alcohol in an ordinary bottle of whisky. Yet all of these
patent medicines have made fortunes for their owners, some of them have
made millions in a few years.

A number of years ago a company with a keen vision for profits conceived
the idea of bottling the water of the Great Lakes and selling it at
almost champagne prices. When delivered to the druggist ready for sale
the "remedy" contained 99 per cent. water, the other 1 per cent.
consisting of a few drops of an inert acid, used simply to give it a
slight tart taste. The preparation had absolutely no medical utility of
any description.

One of the greatest advertising crusades ever carried out in the
interest of a patent medicine was inaugurated and in these
advertisements it was claimed that it would cure:--

Asthma,
Bronchitis,
Coughs, Colds,
Cancer,
Dyspepsia,
Fevers,
Hay Fever,
Leucorrhea,
Piles, Quinsy,
Skin Diseases,
Throat Troubles,
Abscess,
Blood Poison,
Consumption,
Catarrh,
Dandruff,
Gallstones,
Influenza,
Malaria,
Rheumatism,
Tuberculosis,
Anemia,
Bowel Troubles,
Contagious Diseases,
Dysentery, Diarrhea,
Eczema, Erysipelas,
Goiter, Gout,
La Grippe,
Neuralgia,
Scrofula,
Tumors, Ulcers,

all diseases that begin with fever, inflammations, all catarrh, all
contagious diseases, all the results of impure or poisoned blood. "In
nervous diseases this remedy acts as a vitalizer, accomplishing what no
drugs can do." These are the exact words of the advertisement. It ought
to take a stronger vitalizer than water from the Great Lakes to induce
anyone to believe such a story; and yet this company attained a
remarkable success and had no difficulty in obtaining thousands of
testimonials.

We are certainly a nation of dupes, and Barnum's dictum, that "the
public loves to be fooled," is literally true. In a number of instances
the proprietor of a successful remedy has been asked under oath if his
preparation had any curative value and he has refused to answer the
question, while thousands of foolish people have sent him unsolicited
testimonials asserting its remarkable merits as a cure in all kinds of
conditions. Some of these ignorant people actually believe what they
write, but most of them write "to see their name in the paper," while
many of them are paid for it.

It was stated in the literature sent all over the co