“Virol has a marked effect on the metabolism of the body, increasing the production of opsonins and stimulating phagocytosis. As an adjuvant to the natural defensive processes of the patient in all diseases of bacterial origin its value can scarcely be over-estimated.” The objections of the Council were transmitted to Virol, Ltd. The firm’s reply was reported to the Council by the referee of the Committee on Therapeutics who held that no adequate or satisfactory answer had been made to the objections raised against the advertising claims for Virol. The claims made for Virol being unsubstantiated and unwarranted, the Council voted that the preparation be refused recognition. In accordance with the practice of the Council, the exploiters of Virol were afforded an opportunity to comment on the foregoing statement before its publication. On their objecting to the findings, the entire matter was turned over to a second referee. This referee, in making his report, reviewed the claims made for Virol and commented on the lack of evidence to substantiate these claims. He stated that a chemical analysis of the preparation had yielded the following result: “Sugar, as maltose 60.0 per cent. “Fat 13.2 per cent. “Proteins 3.2 per cent. “Ash 1.6 per cent. “Water and volatile matter 21.6 per cent. “There is no appreciable diastatic action. A little glycerol is present in the volatile matter. The preparation is therefore an extract of malt with fat and a small amount of protein.” He then continues: “That Virol has food value cannot be denied, but that it has sufficient value to warrant the claims of the manufacturers is not evident. Virol cannot be considered a complete food, as the advertising literature reiterates, or an ideal food for infants. The amount of protein is far too low in comparison with the carbohydrates to warrant this view. The dosage recommended is not large. Thirty gm. a day would furnish only about 1 gm. of protein and 4 gm. of fat. The 3 teaspoonfuls a day recommended for children would furnish protein and fat even below this. “If employed alone it cannot be a complete or sufficient food, and if employed along with other articles of diet--milk and bread, for example--it is not easy to see wherein lies the efficacy of the small weights of fat and protein added in the form of Virol. Here the demand made on our credulity is too great, as the protein in the preparation is the familiar protein of eggs, meat and malt, and the fat largely that from the egg-yolk and marrow, according to the claims. It is not known that any specific virtues reside in these bodies, or in the egg-shells, also claimed as present.