Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1885-09-24
PATENT MEDICINES.
From the New York Herald.

"Yes, l can tell you considerable ABOUT
patent medicines" said a prominent whole
sale druggist in answer to reporters in
ouiry. "In the first place, the word patent
as applied to medicines is not correct. To
speak correctly, they should be called pro-
prietary, not patent, medicines"
when did these medicines originator"
"Well, to speak correctly, they are as old as
the human race In the days when doctors
were less plentiful and less skilled, every
man was more or less his own doctor.
Every old woman had her favorite herbs,
and thus in time long tried and reliable
recipes fell into the hands of shreWd men
with an eve to the main chance. Net few
physicians are to be credited with the pa
ternity of many popular and successful
patent medicines. Probably the real rise
and wide sale of patent medicines do not
extend much further back than half q GEN.
tury. Most of the very successful ones trace
their history no further back than that. Out
of about FIVE thousand articles of domestic
make not more than fifty can be carried on
as business apart from other interests. In-
deed, out of the five thousand there are
probably only five hundred that can be set
down as of any importance. 1t is safe to
saw that not more than half dozen have
made million each.
1.-The people of this country are great pat
rons of patent medicines, the middle classes
especially. The rich can always consult q
physician at the least provocation, and the
very poor can avoid both doctors expenses
and the cost of patent medicines by goingto
dispensaries, where they are treated gratu-
itously. Much is claimed for the efficiency
of these medicinies-too much, indeed, for
some of them. But, as rule, they possess
certain virtue. Many of them are merely
physicians prescriptions made upon grand
scale and are stated to cure only speclhc
cases of bodily arrangement. The day OF
the "cure all" medicines is as good as gone
by. Some of the medicines are really excel
lent for the purposes they are applied to.
There are new remedies constantly coming
into the field, but unless backed by heavy
capital they and their projectors invariably
come to grief Not even plenty of Of money
can bolster up remedy if it be worthless,
or if there be too many articles of the same
kind in the market.
ALLOWING the remedy to be all that is
claimed for it, that it is backed up heavily,
advertised we'll and has elbow room in its
own particular field, there still remain
ed to all business ventures. The busi-
ness is not oil profit, as many people
think. The manufacturer sees but d
small proportion of the dollar that the
customer pays the retailer for his bottle of
medicine A dollar bottle Of medicine is
geuerally sold to the trade though the job
Der al 81 per dozen. Before the manuiac-
turer begins TO think of profit he must figure
on labor, material, rent, freight, express,
clerk hire and advertising bills. The last
expense is an important item. II has been
estimated that in the last twenty years
100000 900 have been spent in advertising
proprietary medicines. The small adver-
tiser is nowhere. So in the end if the pro
pretor makes twelve cents on the dollar
bottle Of medicine he is lucky The retail
er's net profit is nearly double that amount
When the stamp tax on proprietary medi.
cines was levied-about four per cent on
the retail price, in reality ten per cent on
the manufacturers price-the manufactur-
ers made even less than now. In four years
only the stamp tax thus levied rolled into
the government Golfers an average of at
least 81, 500 900 year. The stamp tax has
been done away with, but the tax of Sl.oO
gallon on alcohol-a principal lngredlentin
the man nufacture of medicines-still exists.
According to the last United States cen
sus there are 563 establishments in this
country devoted to the proprietary medicine
business, employing 4,015 operatives, with
an aggregate investment Of capital amount.
ing to $40, ,620. 900, and the annual product is
valued at $14, $4,000.
1.-THE foreign trade in our proprietary
medicines is light owing to the drawback oi
the heavy tax on alcohol, but the trade is
slowly increasing. A fair calculation is that
about twenty-five American proprietary
medicines have at present very large sale
in England.
"There has been some discussion in phar
maceutical circles about framing petition
to have enacted law to compel manufac
turers to place on the outside of the wrap
pers of their medicines printed formula o1
the Ingredients This would be manifestly
unjust to the manufacturer and would moi
serve the public in any way. A druggist
can no more indorse all the doctors pre-
seriptions that pass through his hands thar
he can the various proprietary medicines
To be consistent the law should reach these
prescriptions as we'll as the proprietary med
icines. Such law would be arbitrary ant
absurd In the case of proprietary medicine
it would strike three-fold blow-at th'
| manufacturer, the druggist and the public Int
first would lose the control of his specially. Th
druggist would be tempted to make up the form
MAS himself, but not having the experience ant
apparatus of the large manufacturer he weuld fail
in producing the counterfeit article, to attain tn
same curative results. Thus he would be lnJur
ing the buyer, and as the buyers will soon dro
away from the counterfeited medicine that the.
begin to find worthless, the result is evident
| MANY country druggists would be bankrupted un
der q general prevalence of public mistrust. 70
they invest largely in proprietary medicine;
With the consequent decline of the proprietar
medicine business thousands of workers would b
made idle-makers of bottles, boxes, corks, litho
graphs. &C. And then what valuable adyertls
ing patronage the newspapers would lose! for ),
man cannot protect his goods he is not going
advertise them As matters are now it IS all rlgh'
The manufacturers of proprietary medicines haV
the utmost incentive while they are protected
make their medicines as perfect and curative