Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1905-04-05

is certain than the fact that worthless article
cannot be advertised proftabIy
| Those who know advertising know that the cost
Of selling bottle package to a is sever
al times the profit made on it. The only hope Of
profit comes through continued use; and, without
merit, continued use cannot be expected When q
man has made success 10 advertising medicine,
it is to me the best evidence possible that be has
something good.
physician may put up a prescription for some
individual case without giving much thought to it.
But il that physician is going to spend fortune
advertising, With possibility Of getting his mon
ley back unless be satifes millions OF users he is
naturally going to put up the best prescription he
can make. II be is wise he will get the best per-
scriptiOns for his purpose that any man make.
Then there is the question Of alcohol which Mr..
Box seems to consider such peTilOus All the
fluid extracts and tnctures used in medicines must
employ alcohol as q solvent aud representative.
Prohibit physician from using alcohol In his pres
crptions and you would make the practice Of medi
cine impossible II physician must use alcohol in
certain prescriptions shall we complain that ready
made medicine employs it for the same purpOsel
II we are going to avoid the use Of alcohol we
must Danish the extracts and essences used in our
! kitchen Fluid extracts, whether they are medi-
cinal or culinary, cannot be made or preserved
without alcohol.
The use Of alcohol in medicines is approved by
the pharmacopoeias Of all nations. It is in accord
with the practice Of all medical authorities in the
world.
The abuse Of alcahOl is another matter, but the
, cost alone is enough to prevent abuse. AlcahO
costs about $500 per gallon. 1t is too expensive
for any medicine making to use more than he needs
oft And he cannot hope that people going to
take the medicine because Of the alcohol, when good
3 whiskey can be purchased for 0ne.ffth as much.
A dose Of medicine which contains even 20 per
cent Of alcohol does not seem to me very danger
0us matter That means fifth Of teasp0onful Of
: alcohol at q time Physicians do not hesitate 10
brandy II child
braHdy is alcohol. When one compares medicine
with wine or beer ne should also compare the dos
age. One takes more alcohol in q glass Of wine
than he takes in great many doses Of medicine.
l Mr. Box is also most unfair in his reference to
posOns used in proprietary medicines. It is true
that some medicines contain pOisOns in small per-
centages, but the is not nearly general in
! physicians prescriptions A great many drugs
which are recognized By every physician as helpful
in small doses are poisonous when taken il excess.
] An elderly druggist told me a few days ago that
he had personally examined more than 100, 900 ply
scians prescriptions, and, by actual count, 20 per
cent. of them contained opiate Yet analysis
shows not trace Of opate in the largest sellers
among the proprietary remedies
Strychnine is another dangerous drug largely
prescribed by physicians. 1t is used rs tonic and
> stmulant Yet this is drug rarely found in pro-
! prietaries.
The maker OF proprietary medicine must be
more careful about the use OF any poison than the
and to watch the results. He is able to take
chances which maker Of q general remedy will
take, for fear that the directions on the bottle will
J not be adhered to.
There are thousands OF physicians whose interests
are opposed to proprietary remedies They are
/ ready TO denounee a ready made remedy at the
slightest evidence OF harm from it. Yet how seldom
we hear OF any harm from prOprietaries have
myself never heard Of a single authenticated case.
It Is the lack Of poison, rather than its presence,
which forms the real objection to proprietares It
ls by using poison which the medicine maker
avoids that the physician often secnrea greater o
feet. The maker Of remedy has too much at stake
to use anything which viii result ia occasional harm.
And this caution leads him often to omit Ingredients
which be knows to be valuable
4 proprietary remidies are used not alone by the
poor who cannot afford to call a physician They
are employed By those to whom expense is Of no
importance Aud 10 ordinary ailments, when a
physician ls called, he prescribes ready made rem
edy Proprietary remedies are at.s0me time taken
by all Of as. They are IN nearly every home.
# ana know q no business where fraud has less
chance Of success than 10 medicine. worthless
remedy e very quickly found ont a sick person
VIII not long continue remedy which does a0t help
Ihe lack oi merit n food may remain long undis.
covered but il medicine lacks virtue the fact is at
once apparent
i When need q remedy for any ordinary ailment,
my choice goes to q remedy good that it made its
maker rich. A DEFENDER.
The Colorado legislature killed the state oil re-.
hnery BILL This should suggest TO Mr. Rockefeller
g way Of disposiag q that 500, 000
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