On the rather liberal assumption that the whole of the unidentified portion costs as much as caulophyllin, the estimated cost of the ingredients for 6 fluid ounces is 11d. LANCASHIRE NOSTRUM A treatment for diabetes was, and perhaps is still advertised by a firm of manufacturing chemists in Manchester. In a letter addressed to an enquirer the manufacturers wrote: The treatment was recently discovered by a Lancashire doctor who had himself suffered from diabetes for a great number of years, and used all the recognized medical treatments without effect. His own discovery cured him entirely. The formulas have been entrusted to us, and we are manufacturing and offering the preparation to the suffering public. We have satisfied ourselves that the treatment is an absolute and permanent cure.... We have, therefore, every confidence in recommending it to you. These statements are supported by a batch of testimonials which are not so strong as is usual in such cases. For example, one is headed in black type, “Completely cured a gentleman and his two friends,” and runs as follows: Dear Sir,—I received the treatment yesterday. A friend of mine, a London gentleman, has told me your treatment and the Gluten Bread has (_sic_) completely cured him and two friends of his of sugar diabetes. The medicines supplied consisted of (1) tablets, of which four were to be taken each morning, and (2) a mixture. A month’s supply was forwarded for 10s. 6d., from two to four months’ treatment being said to be sufficient. A booklet was also sent giving the usual directions for a diet free from carbohydrates, and enjoining the use of warm clothing, with occasional hot or Turkish baths. The tablets (1) contained 5 grains of aspirin; the mixture (2) was composed of unsweetened lime-juice containing 6 per cent. of free citric acid. A pink powder, described as an aperient, consisted of dried sodium sulphate, flavoured with oil of peppermint, and tinted with phenolphthalein. These remedies are not new, nor has their use been attended with any particular success in the treatment of diabetes. It is difficult to see why they should give better results when supplied as a nostrum than when ordered in the usual way by medical men, unless we attribute something to the suggestive power of bold assertions and public advertisement. NOTE ON DIABETIC FOODS.