The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 1 of 2Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry (American Medical Association)
Science
The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 1 of 2
Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry (American Medical Association)
Patent medicines
“Bovinine contains all the elements of the animal, vegetable
and mineral kingdoms for the production of new blood with great
rapidity. Its principal constituents have been selected with a view
to furnish the largest amount of nutriment in the most condensed
form and all the resources of modern chemical analysis have been
brought to bear on this important problem.”
A series of experiments carried out with dogs under anesthesia, by
injecting Bovinine into the stomach, the pyloric end of which was
ligated, shows that Bovinine is not readily absorbed and assimilated
by the stomach as claimed. The amount of protein material found in
the stomach at the end of one-half hour to one hour and a quarter was
practically equal to the amount introduced by the Bovinine.
It is also represented that Bovinine is of great service in case of
an irritable stomach. This is not borne out by experiment. Bovinine
fed to dogs by the mouth, either alone or mixed with food, induced
vomiting, which was less marked when Bovinine was given with the
regular diet. An examination of the urine of these animals showed
a marked diminution of the amount of indican, while the ethereal
sulphates were enormously increased, both absolutely and relatively,
when Bovinine was given. Experiments on rabbits have shown that
Bovinine injected into the peritoneal cavity was invariably followed
by large quantities of albumin in the urine, which persisted for from
twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Thirty to 50 c.c. per kilo given by
mouth daily caused emaciation and weakness; in some cases, irritation
of the gastro-intestinal canal, with death of the animal in from seven
to twelve days.
CARNINE
Carnine is a French preparation imported into the United States by
Fougera & Co., of New York City. In physical appearance it looks like
highly concentrated food, but analysis shows that it consists of a
small proportion of defibrinated blood dissolved in a mixture of syrup
and glycerol, the whole agreeably flavored. It is represented as a
“juice of rare meat, prepared by cold process. Each tablespoonful
represents 100 gm. of raw meat, or 3-1/2 ounces.” It is clear that
Carnine is not a meat juice in any sense of the word.
VALENTINE’S MEAT JUICE
Valentine’s Meat Juice resembles in physical appearance taste, odor
and by chemical analysis a diluted meat extract. The nutritive value
of meat extracts is virtually _nil_, as is well known by the medical
profession. Notwithstanding the composition of Valentine’s Meat Juice
and the fact that beef extract represents little nutritive value, the
manufacturer makes the following misleading representations:
“The two-ounce oval bottle, adopted for the Meat Juice contains
the concentrated juice of four pounds of the best beef, exclusive
of fat; or the condensed essence of one and a half pints of pure
liquid juice which is obtained from the flesh of beef.”
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