THE NOSTRUM AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH

Broadly speaking, the nostrum belongs in one of two general classes; one class comprises those unscientific mixtures that are advertised primarily to the medical profession, and first reach the public by way of the prescription; the other class includes those mixtures that are sold direct to the public. Nostrums in the first class are sometimes spoken of as "proprietaries"; those in the second class are colloquially known as "patent medicines." The public suffers from both classes, the only difference being that in the case of the former the physician has to share the responsibility with the nostrum exploiter. There is no clearly defined line of demarkation between these two classes. Many of the "patent medicines" of today were the "proprietaries" of yesterday. Shrewd manufacturers—or, more correctly, exploiters, for many of these products are not manufactured by those that sell them—discovered years ago that one of the least expensive methods of