATH RECORD.
This list of fatalities is made up from statements published in the neiospapers. In every case the person who died, had taken to relieve a headache or as a bracer a patent medicine containing acetanilid, imthout a doctor's prescription. This list does not include the case of a dog in Altoona, Pa. , tchich died immediately on eating some sample headache powders. The dog did not know any better.
Mrs. Minnie Bishop, Louisville, Ky. ; Oct. i6, 1903.
Mrs. Mary Cusick and Mrs. Julia Ward, of 172 Perry Street,
New York City; Nov. 27, 1903.
Fred. P. Stock, Scranton, Pa. ; Dec. 7, 1903.
C. Frank Henderson, Toledo, 0. ; Dec. 13, 1903.
Jacob E. Staley, St. Paul, Mich. ; Feb. 18, 1904.
Charles M. Scott, New Albany, Ind. ; March 15, 1904. Oscar McKinley, Pittsburg, Pa. ; April 13, 1904.
Otis Staines, student at Wabash College, April 13, 1904. Mrs. Florence Rumsey, Clinton, la. ; April 23, 1904.
Jenny McGee, Philadelphia, Pa. ; May 26, 1904.
Mrs. ? William Mabee, Leoni, Mich. ; Sept. 9, 1904.
Mrs. Jacob Friedman, of South Bend, Ind. ; Oct-. 19, 1904. Miss Libbie North, Rockdale, N. Y. ; Oct. 26, 1904. Margaret Hanahan, Dayton, 0. ; Oct. 29, 1904.
Samuel Williamson, New York City; Nov. 21, 1904. George Kublisch, St. Louis, Mo. ; Nov. 24, 1904.
Robert Breck, St. Louis, Mo. ; Nov. 27, 1904.
Mrs.
Harry Haven, Oriskany Falls, N. Y. ; Jan. 17, 1905. Mrs. Jennie Whyler, Akron, 0. ; April 3, 1905.
Mrs. Augusta Strothmann, St. Louis, Mo. ; June 20, 1905. Mrs. Mary A. Bispels, Philadelphia, Pa. ; July 2, 1905. Mrs. Thos. Patterson, Huntington, W. Va. ; Aug. 15, 1905.
Some of these victims died from an alleged overdose; others from the prescribed dose. In almost every instance the local papers suppressed the name of the fatal remedy.
for several months, having changed from Koehler's powders when some one toldherthatthelatterweredangerous! Becauseofhergrowingpaleness her husband had called in their physician, but neither of them had men- tioned the little matter of the nostrum, having accepted with a childlike faith the asseverations of its beneficent qualities. Yet thev were of an order of intelligence that would scoff at the idea of drinking Swamp-Root or
? 35
Peruiia. That particular vietiin had the bcgimnng of the typical blue skin pictured in the street-car advertisements of Orangeine (the advertisements are a little mixed, as they put the blue hue on the "before taking," whereas it should go on the "after taking"' ) . And, by the ^vay, I can conscientiously recommend Orangeine, Koehler's powders, Royal Pain powders and others of that class to women who wish for a complexion of a dead, pasty white,
Sta-t(C) of Xnd. iana,, Iv^a-oLifScrx Co\x3n. t^^^ c>g: * n VH. R -
f HmhofV? 8,? >Mp"!
of nc^' glpsne, "spty Oo-isS^i I'a rnige, U, T, CO. , >> -Jsa* to Ir<it a"iir<<ii*
J,? '. CO. ,tl'-xet Kn-srn. < -iAndor"pIre- "t# nt-^I's
C! =>T-* tf ^r -,1 e o Ma'nc/rfchli" 0* '^CTW(*rcWl CXib, Con n f-i^on i. ^ins'' etwesn WUllAB " Fisi. r2 K^si! r. M lift", fiCe (or tW-OO 3}? red 1 B. P Cook, Oi- tol<! r n^ alao oi-c^- f^FTB rd 1 ppl-f3 o / je n1
s-TS Hi <f D'- I r<< ='"5 Heti! h<< pffsa" o.
Patient use of these drugs will even produce an interesting and picturesque, if not
verging to a puffy blueness under the eyes and about the lips.
intrinsically beautiful, purplish-gray hue of the face and neck. Drugs That Deprave.
Another acquaintance writes me that he is unable to dissuade his wife from the constant use of both Orangeine and Bromo-Seltzer, although her
36
iK'alth i,s Lroakiiiij^ (lo\\'ii. Often it is difficult for a physician to (lia/jTiiosc these eases because the symptoms are those of certain diseases in which the blood deteriorates, and, moreover, the victim, as in opium and cocain slavery, will positively deny having used the drug. A case of acetanilid addiction (in "cephalgin," an ethical proprietary) is thus reported:
"When the drug- was withheld the patient soon began to exhibit all the traits peculiar to the confirmed morphino-maniac--moral depravity and the like. She employed every possible means to obtain the drug, attempting even to bribe the nurse, and, this failing, even members of the family. "
Another report of a similar case (and there are plenty of them to select from) reads:
"Stomach increasingly irritable ; skin a grayish or light purplish hue palpitation and slight enlargement of the heart; great prostration, with pains in the region of the heart; blood discolored to a chocolate hue. The patient denied that she had been using acetanilid, but it was discovered that for a year she had been obtaining it in the form of a proprietary remedy and had contracted a regular 'habit. ' On the discontinuance of th& drug the symptoms disappeared. She was discharged from the hospital as cured, but soon returned to the use of the drug and applied for readmis- sion, displaying the former symptoms. "'
[^^ ^M^i^tmfrMhA-. fam! :. . iilik
NEW YORK STATE'S NEW POISON LABEL On a cocain-laden medicine.
