Patent-Medicine Drunkenness
Dr. L. D. Mason, vice-president of the American Society for the Study of Inebriety, Alcohol, and Drug-Necrosis, raises warning against other things besides whisky drinking. "Thousands," he declares, "are victims of patent-medicine drunkenness," and states that one prominent temperance lecturer of his acquaintance drinks so much of this stuff that he is constantly under the influence of this intoxicant. Most of these patent medicines are seventy-five per cent cheap whisky. He remarks that it is a serious question for temperance societies, and when they secure pledges, they should include the use of patent medicines. Tea and coffee drinkers also are generally intemperate, keeping themselves constantly under the influence of these stimulants, with injury to their sight and other senses. This is known to a great many physicians, but not all of them are ready to speak out.