FRAUDULENT PATENT MEDICINES.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12907, 22 February 1906, Page 6

FRAUDULENT PATENT MEDICINES.

-"— — <*: —• One of the most popular patents medi- ; eines in America, which is advertised to . cure everything from mumps to yellow fever, can be made; so "Collier's Weekly" says, by mixing - half-a-pint of Cologne,spirits (the commercial; term, for alcohol) with a pint and a half of water, a littla cubebs ,£or\ilavour, and burned sugar fox colour. Its cost, inclndimg bottle and" TvrappeEj.-is about B£cents;;' it aells at a, dollar. -Tlus / 28 .par cent, of alcohols It is largely purchased in place of whisky, especially in no-license districts, where, of- course, there is^n'o v check on its sale.. A <£ruggist in a southern "no-license " .town told ithe ■rasrber' : of tha article that "X—— is 'bought by all the druggists in this section by the gross. I have seen persons thoroughly : intoxicated from taking X—-.■ The comr mon remark in this place when a drunken party is particularly obstreperous, is that I he is on "a X-- drunk.' It is a notorious i fact that a great many do use X to i get the alcoholic effect, and they certainly $ do get it good and strong." Some of . the Southern newspapers even advertise a ) cure for the "X habit." A. case^is . on record of a respected' clergyman wha -' fell ill, and was .pronounced by the family F. doctor '- ?»" ss'riffering'Yfrom chronic; "alec 4 1 holism. family declared. n that the clergyman --bad never t<Htcbed e. Jjojaar, all: <mly. X—'

f~r .several months ns a tonic. The District Attorney of the Western District of Indian Territory reported that vast quantities of X were imported into the territory, resulting in hundreds of oases of drunkenness among the Indians, and last year the American Government absolutely prohibited the importation of the concoction into Indian territory. Yet its proprietors tell the public that it can be used any length of time without acquiring a drug* habit. "Let us buy in large quantities the cheapest Italian vermouth, poor gin, and bitters," said a distinguished j public health.- official to the writer of the article. "TVe will mix them in the proportion of three of vermouth to two of gin. with a dash of bitters, dilute and bottle them by the short quart, label them ' 's Reviver and Blood-Puritier: dose. one wineglassful before each meal': advertise them to cure erysipelas, bunions, dyspepsia, heat rash, ague, and fever, and consumption; to prevent loss of hair, small pox. old age, sunstroke, and nearsightedness, and make our everlasting fortunes selling them. to the temperance trade." "That sounds very much <to me like a cocktail," said the writer. "So it is," was the heply. "but its just as much a medicine as X . and not as bad a drink." Among other American medicines containing alcohol is one containing 21 per cent., and one containing 44.3 per cent.