Where I have found a renegade physician making his millions out of Peruna, or a professional promoter trading in the charlatanry of Liquozone, it has seemed superfluous to comment on the personality^ of the men. They are what their business connotes. With Orangeine the case is somewhat different. Its proprietors are men of standing in other and reputable spheres of activity. Charles L. Bartlett, its president, is a graduate of Yale University and a. man of some prominence in its alumni aftairs. Orangeine is a side issue with him. Professionally he is the western rej)re-
sentative of Ivory Soap, one of the heaviest of legitimate advertisers, and he doubtless learned from this the value of skillful exploitation. Xext to Mr. Bartlett, the largest owner of stock (unless he has recently sold out) is William Gillette, the actor, Avhose enthusiastic indorsement of the pow- ders is known in a personal sense to the profession which he follows, and in print to hundreds of thousands of theater-goers who have read it in their programs. Whatever these gentlemen may think of their product (and I luiderstand that, incredible as it may seem, both of them are constant users of it and genuine believers in it), the methods by which it is sold and the essential and mendacious concealment of its real nature illustrate the
:
? ? 37
level to which otherwise upright and decent men are brought by a business which can not profitably include either uprightness or decency in its methods.
Orangeine is less dangerous, except in extent of use, than many other acetanilid mixtures which are much the same thing under a different name. A friend of mine with a weak heart took the printed dose of Laxative Bromo Quinin and lay at the point of death for a week. There is no word of warning on the label. In many places samples of headache powders are distributedonthedoorsteps. TheSt. LouisChroniclerecordsaresult:
"Huntington, W. Va. , Aug. 15, 1905. --While Mrs. Thomas Patterson was preparing supper last evening she was stricken with a violent head- ache and took a headache powder that had been thrown in at her door the day before. Immediately she was seized with spasms and in an hour she Avas dead. "
That even the lower order of animals is not safe is shown by a canine tragedy in Altoona, Pa. , where a prize collie dog incautiously devoured three sample tablets and died in an hour. Yet the distributing agents of these mixtures do not hesitate to lie about them. Rochester, N. Y. , has an excel- lent ordinance forbidding the distribution of sample medicines, except by permission of the health officer. An agent for Miniature Headache Powders called on Dr. Goler with a request for leave to distribute 25,000 samples.
"What's your formula? " asked the official.
"Salicylate of soda and sugar of milk," replied the traveling man.
"And you pretend to cure headaches with that? " said the doctor. "ITl
look into it. "
Analysis showed that the powders were an acetanilid mixture. The sample
man didn't wait for the result. He hasn't been back to Rochester since, although Dr. Goler is hopefully awaiting him.
Bromo-Seltzer is commonly sold in drug stores, both by the bottle and at sodafoui^tains. Thefulldoseis"aheapingteaspoonful. " Aheapingtea- spoonful of Bromo-Seltzer means about ten grains of acetanilid. The United States Pharmacopeia dose is four grains; five grains have been known to produce fatal results. The prescribed dose of Bromo-Seltzer is dangerous and has been known to produce sudden collapse.
Megrimine is ai warranted headache cure that is advertised in several of the magazines. A newly arrived guest at a Long Island house party brought along several lots and distributed them as a remedy for headache and that tired feeling. It was perfectly harmless, she declared; didn't the advertisement say "leaves no unpleasant effects? " As a late dance the night before had left its impress on the feminine members of the house party,therewasageneralacceptanceofthe"bracer. " Thatnightthelocal physician visited the house party (on special "rush" invitation), and was well satisfied to pull all his patients through. He had never Isefore seen acetanilidpoisoningbywholesale. AChicagodruggistwritesmethatthe wife of a prominent physician buys Megrimine of him by the half-dozen lots secretly. She has the habit.
On October 9, W. H. Hawkins, superintendent of the American Detective Association, a man of powerful physique and apparently in good health, went to a drug store in Anderson, Ind. , ajid took a dose of Dr. Davis' Headache Powders. He then boarded a car for Marion, and shortly after fell to the fioor, dead. The coroner's verdict is reproduced on page 35.
Whether these powders are made by a Dr. W. C. Davis, of Indianapolis, who makes Anti-Headache, I am unable to state. Anti-Headache describes itself as "a compound of mild ingredients and positively contains no dangerous drugs. " It is almost pure acetanilid.
In the "ethical" field the harm done by this class of proprietaries is per-
? 38
haps as great as in the open field, for many of those whicli are supposed to be sold only in prescriptions are as freely distributed to tlie laity as Pei'iina. And their advertising is hardly different.
Dangers of Antikamnia.
Antikamnia, claiming to be an "ethical" remedy, and advertising through
the medical press by methods that would, with little alteration, fit any patent painkiller on the market, is no less dangerous or fraudulent than the Orangeine class which it almost exactly parallels in composition. It was at first exploited as a "new synthetical coal-tar derivative," which it isn't and never was. It is simply half or more acetanilid (some analyses show as high as 68 per cent. ) with other vmimportant ingredients in vary- ing proportions. In a booklet entitled "i^ight on Pain," and distributed on
BEWARE OF ACETANILID
The folloicing loell-knoicn "remedies,^' hoth "ethical" and "patent," depend for their results upon the heart-de- pressing action of Acetanilid:
Orangeine Megrimirie Bromo-Seltzer Anti-Headache Royal Pain Powders Dr. Davis' Headache Miniature Headache Powders
Powders Antikamnia
Ammonol Salacetin Cephalgin Phenalgin
and practically all of the drug-store-vended "headache cures'' and "anti-pain"" remedies.
