Chapter XXXV: Part III: Contributions From the Journal: Proprietary Products (3)

Still emphasizing the commercial side, “Auto-Hemic Therapy” is especially recommended to “the general practitioner growing old and the physician who is ambitious to build up a creditable and lucrative practice” because “the health of four people out of five (old or young, whether they consider themselves sick or well) taken at random can be improved by this method of treatment”! An Ohio physician was said to have doubled his $3,000 practice in two years after starting the “Auto-Hemic” method. A Virginia physician is alleged to have “increased his income $10,000 a year.” A Pennsylvania physician urged by Rogers to send $150.00 for the mail-order course, was assured that this “is merely a nominal amount, as most of the doctors have been able to get this amount back the first month.”

But enough. The story, were it not for the tragic element that forms the background, would be amusing. But it _is_ tragic!--(_From The Journal A.M.A., Feb. 14, 1920._)

“AUTOLYSIN” ADVERTISING

_To the Editor_:--Enclosed is a little booklet I received today from the Goodhue Publishing Co., of New York, exploiting the Horowitz-Beebe cure-all for cancer, which, were it not for certain obvious serious features, would make humorous reading.

What psychologic explanation can be made of the fact that there are always sufficient numbers of suckers to make such pseudoscientific adventures profitable?

H. C. Dodge, M.D., steamboat Springs, Colo.

_To the Editor_:--In my professional life I have been flooded with the usual number of insults to intelligence both by mail and by the softspoken detail man. As a result, I have no doubt, of the active propaganda for reform carried on by The Journal, these insults have lost a certain quality of “rawness” and become much more cleverly done.

One of these has just been perpetrated on the profession which will probably hold the championship pennant for 1916, although I admit that it is early in the year to begin prophecy. A very modestly bound, well printed volume comes to my desk with the compliments of the publishers. At the end of the volume is a group of highly ethical advertisements of other books of the author. So far, so good. The last four pages, however, contain the advertisement of a forthcoming book on the “autolysin” treatment of inoperable cancer. Perhaps we might forgive this were it not for the following paragraph: “This book tells how the general practitioner ... may take an active hand in fighting the malady. The weapons he requires are an ordinary hypodermic syringe and some ampules of Autolysin. The syringe he already possesses. Autolysin he may secure, if he is a legally qualified practitioner, by writing,” etc. Incidentally, the book is advertised to the Intelligent Layman.

Isn’t it beautiful? Too bad the lamented F. F. F. with his mock turtles or those prominent eugenists of scopolamin-morphin fame could not take a lesson in advertising. It was not very long ago that we were invited to come East and learn how to use “autolysin,” or else pay the rather heavy fee for an imported tutor. Now all we need is a “gun” and some of the “dope.” All this is interesting in view of the recent article on the failure of “autolysin” in mouse tumor. It is a foregone conclusion that a lot of “autolysin” will be used, so cancer patients, who have been told that they have cancer, will get better through suggestion, and a lot of enthusiastic reports will pour in from medical brethren who have never studied psychology. Then the thing will slump and we shall all be ready for the next fad.

Nevertheless, each one of these things furnishes us with a text for another sermon on ethics of medical advertising, so I suppose they do not live in vain.

J. W. Force, M.D., Berkeley, Calif.

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of California.

[Comment.--With each of the foregoing communications is a circular letter from the Goodhue Company, advertising Dr. Henry Smith Williams’ book on “The Autolysin Treatment of Cancer.” With this circular is a booklet entitled “Notes on the Treatment of Inoperable Cancer with the New Remedy AUTOLYSIN (Horowitz-Beebe) Issued by the Autolysin Laboratory.” Similar circular letters and pamphlets have been sent to The Journal from various parts of the country. The Goodhue Company, publishers, therefore are apparently killing two birds with one stone--advertising the book as well as “Autolysin.”

The Journal has been informed that Henry Smith Williams in some of his magazine articles uses the pen name “Stoddard Goodhue,” and that Henry Smith Williams is a part owner of the Goodhue Publishing Company.

Articles on “Autolysin” will be found in The Journal, Nov. 6, 1915, pp. 1641, 1647 and 1662. The article on “Action of ‘Autolysin’ on Mouse Tumors,” by Dr. Francis Carter Wood, appeared in The Journal, Jan. 8, 1916, p. 94.-- Ed.]--(_Correspondence in The Journal A.M.A., Jan. 29, 1916._)

“BASIC CANCER RESEARCH” AND “COSMOPOLITAN
CANCER RESEARCH SOCIETY”

Medical journals, and some other technical publications, have received recently what purport to be items of news value sent out by the “Medical News Bureau,” 77 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn, New York. The “manager” of this alleged bureau is given as D. E. Woolley. These “news items” are undated but are marked: “(For immediate release)” One of these starts with the statement, attributed to Mme. Curie, that cancer can be cured by radium and then continues:

“Cancer can be cured by the use of selenium and tellurium, more
plentiful and less costly elements,” says F. W. Humphreys of
Brooklyn, an American born student of chemistry and science who has
devoted years to the study of the cause of cancer and the discovery
of methods for relief....

“For the purpose of further developing methods of control and
treatment of disease by the use of selenium and tellurium
discovered by a number of local scientists, chemists and
physicians, the Basic Cancer Research has been organized and an
efficient laboratory established at 847 Union Street, Brooklyn....”

“Through the education of the people and special instruction to
physicians it is hoped it may soon be possible to gain control of
and eradicate the disease which now appears so great a menace.
Mr. F. W. Humphrey, one of the organizers of the new institution,
estimates that within ten years, or perhaps less time, cancer will
no longer be considered a fatal disease.”

Evidently the joker here is the “Basic Cancer Research” of 847 Union Street, Brooklyn!

Newspapers are approached from a different angle. They receive free publicity matter on stationery reading “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society” (D. E. Woolley, secretary), 847 Union St., Brooklyn, N. Y. With this matter is a letter from Woolley addressed to the editor of the paper to which the stuff is sent and asking:

“In the interest of suffering humanity will you please give space
to the enclosed?

