, 1886-10-05
THEIR OWN DOCTORS.
PEOPLE WHO HOPE TO CURE THEIR
ILLS WITH PATENT MEDICINE.

ILLS WITH PATENT MEDICINE.
The Largest Trade Done with Elderly
Men-saies of the Various Glasses OF
Proprietary Medicines-The Medicine
Cbest-Progress.
"More people doctor themselves than
you would imagine" said an uptown
druggist to a reporter. "The craze at
present is for patent medicines. The great
reduction in the price of all proprietary
articles has induced many invalids or in
dividuals who suppose they are i'll. to give
up patronizing physicians and try the
msny nostrums with which the market
is Hooded. | nave not kept track of the
number OF patent medicines in the mar
ket In recent years, but the last time /
gave my attention to the subject there
were over 100000 proprietary medicines
manufactured in the United States. a
drug store is a great resort for hypochon-
driacs. Here men ak by the hour OF
the various ailments which are OF no In
terest to me but to which I am obliged to
listen. or else lose the sick m IN s custom.
what class purchase patent medi-
cinesi'
"All classes, OF course, buy proprietary
art cles 10 a greater or less extent, but the
largest trade In them IS done with elderly
men. When a man reaches, say co years,
he usually has some ailment which may
either be trifing or serious. At all events,
alter the FIRST symptoms present them
selves, he makes a careful diagnosis of his
case and HES him to the drug st. The
pill manufacturer patiently listens to the
customers statement OF his Ills and pre-
scribes n r~emedv-usually one of his own
nr-nnraffaua kVhur pacanaa fha nrAAf
on the druggists goods are 100 per cent.
more than on Others. Probably the rem
edy purchased benefits the patient, but
the chances are that II doesn't.
THE HIGHT OF FOLLY.
"Wonld you recommend individuals
who ore sick to do their own doctoringfr
Certainly not. No man can tell the
nature of his disease. A symptom or
symptoms may Indicate n dozen different
diseases, and when Il man is taking a
liver %invigorator he may be suffering
from kidney trouble. 1t is the hight of
folly for one to buy a proprietary tonic,
the ingredients OF which ar. of the poores st
and cheapest quality. Does 1t stand to
reason That a patent medicine firm would
put high priced wine in a beef. iron and
wine tonic7 No. The wine used Is g-ner-
ally the cheapest kind OF cherry, and ]
shudder when | think OF the extract of
beef md iron. Toe same prime pie APP
pies 10 all proprietary articles In which
alcohol Is supposed to enter. But few bit
tiers or nerv mes contain much alsohol, but
are mainly composed of cheap qualities
of French spirits. Good alcohol costs
money and is far too lear to be used
In patent medicines which sell at 81 per
bottle"
What class of patent med iolnes has the
largest salei" was asked.
ID fferent articles are manufactured at
various seasons. For instance, in the sum-
mer months ~sarsaparllla. and ginger ton
les have the call. while in cold weather
cough syrup and consumption cures are
largely sold. You would be surprised TO
know the lumber remedies for coughs
and colds sold in Brooklyn, from Novem-
Der 10 June. They are of various kinds,
good, bad and Indifferent, the latter PIE
dominating. Do ! think syrups can cure
consumption No, sir. They no doubt
relieve the sufferer and loosen the cough,
but in many instances coughs are tenn
porari y dlied up by their use, only to
break out again more severely than be-
fore
TIE MEDICINE CHEST.
-How do the so-calied medicine chests
selli"
- hAAAAa VI iAOlit
the country will ever forget his mothers
medicine chest and the good woman's
catsup tea and mustard piastersf How.
on The first symptom OF disease in any OF
her loved ones. she lastens to The well
thumbed and ancient medicine book,
locates the malady and prescribes the
remedy The day Of the medicine chest
has, | think, passed. But whether the
remedies which our mothers prescribed
were efiicacious or not, l don't pretend to
know, but any way we most always got
well. Good care and nursing 90 IL great
way in the treatment Of disease
The reporters informant, who, In addi-
ton TO being a druggist, is also II physi-
clan, continuing. said; an the sleepy
Long Island village In which | was born,
our doctor combined the duties of phy>i-
clan with those of dominic. His knowl.
edge OF the Bible far exceeded that of
materia medicL The first body was dis
sected in this ountry In Philadelpnla, IN
1850, and from that date until 1867, when
tine first medical school was established
in New York, but Little progress was made
in the study of medical science. The
strides made in the profession have been
phenomenal. but nothing compared 10
what will be discovered by future gener.
ations.-Brooklyn Eagle,