Take no nostrum of this class ivithout a doctor's pre- scription, unless you are sure it contains no acetanilid. Makethedruggisttellyou. Heisresponsible. Asuit for damages has recently been icon against a New York drug store for illness consequent upon the sale of a "guaranteed harmless" headache tablet containing three
grains of acetanilid.
doorsteps, I find under an alphabetical list of diseases this invitation to form the Antikamnia habit:
"Xervousness (overwork and excess)--Dose: One Antikamnia tablet every two or three h mrs.
"Shoppers' or Sightseers' Headache--Dose: Two Antikamnia tablets every three hours.
"Worry (nervousness, 'the blues') --Dose: One or two Antikamnia and Codein tablets every three hours. "
Codein is obtained from opium. The codein habit is well known to all institutions which treat drusr addictions, and is recognized as being no less difiicult to cure than the morphin habit.
A typical instance of what Antikamnia will do for its users is that of a Pennsylvania merchant, 50 years old, wlio had declined, without apparent
:
? 39
caii. se, from 140 to IIG pounds, and was finally brought to Philadelphia in astateofstupor. Hispulsewasbarelyperceptible,hisskinduskyandhis blcod of a deep chocolate color. On reviving he was questioned as to whether he had been taking headache powders. He had, for several years. What kind? Antikamnia; sometimes in the plain tablets, at other times Antikamnia with codein. How^ many? About twelve a day. He was greatly surprised to learn that this habit was responsible for his condition.
"My doctor gave it to me for insomnia," he said, and it appeared that the patient had never even been warned of the dansferous character cf the drug. Were it obtainable, I would print here the full name and address of that attending physician, as one unfit, either through ignorance or carelessness, to practice his profession. And there w^ould be other physicians all over the country who Avould, under that description, suffer the same indictment within their own minds for starting innocent patients on a destructive and sometimes fatal course. For it is the careless or conscienceless physician who gets the customer for the "ethical" headache remedies, and the cus- tomer,oncesecured,paysaprofit,veryliterally,withhisownblood. Once having taken Antikamnia, the layman, unless informed as to its true nature, will often return to the drug store and purchase it with the impression that it is a specific drug, like quinin or potassium chlorate, instead of a dis- guised poison, exploited and sold under patent rights by a private concern. The United States Postoffice, in its broad tolerance, permits the Antikamnia company to send through the mails little sample boxes containing tablets enough to kill an ordinary man, and these sample boxes are sent not only to physicians, as is the rule with ethical remedies, but to law^^ers, business men, "brain workers," and other prospective purchasing classes. The box
bears the lying statement : "Xo drug habit--no heart efi'eet. "
Just as this is going to press the following significant case comes in from
low^a
"rARMi]N'GTON, loAVA- Oct. 6. --{Special to the Constitution-Democrat. )--
Mrs. Hattie Kick, one of the best and most prominent ladies of Farmington, died rather suddenly Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock from an overdose of Antikamnia, which she took for a severe headache from which she was suf- fering. Mrs. Kickwassubjecttosevereheadachesandwasafrequentuser of Antikamnia, her favorite remedy for this ailment. "
There is but one safeguard in the use of these remedies; to regard them as one would regard opium, and to employ them only with the consent of a physician who understands their true nature. Acetanilid has its uses, but not as a generic painkiller. Pain is a symptom; you can drug it away temporarily, but it will return, clamoring for more payment, until the final price is hopeless enslavement. Were the skull and bones on every box of this cla^s of poison the danger would be greatly minimized.
With opium and cocain the case is different. The very words are danger signals. Legalrestrictionssafeguardthepublic,toagreaterorlessdegree, fromtheirindiscriminateuse. Normalpeopledonotknowinglytakeopium or its derivatives except with the sanction of a physician, and there is even spreading abroad a belief (surely an expression of the primal law of self- preservation) that the licensed practitioner leans too readily toward the convenient narcotics.
But this perilous stuf? is the ideal basis for a patent medicine because its results are immediate (though never permanent), and it is its own best advertisement in that one dose imperatively calls for another. Therefore it behooves the manufacturer of opiates to disguise the use of the drug. Tliis he does in varying forms, and he has found his greatest success in the "cough and consumption cuj-es" and the soothing syrup class. The former of these mil be (C)onsidered in another article. As to the "soothing syrups,"
::
? *
40
designed for the drugging of helpless infants, even the trade does not know howmanyhaverisen,madetheirbaseprofit,andsubsided. Afewsurvive, probably less harmful than the abandoned ones, on the average, so that by taking the conspicuous survivors as a tyjDe I am at least doing no injustice to the class.
Some years ago I heard a prominent New York lawyer, asked by his office scrub woman to buy a ticket for some "association" ball, say to her: "How can you go to these affairs, Nora, when you have two young children at home? "
"Sure, they're all right," she returned blithely: "just wan teaspoonful of Winslow's an' they lay like the dead till mornin'. "
What eventually became of the scrub woman's children I don't know. The typical result of this practice is described by a Detroit physician who has been making a special study of Michigan's high mortality rate
"]M,rs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup is extensively used among the poorer classes as a means of pacifying their babies. These children eventually come into the hands cf physicians with a greater or less addiction to the opiumhabit.
