The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-12-31
oUACK MEDICINES.

4 .phvs;eiana in the Iphsg has some
,tr;ctures upon our article on this subject
He tsiscourseth as follows
"Your neighbor of the Dispatch IN his seal al. e
S.frna the interests of the Apothecaries, shu POSE
III, neme,rius.like his own craft IN the aast'tts,s
line cuts fore and att stating that one OF e
rhysiciaas in the city Of Richmond nsu 'a..i
he cpinion 10 him, that medicines !,
80 a,auss the patient, while natufeeu ieu a .ih
ss,asers come TO believe the same thing, through
.he nuhlss.v given to II by his paper, as ,he1 uas
do under the authority OF one OF 'ne ao,.e. pSi
cians Ia the city of Richmond, ne may n9u.e i's
friepde the Apoahccares, aud ms own .s ai ~;
i;,sls mare ,an he would like to do. His zeal evi
aenflv oversteps his discretion. As 10 TINS s'ae.
r,ent OF sone of the ablest physicians y, ae
oity of Richmond there must De some
sTbs x,i,er of the article in the Dispatch, must
have mSconceived his meaning, or made the state
wont, yer broad, We shall be inerednious untii
We have some more definite iniornaioh On we -.
ruhiec. lie, us have names ana Iesu.r.uso ~
he mer,ory of the Dispatch Such statement
rrouires examination, though we acquHthe "ihef
of all intentional misrepresentation.
II sone of the ablest physicians in TINS city en-
tertains such opinion, he certaly sait;os &c
one of the most Aoaest ones, unless ms M
yerx small one Certain it is, that very lew oil MS
brethren entertain any such OPINION
We esnnot hut think too the Dispatch speak
ing without reflection, when it says there Is no
danger in quack medicines. should any one taSe
an over dose of Ayccs Cherry Pectora,, u would
1--WE him his ouiet,,s as Quick as lightning flash;
and let il be recoected, thatths class Of meuienes
often falls into the hands OF persons VINO eahho'
read the directions"
We are well aware that selfinterest is a
very general motive of human action. Ger
tainly, we claim no exemption from tins com.
mon infirmity of human nature. We doubt
whether even the medical fraternity is entire
" free fromit Avery slight touch of it,
mere homeopathic dose, may have impercep-
fibly affected their assault upon quack medi-
cines.
There is no mistake in the statement
made to us by the able physician of Rich
mond. Our memory is perfectly clear upon
the subject, and we quoted his very words,
which is more than the writer in the Wig
has done with our own. If he will recur to
the article in the Dispatch, he will see that
we never said that q physician had express
ed the opinion, that medicines were "onty
useful to amuse the patient while Nature was
curing him. but that "the principal use Of
medicine was to amuse the patient" &c-
The writer in the Wing wants the name of
this physician. Really, our medical friends
are in very inquisitive mood. They want
the names of everything in plain English,
except their own prescriptions We have
only to say, that the physician to whom we
referred, is one of the very ablest of his pro-
fession in this or any other city, a practitioner
of the regular school, and who can get as
much practice as he chooses to attend to-
We may add, that the same opinion given by
him, in almost identical words, was express
cd to friend of ours by an eminent physl-
clan in the country. Possibly both these gen
tlemen may be wrong in supposing that there
is anything very amusing in medicine; but
whether Nature, with very slight medical as
sistance, does not have more effect than any
other agent, in the cure of diseases, is ques-
ton upon which doctors may differ.
"a Physician is also inaccurate in attri-
buting to US the remark that there is no dan
ger in quack medicines. Very likely the
excessive use of them, as of all other medl-
cines, will iniure the constitution. We have
never heard of any sudden deaths from their
use All the sudden deaths we have ever
heard of from medicines, were from medicines
of the regular school, taken by mistake
Moreover, if quack medicines 'often fall in
to the hands of persons who cannot read the
directions" how would they be enlightened
by printing the ingredients on the label!
AS we have before said, we entertain only
feelings Of respect and admiration for the
medical profession. We have no fears that
their just influence can be impaired, or their
interests endangered by quack medicines
Notwithstanding the number and variety of
these nostrums, the profession possesses as
strong attractions as ever, if we may judge
by the increasing number of votaries of sci
ence who threng the portals of its schools
Let them be content with position which
has been achieved by their own merits, and
which can only be retained by superior abb
lity and talent-not by legislative enact
ments.