“No object of greater importance has ever been presented for your
helpful consideration. Thousands are dying whom you can help save.”

According to the “news item” that accompanies this letter the “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society” has been founded for the purpose of “investigating and developing methods” by which cancer “may be successfully combated and eventually eradicated.” It states further that the “society” will “disseminate information concerning symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and methods of prevention” of cancer. Furthermore, the membership of the society “includes physicians, scientists and chemists of prominence, laymen of means, and the sympathetically inclined from all walks of life.” Nor is this all!

“Doctor Frederick Klein the eminent authority on urinology and the
chemistry of cancer, has evolved a new colorimetric test which is
a most wonderful and valuable discovery in the diagnosis of cancer
and various other diseases. This test will be particularly valuable
in all life extension work because it determines, even in children
the possibility of predisposition toward any particular disease,
whether tuberculosis, cancer, diabetes or any of the diseases which
in later life may become fatal. It determines also the vitality
of the subject enabling the physician to accurately determine the
condition of any of the vital organs.”

We learn in closing that memberships in the “society” are “graduated from $1.00 upwards according to the ability and disposition of those who may be interested.”

Located at 77 Seventh Avenue, from which the press agent material of the “Medical News Bureau” is sent, is the “Basic Chemical Corporation of America.” According to such information as we have been able to get, the president of this concern is F. W. Humphreys, the “student of chemistry and science who has devoted years to the study of the cause of cancer and the discovery of methods of relief.” We are informed that Mr. Humphreys was for a while in the employ of a “chemical company” of Philadelphia, and has been in the photographic line down in Virginia and later was connected with a real estate concern in Brooklyn. Another officer of the Basic Chemical Corporation is said to have been in the grocery line in a small village in Missouri, selling out and later coming to Brooklyn and entering the insurance business. Still another officer, it seems, was in the fish business. In addition to these three officers, there are two directors, one of whom is in the fancy grocery line, and the other is a local practicing physician whose name we find in the Propaganda department’s testimonial file under Sanmetto and Arsenauro.

The Dr. Frederick Klein, who is described as the “eminent authority on urinology and the chemistry of cancer,” is not a physician but claims a Ph.D. from Munich, Bavaria. Klein claims to have developed certain urinary tests. One of these, according to him, “indicates the body _Vitality_ with great accuracy,” another proves the presence of cancer, a third is the “syphilis test” and a fourth is the “pregnancy test.” And these are not all!

Those who read the reports of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry may remember that Frederick Klein is the gentleman who made “Sulfo-Selene,” which the Council, in refusing it recognition, described as a “mixture containing a selenium compound of undetermined composition produced by reduction of nitro-selenous acid with sulphurous acid, mixed with bile salts and diluents.” Sulfo-Selene was widely exploited in the newspapers in 1916 as a remedy for cancer, and Klein got a good deal of publicity at that time.

Just what product the Basic Chemical Corporation of America is putting, or is about to put, on the market we do not know. From the rather vague talk about selenium and Frederick Klein’s marvelous diagnostic discoveries, it might be inferred that “Sulfo-Selene” was to be resurrected. Be that as it may, it seems fairly obvious that the material being sent out by D. E. Woolley--whether as “Manager” of the “Medical News Bureau” or as “Secretary” of the “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society”--is advertising matter in the guise of news.

In this connection it is worth noting that the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association, in a special bulletin issued in 1909, published a very complete list of press agents and the interests these agents represented. This list contains the name D. E. Woolley, who then was sending out press notices for the National Association of Piano Dealers of America. Is this the gentleman who is now acting as press agent for the Basic Chemical Corporation of America? If it is, it may be that the slump in the piano trade has caused Mr. Woolley to turn from musical instruments to cancer cures.--(_From The Journal A. M. A., Sept. 3, 1921._)

Seleni-Bascca

In the issue of September 3 The Journal called attention to a campaign of free publicity that was being instituted by a Brooklyn concern that, apparently, had for sale an alleged remedy for cancer. The press agent material was of two kinds--for medical journals and for newspapers. That which went to the medical journals was sent out on the stationery of the “Medical News Bureau,” 77 Seventh Ave., Brooklyn. The “manager” of the bureau was given as D. E. Woolley. The items sent out to medical journals stated that the “Basic Cancer Research” had been organized to develop a treatment of cancer by the use of selenium and tellurium.

The material received by newspapers was sent out by the “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society,” 847 Union St., Brooklyn (the same address as the “Basic Cancer Research”). The “Secretary” of the “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research” was D. E. Woolley!

The name of one “Dr. Frederick Klein” loomed large in the matter sent out by the “Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society.” Klein, we were told, is “the eminent authority on urinology and the chemistry of cancer.” The Journal called attention to the fact that Frederick Klein’s name was not unknown in the Propaganda files, as he was the gentleman who manufactured “Sulfo-Selene,” a product that was widely heralded in the newspapers in 1916 as a remedy for cancer. It was also brought out that Klein, who is not a physician, claims to have evolved certain remarkable urinary diagnostic tests whereby the presence of cancer, syphilis, etc., may be determined.

More than a month after the publication of The Journal’s article, a letter was received (October 8) from Frederick Klein. To quote literally from part of the letter:

“In the above _Journal_ dated Sept. 3th, Vol. 77, on page 805,
regarding the ‘Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society’ you have
amongst others, mentioned my name Dr. Frederick Klein.

“I wish to inform you that I have given my legal adviser the order
to write a note to the above Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society,
847 Union St., Brooklyn, forbidden them to the effect that my name
_should not_ be used by above society in any form or writing in any
of their transactions, this has been done some time ago to prevent
unethical conceptions concerning myself.”

