Now, brethren, while the foregoing remarks are fresh in your minds, try and recall the facts regarding “Scott’s Emulsion” and the “Midy Capsule.” Not all proprietary medicine men take the newspaper route—they don’t have to. The catspaw doctor does his work too well. Witness the “little joker” anti-pain tablet already mentioned. Probably ten times as much of this preparation is self-prescribed as is prescribed by physicians. It unquestionably contains drugs that should be taken only under medical advice, and yet physicians prescribe it in a manner which leads directly to self-prescribing by the laity. Is it possible that the Pharmacopeia offers no agent of equal or better merit? Has the manufacturer more wisdom than all the ages 184past—to say nothing of the present age of progress? Or is this an age of medical progress, anyway? We herewith submit the proposition that the medical catspaw is pulling the proprietary monkey’s chestnuts out of the fire, every time he prescribes a proprietary article “protected” by special design and under a term that he who runs may read. The fakir laughs in his sleeve at the profession, and small wonder. It has come to pass that he owns us, and when his impudent agent demands a hearing at our offices we are tacitly given to understand that our time is his by right. Perhaps it is, by right of conquest, for the medical profession seems to be thoroughly subjugated. The distributor of drug samples is always working in the business interests of his firm and himself. How would it do to insist on payment for our time from the agents of some of our irresponsible, mushroom fake medicine factories? There is another side to the picture. Drug manufacturers—even some of those engaged in the manufacture of quasi-proprietary medicines—have done much for pharmaceutic elegance and convenience. Many of our manufacturers are conscientiously proceeding along ethical lines. We are glad to welcome their representatives and their preparations. But, unfortunately, such manufacturers are a small minority. The physician should be careful how he prescribes the preparations of even reliable firms. Preparations with special and striking names should be prescribed under formula, where possible, and always in such a manner that the patient cannot prescribe the preparation for himself offhand.