TONICS AND SEDATIVES

The replacement of Tonics and Sedatives by Medical Satire or other narratives in selected issues of The Journal, an innovation that was begun early this year, has flushed a modest number of letters from the calligraphy coves of physicians and lay persons. Three communications that were received in this office were composed by nonmedical personnel who were accustomed to seek solace or financial gain in the perusal, or revision, and reuse of selected excerpts of the comic section of The Journal. The objection to the substitution was unanimous from this area. The letters received from physicians, however, expressed varied opinions. Several, who by confession or by my consultation with the A. M. A. Directory for vital statistics, deplored the loss of their weekly smiles that dated from the early decades of this century. An equal number favored the satirical discourses, particularly "Latinonian Exchange" (J. A. M. A., February 27, 1960)