Shortly after the article of September 3 another item appeared in the newspapers throughout the country to the effect that the Cancer Research Society was offering a “$100,000 Cancer Prize” for a “medicinal cure for cancer.” Many of the newspapers of the country seemed to bite on this piece of free publicity. This was in the first week of October. In the third week of the same month a Brooklyn paper announced that 3,000 people had submitted formulas for curing cancer to the Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society. The article containing this announcement gave interesting descriptions of some of the “cures” submitted and closed with the statement that the Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society was establishing “clinics” in various cities. It ended with the statement:

“All treatments are confidential. In this respect the society had
the cooperation of the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities. It also has
the cooperation of the American Medical Association.”

The closing sentence is, of course, unequivocally false.

At the time of The Journal’s article the name of the particular preparation which the Basic Chemical Corporation of America was putting out was unknown. Shortly after the article appeared it was learned that the product was on the market as “Seleni-Bascca.” A physician, himself a sufferer from carcinoma, after reading the article of September 3, sent The Journal some correspondence he had received from the Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society regarding the alleged cure. One piece was a letter signed “F. W. Humphrey, Acting Director; Dictated by Dr. George D. Barney,” which read in part:

“Our claim is a very simple one indeed, namely that the use of
a proper preparation of Selenium (Seleni-Bascca) restores the
Sulphur metabolism to normal; we claim that cancer cannot exist in
any form, when the Sulphur metabolism is normal, the results from
the proper use of Seleni-Bascca in cases of Carcinoma are quick
and lasting, the Medical Profession can hardly realize that in
this modest treatment a remedy for the Dreaded Carcinoma has been
discovered.

“Seleni-Bascca in its colloidal form is quickly taken up by the
blood stream, reaches the finest tissues and almost immediately
resists the further growth of the disease. The research work has
been going on since 1901, under the direction of Dr. Frederick
Klein, in connection with Medical Men who have proved to their own
satisfaction that Seleni-Bascca should be used as a treatment in
every case of malignancy.”

Seleni-Bascca comes in small vials containing fifty tablets. Each vial bears a label reading:

“_SELENIBASCCA._ A mixture of Colloidal Selenium in tablet form.
Recommended in the internal treatment of Carcinoma and some other
cases of faulty metabolism.”

Some of the preparation was turned over to the A. M. A. Chemical Laboratory with the request that the tablets be examined to determine whether or not they contained, as claimed, selenium in colloidal form. The laboratory report follows:

CHEMICAL REPORT

“An original vial of ‘Seleni-Bascca’ (Basic Chemical Corporation of America) was examined in the A. M. A. Chemical Laboratory to determine whether or not the substance contained colloidal selenium. The bottle contained 50 tablets weighing approximately 0.1 gm. (about 1-1/2 gr.) each. The major portion of the tablet was soluble in hot water. Qualitative tests indicated the presence of chlorid, sulphate, small amount of nitrate, potassium, sodium, starch, talc and selenium. Tellurium was not found to be present. The ash was equivalent to 5.5 per cent.; over one-half of the ash consisted of a talc-like substance. The amount of selenium present in the specimen examined was only about 1.3 per cent.

“In the literature sent out by The Basic Chemical Corporation, ‘Dr. Frederick Klein’ is mentioned as chemist. Several years ago, the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry investigated ‘Sulfo-Selene,’ a cancer remedy, with which the same ‘Dr. Klein’ was connected. The alleged composition of ‘Sulfo-Selene,’ as given to the Council, was:

“Selenium .25
“Sulphur (partially in colloidal .10
and partially in crystalloid state)
“Potassium carbonate .10
“Nitrogen .05
“Bile Salts .50
“To which is added an inert base or vehicle;
as sugar of milk or amylum.”

“It was claimed that ‘Sulfo-Selene’ was prepared by reducing nitro-selenious acid with sulphurous acid, neutralizing with potassium bicarbonate and then adding bile salts. Assuming that the composition claimed for ‘Sulfo-Selene’ was correct the analysis of ‘Seleni-Bascca’ shows that the two products resemble each other. The tests, however, failed to reveal in ‘Seleni-Bascca’ the presence of the bile salts claimed to have been present in ‘Sulfo-Selene.’”

“The product is not colloidal as claimed as the selenium can be removed by ordinary filtration.”--(_From The Journal A. M. A., Nov. 19, 1921._)

Repudiated by the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities

_To the Editor_:--My attention has been called to the fact that there appears in a recent issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association a statement that the Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society, located at 847 Union Street, Brooklyn, has the cooperation of the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities. In reply may I say that the Bureau of Charities has no connection, understanding, or relationship whatever, with the Cosmopolitan Cancer Research Society, and has never sent a patient to them.

T. J. Riley, Brooklyn.

Secretary, Brooklyn Bureau of Charities.--_Correspondence from The Journal A. M. A., Dec. 24, 1921._

BELL-ANS (PAPAYANS, BELL)[J]

As the New York Tribune’s “Ad-Visor” Sees It

[J] See index for additional article on Bell-Ans.

“Why avoid draughts? Sit by an open window if you want to! Just
take a few drops of Sneeze-o before you go into the draught and
after you come out of it, and you’ll never catch cold.

“Don’t be afraid of contagion. Kiss your Uncle Ebenezer, even if
he’s dying of tuberculosis! Just fortify yourself with a sip of
Lungicide before you go to his bedside, and another when you come
away, and you’ll be taking no risk.

“Are you going to sit there and let the other folks eat up all
the good things just because you are afraid to pitch in, when 2
or 3 Bell-Ans taken before and after the meal would enable you to
enjoy your share of all that’s coming without a bit of discomfort
or distress? Bell-Ans has restored the pleasures of the table to
thousands who say: ‘I can now eat anything and plenty of it, too.’”

“The first two blurbs are The Ad-Visor’s. The third is a bona fide advertisement of Bell-Ans, aimed to catch the holiday trade. They are all patterned after the same style and the first two are no more lacking in logic than the last. Overeat--deliberately court indigestion--invite gout--don’t be a gourmet, be a gourmand--be an anti-Hoover and eat a lot of food, whether you need it or not; than take Bell-Ans. If it doesn’t ‘absolutely remove indigestion,’ your druggist will give you back your money! Could anything be fairer than that?