)
at which Dr. Gradwohl, representing the Liquozone Company, was present, and in. which he took part. The report follows:
,
? ? 30
'
LEDERLE LABORATORIES.
Sa7viiary, Chemical and Bacteriologic Investigations.
518 FIFTH AVENUE. NEW YORK CITY,
October Zl, 1905. Anthrax Test. Twenty-four guinea-pigs were inoculated with anttirax bacilli, under the same conditions, the same amount being given to each. The representa- tive of the Liquozone people selected the twelve pigs for treatment. These animals were given Liquozone in 5 c. c. doses for three hours. In twenty-four
hours all pigs were dead--the treated and the untreated ones.
Second Anthraw Test. Bight guinea-pigs were inoculated under the same conditions with a culture of anthrax sent by the Liquozone people. Four of these animals were treated for three hours with Liquozone as in the last experiments. These died also in from thirty-six to forty-eight hours, as did the
remaining four.
Diphtheria Test. Six guinea-pigs were inoculated with diphtheria bacilli and
treated with Liquozone. They all died in from forty-eight to seventy-two hours. Two out of three controls (i. e. , untreated guinea-pigs) remained alive after receiving the same amount of culture.
Tuherculosis Test. Eight guinea-pigs were inoculated with tubercle bacilli. Four of these animals were treated for eight hours with 5 c. c. of a 20 per cent, solution of Liquozone. Four received no Liquozone. At the end of twenty- four days all the animals were killed.
Fairly developed tuberculosis was present in all.
To summarize, we would say that the Liquozone had absolutely no curative effect, but did. when given in pure form, lower the resistance of the animals, so that they died a little earlier than those not treated.
Lederle Laboratories. By Ernst J. LederJe.
Dr. Gradwohl, representing the Liquozone Company, stated that he was satisfied of the fairness of the tests. He further declared that in his cpin- ion the tests had proved satisfactorily the total ineffectiveness of Liquozone as an internal germicide.
But these experiments show more than that. They show that in so far as Liquozone has any effect, it tends to lower the resistance of the body to an invading disease. That is, in the very germ diseases for which it is advocated, Liquozone may decrease the chances of the patient's recovery tC'ith every dose that is swalloiced, hut certainly loould not increase them.
In its own field Liquozone is sui generis. On the ethical side, however, there are a few "internal germicides," and one of these comes in for men- tion here, not that it is the least like Liquozone in its composition, but because by its monstrous claims it challenges comparison.
Since the announcement of this article, and before, Collier's has been in receipt of much virtuous indignation from a manufacturer of remedies which, he claims, Liquozone copies, Charles Marchp,nd has been the most active enemy of the oJouglas Smith product. He has attacked the makers in print, organized a society, and established a publication mainly de- voted to their destruction, and circulated far and wide injurious literature
(most of it true) about their product. Of the relative merits of Hydro- zone, Glycozone (Marchand's products), and Liquozone, I know nothing; but I know that the Liquozone Company has never in its history put forth so shameful an advertisement as the one produced on page 28, signed by Marchand, and printed in the New Orleans States when the yellow- fever scare was at its height.
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And Hydrozone is an "ethical" remedy; its advertisements are to be found in reputable medical journals.
The Same Old Fake.
Partly by reason of Marchand's energy, no nostrum in the country has
been so widely attacked as the Chicago product. Occasional deaths, at- tributed (in some cases unjustly) to its use, have been made the most of, and scores of analyses have been printed, so that in all parts of the country the true nature of the nostrum is beginning to be understood. The promi- nence of its advertising and the reckless breadth of its claims have made it a shining mark. ^North Dakota has forbidden its sale. San Francisco has decreed against it; so has Lexington, Ky. , and there are signs that it will have a fight for its life soon in other cities. It is this looming danger that impelled Liquozone to an attempted reform last summer. Yet, in spite of the censorship of its legal lignts, in spite of the revision of its literature by its scientific experts, in soite of its ingenious avoidance of specifically false claims in the advertising -svhich is being seattereu broad- cast to-day, Liquozone is now what it was beiore its rehabilitation, a fraud which owes its continued existence to tne laxity of our public health meth-
ods and the cynical tolerance of the national conscience.
? Reprinted from Collier's Weekly, Dec? 2, 1905.
IV. --THE SUBTLE POISONS.
Ignorance and credulous hope make the market for most proprietary remedies. Intelligent people are not given largely to the use of the glar- ingly advertised cure-alls such as Liquozone and Peruna. Nostrums there are, however, which reach the thinking classes as well as the readily gulled. Depending, as they do, for their success on the lure of some subtle drug concealed under a trademark name, or some opiate not readily obtainable under its own label, these are the most dangerous of all quack medicines, not only in their immediate effect, but because they create enslaving appe- tites, sometimes obscure and difficult of treatment, most often tragically obvious. Of these concealed drugs the headache powders are the most widely used, and of the headache powders Orangeine is the most con- spicuous.
