The Washington critic., 1885-12-04
THE DEATH or 4 POPULAR DE-
LUSION
What DR.. j. Clark Stay, NJ. d., Says, in
the Philadelphia Medical and Sur
gical Reporter, of Iron.

What DR.. j. Clark Stay, NJ. d., Says, in
the Philadelphia Medical and Sur
gical Reporter, of Iron.
Long before medicine was entitled to
rank as science iron in some form was
given to the sick. In the first records sim-
pie metallic iron IN state of minute li-
vision was given. Whether the patient
died or recovered, a certain virtue was at
trbuted to its use and custom regarded IL
as one of the proper things to take. With
the advance in knowledge concerning the
human body 1t was found that the manner
in which the blood received its nourishment
made II impossible for iron, In that form at
least, TO ever reach the blood. This fact
however, did not deter many from still
seeking to know whether out of iron could
not be obtained some good and apparent re-
suit.
The opinion OF very large number of
the members of the medical profession on
this subject may he easily deduced by the
following quotations from an article on
Iron as a Medicine" by j. Clark Stay,
NJ. d., which appeared in the Medical aHt
Surgical Reporter March 81, 1886;
''Somo physicians have continued to give,
while others have returned to giving, simply
metallic iron in state Of minute division,
as being preferable to any of its prepare
lions; but these are very few In point of
numbers, for they soon reach the conclu-
sion that iron plays but little or no part in
the healing art, and 1t is discarded entirely
from their lists" The best that this frank
author can say Of other forms is that they
are "vcry slightly astringcnt.n Tie argu-
ment is advanced that iron, like many other
medicinal agents, must be taken in com
bination with some other agent to develop
its qualities Reasoning from the facts
we have presented, why combine with any
form Of iron, or any other preparation,
when by the use of alcohol, IN the form of
a whiskey, there can be most certainly
induced an appetite for and an ability to
digest regular articles of diet known to
contain all the elements necessary for
the sustenance or repair Of the body in
health and diseaseP or course it is essen
tial that the whlskey should be absolutely
pure (free from fusel oil) and made from
malt. Not only has iron failed to show the
| advantages once claimed, but startling evil
| dence has been given which proves that in
| chronic lung affections 1t Is apt to produce
congestvc trouble. With many 1t pro.
duces constipation in its worst form, caus-
ing headache and distressing nervous Of
fects, which make the use of iron impos-
sible In any form.
Error is slow to die, and the popular idea
must be met, aud therefore It is that the
motto, "Beef, Wine and Iron,n graces the
by.paths and highways of human travel.
The merit claimed for some of these arti-
| cles rests on the unquestionablc fact that
| the iron contained is SO wonderfully com
bined that no chemical test will show its
| presence. The fact being that absolutely
| no iron whatever exists In these prepare.
| tions, the manufacturers preferrng to rest
their own chances for profit on an article
| consisting but too often of cheap and de-
leterious whiskey, marked with the flavor
of some extract, which may induce an alb
normal appetite, giving, however, nothing
to aid digestion, and eventually leaving the
disabled system weaker than at the begin-
ming.