“Such copy as this is not limited in its evil effects to the misguided individual who eats lobster and ice cream at midnight and trusts to Bell-Ans to atone for his indiscretion. The most serious effect of such reckless advice is the example which the advertising sets to other advertisers.”

The comments just quoted are from the Ad-Visor department of the New York _Tribune_ of Feb. 7, 1918. They are respectfully referred to the _New York Medical Journal_, the _International Journal of Surgery_ and the _Woman’s Medical Journal_--three presumably scientific publications that through their advertising pages urge physicians to prescribe Bell-ans.--(_From The Journal A.M.A., Feb. 23, 1918._)

CAMPHO-PHENIQUE

Appealing to the New Fledged Graduate.

The secretary of the Harvard University Medical School received from the Campho-Phenique Company of St. Louis a letter that, presumably, has been sent to most of the medical colleges of the country. It read:

“We wish to supply the senior class of all Medical Colleges with
physicians’ samples of CAMPHO-PHENIQUE Liquid and CAMPHO-PHENIQUE
Powder, and Ointment for 1918.

“We will thank you very kindly if you will send us a communication
stating the number of students in your graduating class, and if
possible, we would like the name of each and every student, that we
may send him personally a sample of CAMPHO-PHENIQUE. In this way,
we are sure the party receives the sample.”

Presumably, the Campho-Phenique concern believes in following the old advice: Catch ’em young! In this connection, it may be well briefly to call to the attention of fourth-year medical students the results of the investigation of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry of Campho-Phenique. The Council’s findings on Campho-Phenique Liquid were to the effect that the preparation, which was exploited under a false “formula,” was, essentially, a solution of camphor and phenol in liquid petrolatum, substances well known in medicine and none of which under its own name has been credited with possessing any superlative virtues. The Council’s verdict on Campho-Phenique Powder was that “for all practical purposes it is essentially a camphorated talcum powder” containing, apparently, sufficient camphor and phenol to give the talcum powder an odor. It was further brought out in the Council’s report that the Campho-Phenique Company was in effect one of the numerous trade names adopted by one James F. Ballard of St. Louis. Mr. Ballard seems to market a number of “patent medicines,” most of them sold direct to the public, but some, as in the case of Campho-Phenique, exploited to the public via the medical profession. “Herbine,” a “marvelous preparation” that “puts the liver in healthy condition”; “Ballard’s Snow Liniment” that when applied to wounds performs “a perfect cure that leaves no scar”; “Dr. T. L. Stephens’ Chemical Eye Salve” which “acts quickly in all cases” and cures “failing vision,” are some of the numerous “patent medicines” made and sold by Ballard. “Collins Ague Remedy,” “Swaim’s Panacea,” “Swayne’s Panacea” and “Renne’s Pain Killing Oil” are four more of Mr. Ballard’s products, for each of which he has pleaded guilty in the federal courts to making false and fraudulent claims knowingly and wantonly.

If medical colleges of the better class were turning out graduates today who could be caught by free samples of such nostrums as Campho-Phenique, then, indeed, would the outlook for the future of scientific medicine be a gloomy one. But they are not. The young man or woman who goes out today from a reputable medical college is imbued with the scientific spirit, has developed habits of straight thinking and will not, we believe, be so uncritical as to accept at their face value claims made for nostrums of the Campho-Phenique type.--(_From The Journal A. M. A., Feb. 9, 1918._)

“CINCHOPHEN”: FORMERLY “ATOPHAN”

It will be remembered that the Federal Trade Commission adopted the names arsphenamin and neoarsphenamin for the drugs first introduced as “salvarsan” and “neosalvarsan,” respectively; the terms barbital and barbital sodium for the substances first introduced as “veronal” and “veronal sodium,” and the word procain as the name for the compound first marketed as “novocain.” In issuing licenses for the use of the patents on these drugs, the commission stipulated that the drugs should be sold under the new American title unless the firm desired to use a new trade designation, in which case the titles chosen by the commission should be given equal prominence. The Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry has cooperated with the Federal Trade Commission and has adopted the new names as the descriptive names which appear in New and Nonofficial Remedies. The Chemical Foundation, Inc., which has purchased some 4,500 German-owned patents, many of them for synthetic drugs, proposes to continue the wise policy of the Federal Trade Commission by requiring that those who receive licenses for the use of patents for synthetic drugs must use a common designation for each drug selected by the foundation. “Cinchophen” has been selected as the designation for the substance introduced as “atophan” (also described in the U. S. Pharmacopeia under “phenylcinchoninic acid”). In consideration of this action on the part of the Chemical Foundation, and also because physicians found it difficult to use the pharmacopeia name “phenylcinchoninic acid,” the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry has recognized the contracted term “cinchophen” as a name for the drug introduced as “atophan.” It is hoped that physicians will support this simplified and nonproprietary nomenclature in the same spirit with which they adopted the terms “arsphenamin,” “barbital” and “procain.”--(_Editorial from The Journal A.M.A., Aug. 9, 1919._)

“COLLOSOLS”: AN UNCRITICAL ENGLISH ENDORSEMENT

Under the auspices of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, there has just appeared a report on the present status of colloid chemistry.[247] The work has been recognized as sufficiently important to receive the endorsement of the government Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Of particular interest to physicians is the chapter on “Administration of Colloids in Disease” written by Alfred B. Searle, “consulting chemist, Sheffield.” After a somewhat academic generalization of colloidal drugs, the “thesis” is devoted largely to the “Collosols”--proprietary preparations made by the Crookes Laboratories. The “scientific” evidence presented by Searle for colloids in medicine reads as if the advertising literature of the Crookes concern had been considered ample source of information. Thus: “Colloidal Manganese,” besides having been “used with remarkable and surprising results in the treatment of coccogenic skin diseases,... gives excellent results [in impetigo, chronic seborrheic eczema and acute folliculitis] when employed in conjunction with intramine”! The grave danger of the intramine therapy has been known for more than two years, both here and abroad,[248] in fact, one author stated that in cases of intramine injections, “the pain is undiluted torture.” In a style as bombastic and verbose as the usual house-organ write-up, the report recklessly details all sorts of conditions in which so-called colloids--and particularly the “Collosol” brand--have been recommended, but derogatory findings are conspicuous by their omission. Even Sir Malcolm Morris is quoted as lending his name (and title) to the endorsement of “Collosols.”