Orangeine prints its formula. It is, therefore, its proprietors claim, not a secret remedy. But to all intents and purposes, it is secret, because to the uninformed public the vitally important, word "acetanilid" in the formula means little or nothing. Worse than its secrecy is its policy of careful and dangerous deception. Orangeine, like practically all the headache powders, is simply a mixture of acetanilid with less potent drugs. Of course, there is no orange in it, except the orange hue of the boxes and wrappers which is its advertising symbol. But this is an unimportant deception. The wickedness of the fraud lies in this : that whereas the nostrum, by virtue of its acetanilid content, thins the blood, depresses the heart, and finally under- mines the whole system^ it claims to strengthen the heart and to produce hetter Hood. Thus far in the patent medicine field I- have not encountered so direj3t and specific an inversion of the true facts.
Recent years have added to the mortality records of our cities a surpris- ingandalarmingnumberofsuddendeathsfromheartfailure. Intheyear 1902 New York City alone reported a death rate from this cause of 1. 34 per thousand of population; that is about six times as great as the typhoid feverdeathrecord. Itwasaboutthattimethattheheadachepowderswere being widely advertised, and there is every reason to believe that the in- creased mortality, which is still in evidence, is due largely to the secret weakening of the body by acetanilid. Occasionally a death occurs so definitely traceable to this poison that there is no room for doubt, as in the following report by Dr. J. L. Miller, of Chicago, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, on the death of Mrs. Frances' Robson:
"I was first called to see the patient, a young lady, physically sound, who had been taking Orangeine powders for a number of weeks for in- somnia. The rest of the family noticed that she was very blue, and for this reason I was called. When I saw the patient she complained of a sense of faintness and inability to keep warm. At this time she had taken aboxofsixOrangeinepowderswithinabouteighthours. Shewaswarned of the danger of continuing the indiscriminate use of the remedy, but in- sisted that many of her friends had used it, and claimed that it was harm- less. The family promised to see that she did not obtain any more of the remedy. Three days later, however, I was called to the house and found the patientdead. Thefamilysaidthatshehadgonetoherroomtheeveningbe- foreinherusualhealth. Thenextmorning,thepatientnotappearing,they investigatedandfoundherdead. Thecasewasreportedtothecoroner,and the coroner's verdict was: 'Death was from the effect of an overdose of
"
:!
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Orangeine powders administered by her own hand, whether acidentallv or
"'
otherwise, unknown to the jury/
Last July an 18-year-old Philadelphia girl got a box of Orangeine pow-
ders at a drug store, having been told that they would cure headache. There was nothing on the label or in the printed matter inclosed with the preparation warning her of the dangerous character of the nostrum. Fol- lowing the printed advice, she took two powders. In three hours she was dead. CoronerDugan'sverdictfollows:
"Mary A. Bispels came to her death from kidney and heart disease, aggravated by poisoning by acetanilid taken in Orangeine headache pow- ders. "
Prescribing Without Authority.
Yet this poison is being recommended every day by people who know nothing of it and nothing of the susceptibility of the friends to whom they advocate it. For example, here is a testimonial from the Orangeine booklet
"Miss A. A. Phillips, 66 Powers street, Brooklyn, writes: 'I always keep Orangeine in my desk at school, and through its frequent applications to the sick I am called both "doctor and magician. " '
If the school herein referred to is a public school, the matter is one for the Board of Education; if a private school, for the Health Department or the county medical society. That a school teacher should be allowed to continue giving, however well meaning her foolhardiness may be, a harmful and possibly fatal dose to the children intrusted to her care seems rather a significant commentary on the quality of watchfulness in certain insti- tions.
Obscurity as to the real nature of the drug, fostered by careful deception, isthesafeguardoftheacetanilidvender. Wereitsperilousqualityknown, the headache powder would hardly be so widely used. And were the even more important fact that the use of these powders becomes a habit, akin to the opium or cocain habits, understood by the public, the repeated sales which are the basis of Orangeine's prosperity would undoubtedly be greatly cut down. Orangeine fulfills the prime requisite of a patent medicine in being a good "repeater. " Did it not foster its own demand in the form of a persistent craving, it would hardly be profitable. Its advertising invites to the formation of an addiction to the drug. "Get the habit," it might logically advertise, in imitation of a certain prominent exploitation along legitimate lines. Not only is its value as a cure for nervousness and head-, aches insisted on, but its prospective dupes are advised to take this power- ful drug as a hracer.
"When, as often, you reach home tired in body and mind . . . take an Orangeine powder, lie down for thirty minutes' nap--if possible--any- way, relax, then take another. "
"To induce sleep, take an Orangeine powder immediately before retiring. When wakeful, an Orangeine powder will have a normalizing, quieting elTect. "
It is also recommended as a good thing to begin the day's work on in the morning--that is, take Orangeine, night, morning and between meals
These powders pretend to cure asthma, biliousness, headaches, colds, catarrh and grip (dose: powder every four hours during the day for a week! --a pretty fair start on the Orangeine habit), diarrhea, hay fever, insomnia, influenza, neuralgia, seasickness and sciatica.
Of course, they do not cure any of these ; they do practically nothing but give temporary relief by depressing the heart. With the return to normal conditions of blood circulation comes a recurrence of the nervousness,
? 34
headache, or what not, and the incentive to more of the drug, until it becomesanecessity. Inmyownacquaintance,Iknowhalfadozenpersons who have come to depend on one or another of these headache preparations to keep them going. One young woman whom I have in mind told me quite innocently that she had been taking five or six Orangeine powders a day
AN ACETANILID DEATH RECORD.
