The Great American Fraud / The Patent Medicine Evil

Collier's Weekl

ficial and medical writer once m

nd bottle them by the short quart, label them 'Smith's Reviver ana Blood Purifier; dose, one wineglassful before each meal'; advertise them to cure erysipelas, bunions, dyspepsia, heat ras

very much like a

t's just as much a medicine as

oprietary nostrum in the country. It has taken the place once held by Greene's Nervura and by Paine's Celery Compound, and for the same reason which made them popular

nnell of New York C

patent medicines, a

ol is consumed in th

dispensed in a leg

barring the sale

me, has not been materially changed. None of the seven drugs is of any great potency. Their total is less than one-half of 1 per cent, of the product. Medicinally they are too inconsiderable,

runa Is

its cost, including bottle and wrapper, is between fifteen and eighteen cents a bottle. Its price is $1.00. Because of this handsome margin of profit, and by way of making hay in the stolen sunshine of Peruna advertising, many imitations have sprung up to harass the proprietors of the

les is, perhaps, catarrh of the skin, since "a teaspoonful of Peruna thrice daily or oftener is an effectual cure" ("The Ills of Life"). Similarly, malaria, one may guess, is catarrh of the mosquito that bit you. Other diseases not specifically placed in the catarrhal class, but yielding to Peruna (in the book), are colic, mumps, convulsions, neuralgia, women's complaints and rheumatism. Yet "Peruna is not a cure-all," virtuously disclaims Dr. Hartman, and grasps at a golden opportunity by advertising his nostrum as a preventive against yellow fever! That alcohol and water, with a little coloring matter and one-half of 1 per cent, of mild drugs, will cure all or any of the ills listed above is too ridiculous to need refutation. Nor does Dr. Hartman himself personally make that claim for his product. He stated to

and therein, I regret to say, lies specifically and directly. The lie is ingeniously backed

profitable to the maker and a curse to the community at large is the fact that the minimum dose first ceases to satisfy, then the moderate dose, and finally the maximum dose; and the

pound is another dangerous drug used largely by drinkers; Paine's Celery Compound also. I have in the last two years met four cases of persons who d

rbids the Sale of

n the government order to the Indian Department, reprod

T OF THE

F INDIAN

D. C., Aug

chool Superintendents

which their stores are kept. Some lack of order might he condoned, but it is reported that many stores are dirty even

trader has a great influence among the Indians with whom he has constant dealings and who are often dependent upon him, and there ar

ly way, with due regard to ordinary hygiene, and where exact business methods prevail is a civilizi

oods, are handled, stored, and given out, and see to it that in these respects, as well in respect of weights, prices, and account-keep-ing,

is hereby absolutely prohibited. As a medicine, something else can be substituted; as an intoxicant, it has been found too tempting and effective. Anything of the sort under another name which is found to lead to intoxication you will please report to this Office. When a compound of that sort gets a bad name it is liable to b

the labeling of poisonous drugs with skull and cro

letter are herewith to b

respe