[247] British Association for the Advancement of Science. Second Report on Colloid Chemistry. Published for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research by His Majesty’s Stationery Office.

[248] Ferrivine, Intramine and Collosol Iodine, J.A.M.A. =69=:841 (Sept. 8) 1917.

In the United States the medical profession has created a means whereby physicians need not be misled by such “high” authorities as evidently has been the case with our English confrères. Once more the value of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry is strikingly manifested. What are the facts about “Collosols”? The Council has reported that a number of the “Collosol” preparations were not colloids at all, and “if ... injected intravenously as directed, death might result, making the physician morally if not legally liable”;[249] that in the cases in which the therapeutic claims were examined, the claims were found to be either exceedingly improbable or exaggerated; furthermore, that the A. M. A. Chemical Laboratory found “Collosol Cocaine,” on analysis, to contain only 40 per cent. of the claimed amount of cocain.[250]

[249] Collosol Preparations, J.A.M.A. =72=:1694 (June 7) 1919.

[250] Collosol Cocaine Not Admitted to N. N. R., J. A. M. A. 72: 1094 (April 12) 1919.

Such are the findings which have been presented to the American physician. But the British physician is now being made the object of an intensive advertising campaign for “Collosols,” based in part on an uncritical, pseudogovernmental endorsement. Just so long as the English profession will not protect itself by creating a competent board to examine and judge proprietary medicines and to control methods of exploitation, just so long will such extravagant and even cruelly misleading claims continue to impede scientific progress in therapeutics.--(_Editorial from The Journal A. M. A., Oct. 18, 1919._)

Collosol Manganese

_To the Editor_:--Has anything been published on the efficacy of
“Collosol Manganese” in malaria? I recently read the Council’s
report which indicated the fakishness of the “Crooke’s Collosols,”
but I also was told that the War Office of England had requested a
study to be made of colloidal manganese in malaria.

J. B., Columbus, Ohio.

ANSWER.--Stephens, Yorke, Blacklock, Macfie, Cooper and Carter report in the _Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology_ (Feb. 28, 1919, p. 345) the results of their investigation for the English government and conclude: “Collosol Manganese in the doses used is of no value in the treatment of simple tertian malaria.”--(_Query in The Journal A. M. A., May 3, 1919._)

COTTON PROCESS ETHER

_To the Editor_:--Please let me know what information you have
about the enclosed clipping?

E. W. Carpenter, M.D., Greenville, S. C.

_To the Editor_:--“Cotton Process Ether,” manufactured by the Du
Pont Co., has been given considerable notoriety in the lay press.
A letter of inquiry addressed to the firm elicits the information
that “Cotton Process Ether is a very highly refined Di-ethyl
Ether charged with Ethylene Gas.” ... What is your opinion of the
“Cotton Process Ether”? Has the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry
investigated this product?

John L. Atlee, M.D., Lancaster, Pa.

_To the Editor_:--I have been waiting for some reference to the new
anesthetic referred to in the enclosed clipping, but if any has
been made in the medical press I have failed to notice it. If there
is anything of interest in connection with this item, and it is
not too much trouble, I will thank you to put me in touch with the
situation.

Holman Taylor, M.D., Fort Worth, Tex.

ANSWER.--About January 20, the “News Service” of the “E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Co., Inc.,” circularized the press of the country with what it was pleased to term a “good ‘filler’”; this particular piece of press agent work dealt with “The New Du Pont Ether.” To quote one paragraph from the “News Item”:

The new anesthetic, which is a highly refined di-ethyl
ether, modified by the addition of gases, has the following
characteristics: (1) the property of inducing and maintaining
anesthesia with practical freedom from postoperative nausea,
and (2) the property of inducing and maintaining analgesia
(conscious insensibility to pain) as distinguished from anesthesia
(insensibility to pain plus narcosis).

The Du Pont Ether and the claims made for it are seemingly based on the work of one man, “James H. Cotton, M.A., M.D., Toronto, Canada,” who published an article on “Cotton Process Ether and Ether Analgesia,” in the _American Journal of Surgery_ for April, 1919. However, Cotton did not give the composition of the “new” ether nor, so far as we are aware, has his work been corroborated. In view of the inquiries received, the Secretary of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry asked the Du Pont Chemical Works for the composition of the new ether. From the firm’s reply we quote one paragraph:

“... The procedures of manufacture, and the exact composition of
our ether, we regard as confidential information which we are
entitled to retain unless a condition were to arise in which we
were unable alone to satisfy the demand for this type of ether.”