This list of fatalities is made up from statements published in the neiospapers. In every case the person who died, had taken to relieve a headache or as a bracer a patent medicine containing acetanilid, imthout a doctor's prescription. This list does not include the case of a dog in Altoona, Pa. , tchich died immediately on eating some sample headache powders. The dog did not know any better.
Mrs. Minnie Bishop, Louisville, Ky. ; Oct. i6, 1903.
Mrs. Mary Cusick and Mrs. Julia Ward, of 172 Perry Street,
New York City; Nov. 27, 1903.
Fred. P. Stock, Scranton, Pa. ; Dec. 7, 1903.
C. Frank Henderson, Toledo, 0. ; Dec. 13, 1903.
Jacob E. Staley, St. Paul, Mich. ; Feb. 18, 1904.
Charles M. Scott, New Albany, Ind. ; March 15, 1904. Oscar McKinley, Pittsburg, Pa. ; April 13, 1904.
Otis Staines, student at Wabash College, April 13, 1904. Mrs. Florence Rumsey, Clinton, la. ; April 23, 1904.
Jenny McGee, Philadelphia, Pa. ; May 26, 1904.
Mrs. ? William Mabee, Leoni, Mich. ; Sept. 9, 1904.
Mrs. Jacob Friedman, of South Bend, Ind. ; Oct-. 19, 1904. Miss Libbie North, Rockdale, N. Y. ; Oct. 26, 1904. Margaret Hanahan, Dayton, 0. ; Oct. 29, 1904.
Samuel Williamson, New York City; Nov. 21, 1904. George Kublisch, St. Louis, Mo. ; Nov. 24, 1904.
Robert Breck, St. Louis, Mo. ; Nov. 27, 1904.
Mrs.
Harry Haven, Oriskany Falls, N. Y. ; Jan. 17, 1905. Mrs. Jennie Whyler, Akron, 0. ; April 3, 1905.
Mrs. Augusta Strothmann, St. Louis, Mo. ; June 20, 1905. Mrs. Mary A. Bispels, Philadelphia, Pa. ; July 2, 1905. Mrs. Thos. Patterson, Huntington, W. Va. ; Aug. 15, 1905.
Some of these victims died from an alleged overdose; others from the prescribed dose. In almost every instance the local papers suppressed the name of the fatal remedy.
for several months, having changed from Koehler's powders when some one toldherthatthelatterweredangerous! Becauseofhergrowingpaleness her husband had called in their physician, but neither of them had men- tioned the little matter of the nostrum, having accepted with a childlike faith the asseverations of its beneficent qualities. Yet thev were of an order of intelligence that would scoff at the idea of drinking Swamp-Root or
? 35
Peruiia. That particular vietiin had the bcgimnng of the typical blue skin pictured in the street-car advertisements of Orangeine (the advertisements are a little mixed, as they put the blue hue on the "before taking," whereas it should go on the "after taking"' ) . And, by the ^vay, I can conscientiously recommend Orangeine, Koehler's powders, Royal Pain powders and others of that class to women who wish for a complexion of a dead, pasty white,
Sta-t(C) of Xnd. iana,, Iv^a-oLifScrx Co\x3n. t^^^ c>g: * n VH. R -
f HmhofV? 8,? >Mp"!
of nc^' glpsne, "spty Oo-isS^i I'a rnige, U, T, CO. , >> -Jsa* to Ir<it a"iir<<ii*
J,? '. CO. ,tl'-xet Kn-srn. < -iAndor"pIre- "t# nt-^I's
C! =>T-* tf ^r -,1 e o Ma'nc/rfchli" 0* '^CTW(*rcWl CXib, Con n f-i^on i. ^ins'' etwesn WUllAB " Fisi. r2 K^si! r. M lift", fiCe (or tW-OO 3}? red 1 B. P Cook, Oi- tol<! r n^ alao oi-c^- f^FTB rd 1 ppl-f3 o / je n1
s-TS Hi <f D'- I r<< ='"5 Heti! h<< pffsa" o.
Patient use of these drugs will even produce an interesting and picturesque, if not
verging to a puffy blueness under the eyes and about the lips.
intrinsically beautiful, purplish-gray hue of the face and neck. Drugs That Deprave.
Another acquaintance writes me that he is unable to dissuade his wife from the constant use of both Orangeine and Bromo-Seltzer, although her
36
iK'alth i,s Lroakiiiij^ (lo\\'ii. Often it is difficult for a physician to (lia/jTiiosc these eases because the symptoms are those of certain diseases in which the blood deteriorates, and, moreover, the victim, as in opium and cocain slavery, will positively deny having used the drug. A case of acetanilid addiction (in "cephalgin," an ethical proprietary) is thus reported:
"When the drug- was withheld the patient soon began to exhibit all the traits peculiar to the confirmed morphino-maniac--moral depravity and the like. She employed every possible means to obtain the drug, attempting even to bribe the nurse, and, this failing, even members of the family. "
Another report of a similar case (and there are plenty of them to select from) reads:
"Stomach increasingly irritable ; skin a grayish or light purplish hue palpitation and slight enlargement of the heart; great prostration, with pains in the region of the heart; blood discolored to a chocolate hue. The patient denied that she had been using acetanilid, but it was discovered that for a year she had been obtaining it in the form of a proprietary remedy and had contracted a regular 'habit. ' On the discontinuance of th& drug the symptoms disappeared. She was discharged from the hospital as cured, but soon returned to the use of the drug and applied for readmis- sion, displaying the former symptoms. "'
[^^ ^M^i^tmfrMhA-. fam! :. . iilik
NEW YORK STATE'S NEW POISON LABEL On a cocain-laden medicine.
