Quite a common characteristic of sick people is unreasonableness. They become irritable and discouraged, and not being able to rely upon their own judgment they fail to render to themselves the degree of justice that is essential to peace of mind and a favorable convalescence. They may place themselves in the care of a reputable and thoroughly qualified physician, but if they do not observe distinct evidences of improvement within a very brief period they lose faith in him and change their doctor. They may do this a number of times, until finally they reach the conclusion that the entire medical profession is a fraud. They are then the legitimate victims of the patent medicine shark or the fake-curist. Probably ninety-nine per cent. of the victims of these parasites are obtained in this way. The statement often seen in testimonials to the effect, that "the best doctors failed to cure me," is not true in any instance. The truth is, that the individual failed to give the doctors the opportunity to cure him, and the reason he did not give them the chance was because they treated him as a man and as a human being, which he proved not to be. Had the first doctor he consulted adopted the tactics of the quack he would have cured him in a much shorter time. Instead of doing that, he told him the exact truth and charged him an ordinary office fee, while the quack told him lies and charged him a large sum of money to cure him. The latter gentleman, knowing the tendency to vacillate which these individuals have, ensured himself the time necessary to a cure by compelling him to pay the entire sum in advance, which is their universal custom. The patient, therefore, could not afford to change his doctor this time, and as time was all that was necessary to his cure, the wily and oily quack gets all the credit for effecting a cure, which "the best doctors could not accomplish." It is a simple game, and the explanation is just as simple, but there are those who will not see, and there are those who cannot be told. It is not simple justice, however, to blame these individuals altogether. We must keep in mind the irresolute judgment which is to a certain extent a product of the ill-health with which the patient suffers and the consequent easy tendency to be persuaded one way or another. The way in which these people are influenced is always the wrong way for the following reason. No person with any judgment or common sense or justice or sympathy would be fool enough or inhuman enough to give advice to a suffering sick man or woman as to what he or she should do or take. These individuals do not lack advice, however. There is always the pestering idiot around who knows exactly what should be done, and who does not hesitate to enter where an angel would fear to tread.