River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1907-07-11
ALCOHOL IN MEDICINES.
Seventy-Five Per Cent of Doctors
Prescriptions Call for 1t.

Now that the National Pure Food
and Drugs law is in effect all patent
medicines in liquid form bear on the
label statement Of the percentage
OF alcohol contained in them. The
average amount of alcohol is said 10
be about ten per cent, some have more
and some less, but that is about the
average. Alcohol is everywhere rec
ognized as chemical necessity for
the preservation of organic substance
from deterioration, and from freez-
ing and it is also required to dissolve
substances not soluble in water.
But for the use of a small quantity
of alcohol in most ready-to-use medi-
cines those preparations which most
families keep constantly on hand
would likely be decayed or frozen
when their use became necessary.
Alcohol is an indispensable requi-
site in the fluid extracts and tinctures
which are exclusively used in filling
prescriptions written by physicians,
and these tinctures and extracts con-
tain from 20 to 80 per cent CT alco-
hol. More than rs per cent of all
the liquid medicines prescribed by
physicians contain alcohol in large
proportions.
Charles A. Rapelye, a leading phar-
macist of Hartford, Conn, some time
ago examined 25 prescriptions repre-
senting a fair average of those writ
ten by physicians to be compounded,
and none being for specialties. The
average amount of alcohol in the
whole number was So per cent; but
of the 25 prescriptions five contained
no alcohol, SO that khe average per-
centage of the remaining 20 which
did contain alcohol was nearly As per
cent; or more than four times the
probable average alcoholic strength of
patent medicines.
There is some difference of opinion
as to whether it is or is not desirable
as a stimulant in case of sickness,
but there is no difference of opinion
as to the necessity for it's use as a sol
vent and preservative in most cases.
The attention of the medical world
has recently been called to a mani
festo issued by prominent London
physicians who, while deploring the
evils from the use of alcoholic bev-
erages, are convinced "of the correct
ness of the opinion so long and gener
ally held, that in disease alcohol is
rapid and trustworthy restorative"
and that in many cases it may be
truly described as life-preserving, ow
ing to it's power to sustain cardiac and
nervous energy, while protecting the
heterogeneous tissues. This manifesto
which was published in The Lancet,
was issued and signed by T. j. Nc
Call Anderson, M. d., Regius Profes-
sor of Medicine, University of Glas-
gov; Alfred B. Bars, William H.
Bennett, X. G. v. c., F. r. G. S.;
James Crichton-Browne; w. E. Dixon,
Dyce Duckworth, M. D, LID; Thorn
as r. Fraser, M. D., F. R. S.; T. R.
Glyn, w. R. Corners, NJ c., F. R. s.;
w. D. Halliburton, M. D. LID; D. F.
R. c. P, F. r. S., Professor of Physi-
ology, Kings College London; Jona-
than Hutchingson; Edmung Owen,
LID, F. R. c. S.; P. H. Pye-Smith,
Fred T. Robert, M. D., B. Sc, F. R. G.
S.; Edgecombe Venning, F. R. G. S.
The Dyce Duckworth who signed
this manifesto was fol many years
president of the Royal College Of Ply
sicians, London.