Where I have found a renegade physician making his millions out of Peruna, or a professional promoter trading in the charlatanry of Liquozone, it has seemed superfluous to comment on the personality^ of the men. They are what their business connotes. With Orangeine the case is somewhat different. Its proprietors are men of standing in other and reputable spheres of activity. Charles L. Bartlett, its president, is a graduate of Yale University and a. man of some prominence in its alumni aftairs. Orangeine is a side issue with him. Professionally he is the western rej)re-
sentative of Ivory Soap, one of the heaviest of legitimate advertisers, and he doubtless learned from this the value of skillful exploitation. Xext to Mr. Bartlett, the largest owner of stock (unless he has recently sold out) is William Gillette, the actor, Avhose enthusiastic indorsement of the pow- ders is known in a personal sense to the profession which he follows, and in print to hundreds of thousands of theater-goers who have read it in their programs. Whatever these gentlemen may think of their product (and I luiderstand that, incredible as it may seem, both of them are constant users of it and genuine believers in it), the methods by which it is sold and the essential and mendacious concealment of its real nature illustrate the
:
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level to which otherwise upright and decent men are brought by a business which can not profitably include either uprightness or decency in its methods.
Orangeine is less dangerous, except in extent of use, than many other acetanilid mixtures which are much the same thing under a different name. A friend of mine with a weak heart took the printed dose of Laxative Bromo Quinin and lay at the point of death for a week. There is no word of warning on the label. In many places samples of headache powders are distributedonthedoorsteps. TheSt. LouisChroniclerecordsaresult:
"Huntington, W. Va. , Aug. 15, 1905. --While Mrs. Thomas Patterson was preparing supper last evening she was stricken with a violent head- ache and took a headache powder that had been thrown in at her door the day before. Immediately she was seized with spasms and in an hour she Avas dead. "
That even the lower order of animals is not safe is shown by a canine tragedy in Altoona, Pa. , where a prize collie dog incautiously devoured three sample tablets and died in an hour. Yet the distributing agents of these mixtures do not hesitate to lie about them. Rochester, N. Y. , has an excel- lent ordinance forbidding the distribution of sample medicines, except by permission of the health officer. An agent for Miniature Headache Powders called on Dr. Goler with a request for leave to distribute 25,000 samples.
"What's your formula? " asked the official.
"Salicylate of soda and sugar of milk," replied the traveling man.
"And you pretend to cure headaches with that? " said the doctor. "ITl
look into it. "
Analysis showed that the powders were an acetanilid mixture. The sample
man didn't wait for the result. He hasn't been back to Rochester since, although Dr. Goler is hopefully awaiting him.
Bromo-Seltzer is commonly sold in drug stores, both by the bottle and at sodafoui^tains. Thefulldoseis"aheapingteaspoonful. " Aheapingtea- spoonful of Bromo-Seltzer means about ten grains of acetanilid. The United States Pharmacopeia dose is four grains; five grains have been known to produce fatal results. The prescribed dose of Bromo-Seltzer is dangerous and has been known to produce sudden collapse.
Megrimine is ai warranted headache cure that is advertised in several of the magazines. A newly arrived guest at a Long Island house party brought along several lots and distributed them as a remedy for headache and that tired feeling. It was perfectly harmless, she declared; didn't the advertisement say "leaves no unpleasant effects? " As a late dance the night before had left its impress on the feminine members of the house party,therewasageneralacceptanceofthe"bracer. " Thatnightthelocal physician visited the house party (on special "rush" invitation), and was well satisfied to pull all his patients through. He had never Isefore seen acetanilidpoisoningbywholesale. AChicagodruggistwritesmethatthe wife of a prominent physician buys Megrimine of him by the half-dozen lots secretly. She has the habit.
On October 9, W. H. Hawkins, superintendent of the American Detective Association, a man of powerful physique and apparently in good health, went to a drug store in Anderson, Ind. , ajid took a dose of Dr. Davis' Headache Powders. He then boarded a car for Marion, and shortly after fell to the fioor, dead. The coroner's verdict is reproduced on page 35.
Whether these powders are made by a Dr. W. C. Davis, of Indianapolis, who makes Anti-Headache, I am unable to state. Anti-Headache describes itself as "a compound of mild ingredients and positively contains no dangerous drugs. " It is almost pure acetanilid.
In the "ethical" field the harm done by this class of proprietaries is per-
? 38
haps as great as in the open field, for many of those whicli are supposed to be sold only in prescriptions are as freely distributed to tlie laity as Pei'iina. And their advertising is hardly different.
Dangers of Antikamnia.
Antikamnia, claiming to be an "ethical" remedy, and advertising through
the medical press by methods that would, with little alteration, fit any patent painkiller on the market, is no less dangerous or fraudulent than the Orangeine class which it almost exactly parallels in composition. It was at first exploited as a "new synthetical coal-tar derivative," which it isn't and never was. It is simply half or more acetanilid (some analyses show as high as 68 per cent. ) with other vmimportant ingredients in vary- ing proportions. In a booklet entitled "i^ight on Pain," and distributed on
BEWARE OF ACETANILID
The folloicing loell-knoicn "remedies,^' hoth "ethical" and "patent," depend for their results upon the heart-de- pressing action of Acetanilid:
Orangeine Megrimirie Bromo-Seltzer Anti-Headache Royal Pain Powders Dr. Davis' Headache Miniature Headache Powders
Powders Antikamnia
Ammonol Salacetin Cephalgin Phenalgin
and practically all of the drug-store-vended "headache cures'' and "anti-pain"" remedies.
