remedies
claims to cure pneumonia, consumption, dyspepsia, enteritis,
appendicitis, Bright's disease, heart disease, canker sores, and
measles. _This is absolute fraud._ No matter what virtues this
medicine might have in the treatment of one or two ailments, no one
remedy could possibly be of service in such a varied list of diseases,
and it could not "cure" one of them.

Another remedy bases its assertion of "cures" on the fact that it
claims to be a germ killer, and assumes that all disease is caused by
germs. To quote from its advertising literature, it claims to cure
thirty-seven diseases which are mentioned by name, and then follows
the assertion that it cures "all diseases that begin with fever, all
inflammations, all catarrhal contagious diseases, all the results of
impure or poisoned blood. In nervous diseases--acts as a vitalizer,
accomplishing what no drugs can do." It would seem that an intellect
of any pretensions would recognize the fraudulent nature of this
claim, yet thousands of bottles of this stuff are annually sold to a
gullible public. These wide and unjustifiable claims are real danger
signals, and any medicine making them should be avoided. There are
many other remedies for which just as great claims are made; the two
instances cited are merely representative of a large class. It is a
waste of time, money, and health to buy them with any idea that they
can fulfill their pretensions.

=Claiming to Cure Headaches.=--The use of any "headache powders" or
"tablets" should be avoided, except on the advice of a physician. The
presence of pain in the head, or in any other part of the body, may be
a symptom of a serious and deep-seated disorder, and it may often be a
serious matter to temporize with it. At the best, these "pain
relievers" can give only temporary relief, and their use may prove to
be dangerous in the extreme. Their action is dependent upon one of the
modern coal-tar products, usually acetanilid, because it is the
cheapest. But, unfortunately, acetanilid is also the one with the most
depressant action on the heart. The danger of headache powders lies in
the habit which they induce, because of their quick pain-relieving
qualities and their easy procurability, and from overdosage. If a
person is otherwise in good health, the use of one headache powder
will in all probability do no harm, but the dose should not be
repeated without a doctor's authority. Many deaths have occurred from
their co