y, and when present
in "soothing syrups" or "colic cures" for babies, they may be given
with fatal result. Never take a medicine containing these drugs
without a full understanding of their dangerous character, and a
realization of the possible consequences.

=Testimonials.=--These may mean anything or nothing; generally the
latter. They are usually genuine, but, as Mr. Adams observes, "they
represent, not the average evidence, but the most glowing opinions
which the nostrum-vender can obtain, and generally they are the
expression of a low order of intelligence."[16] It is a sad commentary
on many men and women, prominent in public life, that they lend their
names and the weight of their "testimony" to further the ends of such
questionable ventures. Political and newspaper interests are
responsible for the collection of this class of testimonials. An
investigation of some men, who permitted the use of their names for
this purpose, revealed that many of them had never tasted the
compound, but that they were willing to sign the testimonials for the
joy of appearing in print as "prominent citizens."[17] "Prominent
ministers" and "distinguished temperance workers" are often cited as
bearing testimony to the virtues of some patent medicine. It has been
shown that, while the testimonials were real, the people who signed
them had little right of credence, and were possessed of characters
and attributes which would show their opinions to be of little value.
Money and energy can be productive of any number of testimonials for
any remedy. While some of them may be authentic, yet the fact that a
medicine "cured" any one of the signers is no evidence that it will
cure or even help anyone else. Many people recover from diseases with
no medicine at all, and isolated "cures" can never be taken as a
criterion of the value of any remedy or method.

=Offering "Money Back Unless Cured."=--Careful reading of this clause
in most advertising literature will show that there is "a string
attached." The manufacturers are usually safe in making this
proposition. In the first place, the average person will not put the
matter to a test. The second reason why this is a safe proposition for
the maker is, that if the medicine does not cure, the patient may die,
and dead men are hardly possible claimants.

=Claiming to Cure Diseases Incurable by Medicine Alone.=--Probably no
class of people are greater users of patent medicines than those
unfortun