Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-12-10
THE DEATH OF A POPULAR DE
LUSION.
what DE-. J. Clark Stay, N. D., Says, In
the Philadelphia Medical and Surgi
cal Reporter, OF Iron.

cal Reporter, OF Iron.
Long before medicine was entitled TO rank as
science iron in some form was given to the
sick. In the nrst records simple metallic iron
in state OF minute division was given
Whether the patient died or recovered, a GER
tain virtue was attributed to its use, and Gus
tom regarded 1t as one of the proper things 70
take. With the advance in knowledge con-
corning the human body it was found that the
manner in which the blood received its nour-
ishment, made it impossible for iron, In that
form at least, to ever reach the blood This fact
however, did not deter many from still seeking
tained some good ond OIL leon fp pes,, n''
me opinion OF very large number OF the
members OF the medical profession on this sub
quotations from an article on ''Iron az Medi-
cine" by j. Clark Stay. Nj. D., which appeared
in the Medical and Surgical Reporter, March 81,
1855:
.'Some 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 preparations; but
these are very few In point OF numbers, for they
soon reach the conclusion that iron plays but
little or no part in the healing art, and 1t Is dis
carded entirely from their lists" The best that
this frank author can say Of other forms is,
argument 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 nave
presented, why combine with any form of iron,
or any other preparation, when by the use of
alcohol, in the form OF q 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
disease? OF course it is essential that the
whiskey should be absolutely pure free from
fusil oiD and made from malt. Not only has
iron failed to show the advantages once
claimed, but startling evidence has been given
which proves that in chronic lung affections, it
is apt to produce cOngestive trouble. With
many it produces constipation in its worst form,
| causing headache and distressing nervous eff
fects, which make the use of iron impossible in
any form.
Error is slow to die, and the popular idea
must be met, and therefore it is that the motto,
Beet, Wine and Iron,' graces the by-paths
and highways of human travel.
The merit claimed for some of these articles
rests on the unquestiOnable fact, that the iron
contained Is SO wonderfully combined that no
chemical test will show its presence. The fact
being that absolutely no iron whatever exists
! In these preparationsth the manufacturers prefer
ring to rest their own chances for profit on an
article consisting but too often of q cheap and
deleterious whiskey, marked with the flavor of
some extract, which may induce an abnormal
appetite, giving, however nothing to aid diges-
ton, and eventually leaving the disabled sys-
tenn weaker than at the beginning.