It has been recognized--and incorporated in the “Principles of Medical Ethics”--that the use of a therapeutic agent of unknown composition is unscientific and contrary to the best interests of the medical profession and the public; but it is many times more serious for a physician to employ a secret or semisecret substance as an anesthetic. A physician using such a semisecret substance would have little defense if the patient should die.--(_Query in The Journal A. M. A., Feb. 21, 1920._)

A Note from the Manufacturers

In the Query and Minor Notes department of The Journal of February 21, some inquiries from physicians relative to “Cotton Process Ether” were answered. In referring to the composition of this product it was stated that the secretary of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry had asked the manufacturers, the Du Pont Chemical Works, for information on this point and one paragraph from the firm’s reply was quoted. Another paragraph from the same letter was omitted; and to this omission the manufacturers took exception, expressing the opinion that by it The Journal led its readers to infer that the concern had “refused to furnish any information whatever” regarding the composition of the ether. The following paragraph, italicized as in the original letter, is the one in question:

“_Cotton Process Ether contains no components which do not occur
in other anesthesia ethers._ Its peculiar properties result from
the thorough methods taken to exclude harmful impurities, such as
aldehydes, peroxides, traces of acids, carbon monoxide, sulphur
compounds, etc., and to include carefully regulated quantities
of only such of the usual components as we have found to give
distinctly beneficial properties to the ether. We are willing to
state that in this class we consider properly prepared ethylene
of greatest importance, but we have not announced which of the
beneficial components of anesthesia ether we include in our ether,
or the amount of such components.”

As the quotation shows, the paragraph is informative in a negative rather than in a positive way in that it states what Cotton Process Ether _is not_ rather than what it _is_. Since that time, however, the manufacturers have notified The Journal that they have definitely decided to present Cotton Process Ether to the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry for consideration and that in preparing the data required by the Council will define Cotton Process Ether as follows:

“An improved anesthesia ether consisting of highly refined diethyl
oxid (C₂H₅)₂O, plus approximately two volumes of ethylene (C₂H₄),
1/2 volume of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and 1 per cent. by weight of
ethyl alcohol.”--(_From The Journal A. M. A., May 22, 1920._)

DIONOL

“Dionol” is advertised to physicians by the Dionol Company of Detroit. If one takes the word of the manufacturers, the therapeutic possibilities of Dionol are apparently limited only by the blue sky. Even the company admits that “the unprecedented range of action” of this marvel “may come as a surprise.” A glance over the published “case reports” confirms the inference. From “Bed Sores,” “Bubo,” “Catarrh” and “Circumcision” through “Croup,” “Deafness,” “Dysmenorrhea” and “Eczema,” including “Endometritis,” “Erysipelas,” “Gastritis” and “Hemorrhoids,” not omitting “Osteomyelitis,” “Otitis Media,” “Pneumonia” and “Ptomaine Poisoning,” down through the pathologic alphabet to “Quinsy,” “Sciatica,” “Spinal Curvature,” “Varicose Veins,” and “Whooping Cough” one concludes that here at last is a catholicon indeed.

What is Dionol? First it should be said that the preparation comes in two forms: as an ointment and as an emulsion. The ointment, so declare the manufacturers, “is _always_ required”; the emulsion may be used “as an auxiliary treatment.” The Dionol “literature” when stripped of the verbal camouflage with which it abounds may be said to propound the following theories and propositions: First, that the nerves of the body are electric conductors insulated from the surrounding tissues by the nerve sheaths; second, that inflammation breaks down the insulation with the resultant escape of the current and an interference with the normal metabolic action of the cells; third, that Dionol, when applied to the body, penetrates the tissues, “coating the cells and with them the nerve sheaths with a nonconducting layer which is sufficient to insulate the nerve sheaths and stop the leak.”

So much for the theory on which the alleged action of Dionol is based. Dionol itself is a sort of glorified petrolatum. Not, of course, that the manufacturers describe it in any such crude and understandable language. According to the company, Dionol is “composed of pure hydrocarbons, especially selected with regard to specific gravity, viscosity and other necessary physical properties” which has been “perfectly _deionized_ by our special scientific process under the Baines Method.” It appears, from further reading, that ordinary petrolatum will not “turn the trick”; presumably because it does not overcome the human short circuits which the Dionol Company declare are always present in inflammation. When, however, the petrolatum has been subjected to the “Baines Method” it achieves, it seems, an esoteric value that puts to shame its plebeian origin.

The whole thing is very simple. To those physicians that like this sort of thing this preparation should make a strong appeal.--(_From The Journal A. M. A., Jan. 26, 1918._)

Glorified Petrolatum

An Indiana physician sends us in a batch of leaflets detailing the marvels of “Dionol” and thus comments:

“I received the enclosed in the mail today and I am puzzled,
perplexed and astounded. I had formed the opinion that the
profession was getting better; that it was more scholarly than
formerly when the two course school was still in existence and any
one could matriculate; that it was no longer possible for a ‘patent
medicine’ manufacturer to palm off his wares on us. After reading
this stuff and realizing that such methods must be remunerative,
I am deeply humiliated. Is it possible that educated physicians
respond to this kind of advertising? Or has some one perpetrated a
joke on me? If the profession can be thus successfully exploited
one can no longer wonder at the following which every new ‘ic’ and
‘ism’ acquires.”

It is a pity that the medical profession generally does not react to the Dionol and similar advertising as does our correspondent. As the concern continues to do business, the presumption is that at least some physicians are using Dionol. As was pointed out in The Journal of Jan. 26, 1918, Dionol seems to be a glorified and esoteric form of petrolatum. The exploitation of Dionol is based on the following theory: (1) The brain is a generator of neuro-electricity; (2) the nerves are the conductors of this electricity; (3) the nerve sheaths are the insulator; (4) wherever there is local inflammation the nerves are short circuited, due to a breaking down of the insulation resistance of the nerve sheath; (5) this results in “an escape of neuro-electricity;” (6) Dionol coats the nerve sheaths with a nonconducting layer and this restores the insulation and “stops the leak.”

Whether this ingenious theory was invented to lend an air of verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing tale and give a “reason for being” for Dionol or whether Dionol was first invented and it became necessary to evolve a theory that would give some plausibility to the claims made for this etheralized petrolatum, we are unable to say. In any case the theory and the product are exploited together.

