But while the manufacturers in their advertising matter have on the whole not disguised the presence of chloral so much as they have attempted to make it appear that the chloral has been robbed of its dangers--for all hypnotics if used thoughtlessly are dangerous--after all the name has created the false impression that Bromidia is a bromid preparation. It is because of this false impression carried by its name, that Bromidia came to be used indiscriminately by the profession and in the course of time still more indiscriminately and recklessly by the public. Bromidia is a vicious chloral preparation masquerading under a misleading name. That physicians have been impressed by the claims of its harmlessness and by the mystery connected with the formula is not a credit to the intelligence of our profession. There is no doubt but that physicians are responsible for the use and abuse of this chloral preparation by the public. There is no scientific or rational excuse for a ready-made preparation of this sort. When chloral or a bromid is indicated the proper dose of each of these, if they are to be combined, should be determined for each patient. Potassium bromid and chloral hydrate both are readily soluble in water, syrup or elixirs and it is a simple matter to prescribe the required dose of chloral and of bromid dissolved in some aromatic water like cinnamon-water (Aqua Cinnamomi), in some syrup like syrup of orange (Syrupus Aurantii) or in an elixir like the aromatic elixir (Elixir Aromaticum) or adjuvant elixir (Elixir Adjuvans). If this mixture is prescribed thus the physician is alive, alike to the dangers and the limitations of the drugs; if it is prescribed under a misleading proprietary name, the physician endangers his patient, stultifies his profession and tends to perpetuate the great American fraud. [Editor’s Note.--A list of some of the medical journals that advertise Bromidia: _Texas Medical News_ _Nashville Journal of Medicine & Surgery_ _Medical Brief_ _Annals of Surgery_ _Charlotte Medical Journal_ _Medical Sentinel_ _Memphis Medical Monthly_ _Laryngoscope_ _Medical World_ _Medical Review of Reviews_ _Louisville Monthly Journal_ _Indianapolis Medical Journal_ _Monthly Cyclopedia & Medical Bulletin_ _Journal of Nervous & Mental Diseases_ _Maryland Medical Journal_ _Merck’s Archives_ _Iowa Medical Journal_ _Medical Standard_ _Southern Practitioner_ _New Orleans Medical & Surgical Journal_ _Therapeutic Gazette_ _Medical Herald_ _Medical Times_ _Texas Medical Journal_ _Wisconsin Medical Recorder_ _International Journal of Surgery_ _Vermont Medical Monthly_ _Atlanta Journal-Record of Medicine_ _St. Paul Medical Journal_ _Hospital Bulletin of the University of Maryland_ _Denver Medical Times_ _Buffalo Medical Journal_ _Medical Review_ _Ellingwood’s Therapeutist_ _Eclectic Medical Journal_ _Massachusetts Medical Journal_]