Take no nostrum of this class ivithout a doctor's pre- scription, unless you are sure it contains no acetanilid. Makethedruggisttellyou. Heisresponsible. Asuit for damages has recently been icon against a New York drug store for illness consequent upon the sale of a "guaranteed harmless" headache tablet containing three
grains of acetanilid.
doorsteps, I find under an alphabetical list of diseases this invitation to form the Antikamnia habit:
"Xervousness (overwork and excess)--Dose: One Antikamnia tablet every two or three h mrs.
"Shoppers' or Sightseers' Headache--Dose: Two Antikamnia tablets every three hours.
"Worry (nervousness, 'the blues') --Dose: One or two Antikamnia and Codein tablets every three hours. "
Codein is obtained from opium. The codein habit is well known to all institutions which treat drusr addictions, and is recognized as being no less difiicult to cure than the morphin habit.
A typical instance of what Antikamnia will do for its users is that of a Pennsylvania merchant, 50 years old, wlio had declined, without apparent
:
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caii. se, from 140 to IIG pounds, and was finally brought to Philadelphia in astateofstupor. Hispulsewasbarelyperceptible,hisskinduskyandhis blcod of a deep chocolate color. On reviving he was questioned as to whether he had been taking headache powders. He had, for several years. What kind? Antikamnia; sometimes in the plain tablets, at other times Antikamnia with codein. How^ many? About twelve a day. He was greatly surprised to learn that this habit was responsible for his condition.
"My doctor gave it to me for insomnia," he said, and it appeared that the patient had never even been warned of the dansferous character cf the drug. Were it obtainable, I would print here the full name and address of that attending physician, as one unfit, either through ignorance or carelessness, to practice his profession. And there w^ould be other physicians all over the country who Avould, under that description, suffer the same indictment within their own minds for starting innocent patients on a destructive and sometimes fatal course. For it is the careless or conscienceless physician who gets the customer for the "ethical" headache remedies, and the cus- tomer,oncesecured,paysaprofit,veryliterally,withhisownblood. Once having taken Antikamnia, the layman, unless informed as to its true nature, will often return to the drug store and purchase it with the impression that it is a specific drug, like quinin or potassium chlorate, instead of a dis- guised poison, exploited and sold under patent rights by a private concern. The United States Postoffice, in its broad tolerance, permits the Antikamnia company to send through the mails little sample boxes containing tablets enough to kill an ordinary man, and these sample boxes are sent not only to physicians, as is the rule with ethical remedies, but to law^^ers, business men, "brain workers," and other prospective purchasing classes. The box
bears the lying statement : "Xo drug habit--no heart efi'eet. "
Just as this is going to press the following significant case comes in from
low^a
"rARMi]N'GTON, loAVA- Oct. 6. --{Special to the Constitution-Democrat. )--
Mrs. Hattie Kick, one of the best and most prominent ladies of Farmington, died rather suddenly Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock from an overdose of Antikamnia, which she took for a severe headache from which she was suf- fering. Mrs. Kickwassubjecttosevereheadachesandwasafrequentuser of Antikamnia, her favorite remedy for this ailment. "
There is but one safeguard in the use of these remedies; to regard them as one would regard opium, and to employ them only with the consent of a physician who understands their true nature. Acetanilid has its uses, but not as a generic painkiller. Pain is a symptom; you can drug it away temporarily, but it will return, clamoring for more payment, until the final price is hopeless enslavement. Were the skull and bones on every box of this cla^s of poison the danger would be greatly minimized.
With opium and cocain the case is different. The very words are danger signals. Legalrestrictionssafeguardthepublic,toagreaterorlessdegree, fromtheirindiscriminateuse. Normalpeopledonotknowinglytakeopium or its derivatives except with the sanction of a physician, and there is even spreading abroad a belief (surely an expression of the primal law of self- preservation) that the licensed practitioner leans too readily toward the convenient narcotics.
But this perilous stuf? is the ideal basis for a patent medicine because its results are immediate (though never permanent), and it is its own best advertisement in that one dose imperatively calls for another. Therefore it behooves the manufacturer of opiates to disguise the use of the drug. Tliis he does in varying forms, and he has found his greatest success in the "cough and consumption cuj-es" and the soothing syrup class. The former of these mil be (C)onsidered in another article. As to the "soothing syrups,"
::
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40
designed for the drugging of helpless infants, even the trade does not know howmanyhaverisen,madetheirbaseprofit,andsubsided. Afewsurvive, probably less harmful than the abandoned ones, on the average, so that by taking the conspicuous survivors as a tyjDe I am at least doing no injustice to the class.
Some years ago I heard a prominent New York lawyer, asked by his office scrub woman to buy a ticket for some "association" ball, say to her: "How can you go to these affairs, Nora, when you have two young children at home? "
"Sure, they're all right," she returned blithely: "just wan teaspoonful of Winslow's an' they lay like the dead till mornin'. "
What eventually became of the scrub woman's children I don't know. The typical result of this practice is described by a Detroit physician who has been making a special study of Michigan's high mortality rate
"]M,rs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup is extensively used among the poorer classes as a means of pacifying their babies. These children eventually come into the hands cf physicians with a greater or less addiction to the opiumhabit.