Among the material sent in by a correspondent are some “Dionol Case Reports.” Neither the names nor the addresses of the physicians making these reports are given, but the company states that they may be had “on request.” One special “report” is featured under the heading “Infected Wound. Striking Results After United States and French Government Army Surgeons Failed” is signed “Dr. W.” It is dated July 19, 1919. A few months ago the Dionol Company was sending out this same testimonial with the full name and address of the “doctor” giving it. Investigation showed that the “doctor” in question was an osteopath whose specialties, according to his advertisement in his local newspaper, are “Catarrhal Deafness and Hay Fever, Acute and Chronic Diseases”! In this connection it is worth noting that investigation of some of the earlier testimonials sent out by the Dionol concern and alleged to have been given by “doctors” showed that the gentlemen in question were “drugless healers.”

As a “true indication of the value which the medical profession is placing on Dionol” the Dionol Company has published the names of some physicians who, it is alleged, have used the preparation.--(_From The Journal A. M. A., Feb. 7, 1920._)

THE ELI PRODUCTS OF ELI H. DUNN

Physicians are receiving some miscellaneous advertising matter from a concern that seems to operate under various names such as “E. H. Dunn & Co.,” “Eli H. Dunn,” “Eli Laboratory,” etc. The concern is located at 3820 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. One Journal reader, who is evidently not greatly impressed by this material, forwards the stuff to us with the laconic request: “Will you please give me your opinion on this junk?”

The “junk” referred to comprised, in part, an advertising leaflet on “Eli 606 Capsules,” another leaflet on “Eli Vaginal Capsules,” still another on “Eli ‘Vim’ Restorative;” then there was reference to the inevitable nostrum for intravenous use: “Ampoules Eli Venhydrarsen.” A four-page leaflet, headed in large and very black letters “Confidential Guide to Live Wire Physicians Only,” expressed its key-note in the opening paragraph:

“How to make MONEY as well as REPUTATION in the treatment of all
CHRONIC AILMENTS and all types, forms and sequella of VENEREAL
diseases.”

The “Eli ‘Vim’ Restorative” is said to be a “tonic aphrodisiac.” The “action” of the product is to “Arouse Sexual Ardor and Desire. Influx blood supply to the genital organs.” A postscript to the “Guide” urges physicians:

“If you do not already use Intravenous Serums, by all means get an
outfit, if for no other reason than to meet the popular DEMAND.”

A “Special Note” in the “Confidential Guide” advises physicians who “have to deal with Hysteria” to “write the Author of this Guide, who will explain by personal letter a method of cooperation by which such Convulsions may be At Once and forever stopped.... There will be $100 for You from every case treated.” One physician wrote to the “Author of this Guide”--Eli H. Dunn, M.D.--asking for further information on this treatment for hysteria. He received in reply two letters both signed Eli H. Dunn; one was to be shown to the patient, the other was for the doctor’s own information. The letter for the patient to see described the marvelous effects of “Dunn’s Intravenous and Restorative Treatment” in hysteria and recommended it “with the utmost confidence in every case able to pay you the fee commensurate with the service you render.” Then followed these two paragraphs:

“The cost of the treatment when administered by yourself is $300
CASH WITH ORDERS which includes one complete outfit and technique
for administering.

“Should you call me personally in consultation an additional fee
of $150 per diem covering the time I am away from my Kansas City
office; fees to be collected and held until I arrive.”

The letter that was intended only for the doctor’s eye declared:

“You are to have $100 of the fee and $50 of the per diem.”

It explained that the “complete outfit” referred to in the “patient’s letter” would “consist in part of a tube of intravenous medication” and doses of “Restorative Capsules” and “Eli 606 Capsules.”

Eli H. Dunn seems to have had a somewhat varied and spectacular career. After being graduated in 1885 he apparently started practice in Orion, Ill. During the nineties he was practicing at Elma, Iowa, and about 1900 he seems to have moved to Kansas City, Mo. During 1906 and 1908, he also had an additional office at Denver, Col. About this time he was exploiting “Dunn’s Uterine Evacuant” which was “a strictly legitimate” product which could “be injected within the uterus with perfect safety and immediate effect.” This stuff was advertised both from the Kansas City and the Denver offices. The “Personal Column” of a Kansas City paper in 1910 carried the message to “Ladies” that “Dr. Dunn” was a “Regular physician for women only,” Dunn’s violation of the postal laws in 1911 and of the federal Food and Drugs Act in 1912 need not be gone into at this time.

The Journal would feel like apologizing for devoting space to such a preposterous scheme were it not for the fact that physicians, being human, sometimes “fall for” preposterous schemes. Some, we know, have nibbled at Dunn’s bait; others may do so. The gross commercialism that permeates the advertising matter sent out by Dunn again emphasizes the fact that the fad for intravenous medication offers an attractive field for those who would exploit our profession.--(_From The Journal A. M. A., Nov. 22, 1919._)

GLOVER’S CANCER SERUM

Scores of letters have reached--and are reaching--The Journal office similar in effect to the following:

“I am enclosing ‘literature’ received from the ‘T. J. Glover
Research Laboratory.’ Though purporting to come from Toronto, where
the $25.00 are to be sent, if you please, the envelope bears the
448
New York postmark.”

The above is from New Jersey while the two following are from Michigan and Illinois, respectively:

“Have you any information in regard to this party and his treatment
for cancer? This is the first I have heard of any such work having
been done. One wonders if it is presented in good faith or if the
money god has overcome the gentleman’s scientific spirit.”

“Is this just one more of them? Why a roan horse? Some people might
want serum from a nice bay or calico cow pony.”

The literature referred to comes in an envelop bearing the name of “T. J. Glover, Research Laboratory, Toronto, Canada,” but mailed, apparently, from New York City. The enclosures are a single sheet circular signed Thomas Joseph Glover and entitled “Etiology of Cancer,” a “Directions” slip and a card quoting prices. In the circular Dr. Glover states that he has prepared a serum from immunized horses, “between ages of seven and nine years, of the roan type,” and has injected this intramuscularly “into patients in the advanced stages of cancer and noticed that it has a specific action on every known type of cancer.” Further:

“Up to the present time I have apparently cured cancer of the face,
eye, nose, lip, mouth, tongue, stomach, bowel, bladder, breast and
uterus.”

