National Republican., 1885-11-18
STILL MORE POISONING.
VIII the Blame Bc Fastened on the
Druggists or the Manufacturers p
Scientific Investigation.

tFrom the Philadelphia Rccord.1
The carclessness with when poisons are
handled has been unlnvorubly commented on
by the press, and practical suggestions are
made as to methods by which to avoid such
accidents In the future. But people are liable
also to another danger which is moro wide
spread In It's effects than would be the careless.
ness or thoughilossncss of a drug clerk. There
are twenty thousand druggists in the United
States, and nearly all of thom are licensed TO
sell liquor, IN fact Il may be assumed that At
least one.siXih of all the whiskey consumed
In the United States is sold by druggists. Largo
quantities of II are used rs one of the In
gradients In physicians prescriptions, and
while II may be true, as Is sometimes claimed
That there are doctors who do not prescribe
alcoholic liquors In case of sickness, they are
the exccption-not the rule All medical meh
who are not prcIudiCed knowtho value of good
liquor in Hsick.Ioom, aud order II freely in many
eases ssuch as feeble digestion ofold people. ohoi.
oTaininntum, cholera morbus, acute dyspepsia,
consumption, hemorrhages, aud other lung
troubles, and to counteract the depression
caused by pneumonia, fever, and in fact all
innammaiory diseases. But whiskcy Is not
always put up with a prescription: IL is some.
times ordered to be taken separately; anl In
that case there is nothing more natural than
Tint ihe druggist who furnishes the medicine
should also be called upon TO supply the
liquor. Women, fromtthc peculiar character
OF their organism, often need n stimulnnt. and,
ofcourse 1t is obtained at the drug store In
or other plays as important part In medical
treatment: as any drug In the modern pharma.
coI@ai,
ical men are constantly insisting on the neces.
sity of purity In drugs, If they are to have tho
desired effect on those to whom they nre nd
ministcr0d, they are positively silent as to the
character Of the whlskcy which their patieuts
secure at drug stores. II is admitted, even by
members Of the trade themselves. that as n rule
the druggist handles tho lowest, poorest, aud
ms tfn rnI
liable as they are to be imposed on like other
people.
:. In a. recent conversation with a wholesale
liquor dealer the writer learned several facts
which induced him to visit a number of drug
stores and purchase a small quantity of tho
whiskey sold there. About n dozen samples
were obtained, all OF which were carefully
subjected to analysis, and the results obtained
were certainly startling; vitriol, logwood creo-
sote, nnd cntecheu were found freely, while
the colOring matter was equally as poisonous
MS that which is used in dcccivlng people with
socalled green tea. II would not be dinlcult
oven for the non.proiessonnl mind to form an
idea as 10 the effects of such whiskey upon the
system. Administered to sick people with
their constitutions already enfeebled by dis
ease, or taken by nervous, delicate, and over
worked women, the evil done must be terri
bic. Medical men are not true to the obliga-
tions which the almost sacred character of
their profession entails upon them. 50 long as
they even indirectly countonauce such state
of things, and they ought to Join together In
seeing that their druggists whiskey is as free
from Impurities as his calomel or his quinlne.
But says some objectOr, the best and safest
way would be for physicians never TO prescribe
whiskey, Would this prevent the patient from
using. II when his system Graves for It? De-
cldedly not, Besides, alcohol in spite of all
that may be said to the contrary Is admitted
by eminent psychologists to be an article of
food and necessary TO the system, even when
perfect health Is enjoyed.
There are many people who occasionally
| fcel the need OF tonic, but from some cause
| or other are opposed to taking whiskey; such
| people generally compromise on some one of
| the numerous bitters with which the market Is
| flooded, laying the ilattering JUNCTION to their
souls that they are using something surely
| the laboratory of nature. There Is no eNaggc-
| ration In saying that as q rule these nauseous
| compounds consist chiefly OF the vilcst and
| cheapest whiskey, carefully disguised by some
| nnvor, but destructive to the system. Any cN-
| hilaration that may be felt after taking these
| decociions Is simply due to the presence of the
| alcohol and not to any tonic, and when the
effects wear off the liver IS even more sluggish,
! the workings of the heart more irregular, and
| the receptive qualities of the stomach feebler
! thnn ever.
For many yenrs the experiments of the
| scientists chemists, and druggists had failed
| TO eliminate from acohol tho fuscl oil poison,
and II was not until the Duilys pure malt
| whisKey was produced that q perfectly pure
| distillation for medical purposes was obtained,
| and which Is now adopted by physicians every
where in their practice. and dispensed by
| druggists on their prescriptions.
| There now remains no excuse for druggists
handling and selling poor and vicious article,
| as they will have In Dunys the pureSt and
| best, upon which the health and welfare of tho
| community SO much depend.