In addition to the circular, was a small leaflet giving directions for the injection of the serum and also a card bearing Dr. Glover’s name and Toronto address and reading:

+------------------------------------------------------------+
| This is to advise you that DR. T. J. GLOVER’S Serum |
| for the treatment of cancer can now be had by |
| application to office at above address. |
| |
| PRICE FIVE DOLLARS PER TREATMENT. FIVE TREATMENTS |
| MINIMUM NUMBER SENT AT ONE TIME. |
| |
| Send money by Post-Office Money Order or Certified Cheque. |
| |
| DIRECTIONS FOR TREATMENT WITH EACH ORDER. |
+------------------------------------------------------------+

This advertising material, which is evidently being widely circulated in the United States, would indicate that the Glover Research Laboratory had received a permit from the United States Public Health Service licensing the interstate sale of this serum in the United States. No such license has been issued.

The Journal briefly reported in the department of Medical News, Oct. 30, 1920, that the Academy of Medicine of Toronto had appointed a committee to investigate the claims made for the Glover “cancer serum.” In the meantime, the most charitable thing that can be said is that the “treatment” is in the experimental stage and the reported results have not been corroborated by independent investigators.--(_From The Journal A.M.A., Jan. 1, 1921._)

The Toronto Academy of Medicine Reports Unfavorably on
Glover’s Cancer Serum

The method of exploitation of the alleged cancer serum being put out by Dr. T. J. Glover of Toronto, Canada, was briefly discussed in this department of The Journal for January 1. At that time it was pointed out that the medical profession of the United States was being widely circularized by Dr. Glover and that, while the letters purported to come from Toronto, they were, in fact, mailed from New York City. Since this article appeared the circularization seems to have continued undiminished and physicians in various parts of the United States have sent in the Glover advertising material. Oddly enough, the matter now sent out, while identical in every respect with that dealt with in the previous article, bears a different return address on the back of the envelop. The envelops are the same; but the legend “T. J. Glover Research Laboratory, 538 Jarvis St., Toronto, Canada,” has been crudely crossed out and there has been substituted by means of a rubber stamp the legend “MRS. STEWART, 309 W. 54th St., New York.” Still later letters have been modified to the extent that the letters “RS” of “MRS.” have been cut out of the stamp and it now reads “M . STEWART.”

There has now come to hand a report just published by a special committee appointed by the council of the Academy of Medicine, Toronto, to investigate the Glover Serum. The report of this committee may be summed up by one of its closing paragraphs, which reads:

“The data which your committee has been able to obtain have not
convinced it that the results of treatment obtained by the use of
Dr. Glover’s serum are better than those obtained by similar methods
introduced by others, and which have ultimately disappointed the
hopes entertained of them.”

The committee’s report deals with the claims that Dr. Glover has made for his serum, both experimental and clinical. It seems that Dr. Glover has claimed that, experimentally, he had (1) cultured cancer cells and from these cells had isolated and cultured an organism which he declared was confined to, and present in, every type of cancer; (2) produced cancer in a number of animals by inoculation with these cells and organisms; (3) obtained a serum--from a horse that had been injected with cultures of these cells and organisms--which, when injected into experimental animals rendered them immune to inoculation, and (4) produced improvement or cure in cases of human cancer by the injection of his serum. The committee reported that it was unable to obtain any evidence to substantiate Dr. Glover’s claims on the experimental aspect of the question as Dr. Glover had refused to permit representatives of the committee to visit his laboratory; had refused the request of the committee to be allowed to examine his cultures and experimental material; had not acceded to the request of the committee that he demonstrate his ability to culture cancer cells and organisms and to produce cancer by inoculation or to immunize animals against it.

The committee attempted also to collect information which would enable it to pass on the clinical claims made by Dr. Glover, first, as to whether he has succeeded in producing cures, either regularly or occasionally, in cases definitely established as cancer and, second, to enable the committee to decide whether his serum in cases definitely established as cancer produces improvement beyond that which occasionally occurs spontaneously or under palliative measures. On both of these points, the committee reported that it found no evidence to warrant the hope that a specific cure for cancer has been discovered by Dr. Glover or that the serum had produced a cure in any case definitely established as cancer.

It should be understood, that the committee’s investigations and findings were completed before the present advertising campaign of the Glover serum was initiated.--(_From The Journal A.M.A, Feb. 5, 1921._)

GLYCO-THYMOLINE AND POLIOMYELITIS

One characteristic of the “patent medicine” business is that it trades on fear. Should an epidemic occur the market is flooded with new nostrums purporting to cure or prevent the disease in question, while the manufacturers of older “patent medicines” revamp their advertising so as to make it appear that their preparations are all that stand between the scourge and the public. One has but to remember “Peruna’s” exploitation of the yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans some years ago and the way in which the exploiters of “Pond’s Extract” played on the fears of the public at the time of the former meningitis epidemic in New York City.

At present the public is much exercised over the epidemic of infantile paralysis. Anticipating that the nostrum fraternity would attempt to reap a golden harvest from the public distress, the federal officials issued a bulletin of warning on the subject. Naturally, the bulletin was addressed to the lay public, the government assuming that physicians knew enough to avoid being misled by any such advertising campaigns. Apparently, the assumption is too broad. At any rate, the manufacturers of “Glyco-Thymoline” are circularizing physicians, one of whom writes as follows:

_To the Editor_:--I am enclosing circular letter that I received
this morning which seems to me almost a crime. I do not suppose
that there is any way to prevent anything of this sort, but it is
certainly a shame to attempt to deceive people in this way. As I
recollect, Glyco-Thymoline is almost inert, practically no more
efficient than Dobell’s Solution.

E. Fletcher Ingals, M.D., Chicago.

The circular letter referred to was on the stationery of Kress & Owen Company, manufacturers of Glyco-Thymoline. It read: